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You don’t always have a Post-IT note handy, but the chances are you’ve always got your smartphone by your side or laptop close by. Being able to jot down notes, flag important emails, record audio, create checklists and even collaborate lowers the stress level with a note taking app. Here’s a guide to the top choices for small business users.
Benefits of Note-Taking Apps for Small Businesses
Note-taking apps provide small businesses with a range of benefits that can significantly enhance productivity, organization, and collaboration. These tools offer an efficient way to record, manage, and share information, which is crucial in today’s fast-paced business environment. By utilizing note-taking apps, small businesses can streamline their processes and ensure that important details are not overlooked.
Benefits for small business users include:
- Enhanced Organization: Keep all notes, ideas, and documents in one easily accessible place.
- Improved Collaboration: Share notes and documents with team members, allowing for real-time collaboration and communication.
- Increased Productivity: Quickly capture ideas and thoughts, leading to a more efficient workflow.
- Accessible Anywhere: Most apps offer cloud-based storage, making notes accessible from any device, anywhere.
- Integration with Other Tools: Many apps integrate with other business tools, creating a seamless workflow.
- Version Control and History: Track changes and revert to previous versions of documents, ensuring data integrity.
- Security and Privacy: Secure storage of sensitive information with options for setting access permissions.
- Customization and Scalability: Tailor the app to fit specific business needs and scale as the business grows.
- Cost-Effective: Many apps offer free basic plans, which are budget-friendly for small businesses.
- Reminders and Alerts: Set reminders for tasks and deadlines, keeping projects on track.
These advantages make note-taking apps a valuable asset for small businesses, helping to optimize their operations and foster a more collaborative and organized workplace.
Criteria for Choosing the Best Note-Taking Apps
To provide the most value for small business users, we evaluated note-taking apps using the following criteria. The importance of each factor is rated on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the most important.
- User Interface and Ease of Use (Rating: 9/10)
- Intuitive and clean design
- Ease of creating, editing, and organizing notes
- Minimal learning curve for new users
- Features and Functionality (Rating: 8/10)
- Advanced features like voice-to-text, image insertion, and handwriting recognition
- Task management and reminder integration
- Collaboration tools for team use
- Cross-Platform Compatibility (Rating: 9/10)
- Synchronization across various devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops)
- Compatibility with major operating systems (iOS, Android, Windows)
- Web access availability
- Data Security and Privacy (Rating: 10/10)
- Encryption and secure data storage
- Clear privacy policies and data handling procedures
- Regular security updates
- Customization and Flexibility (Rating: 7/10)
- Ability to personalize settings and themes
- Custom templates and tagging systems for organization
- Flexible formatting options
- Integration with Other Tools (Rating: 8/10)
- Seamless integration with productivity tools (calendars, email, project management software)
- Ability to export notes to different formats
- Plugin or add-on support for enhanced functionality
- Pricing and Value for Money (Rating: 6/10)
- Free version availability and scope
- Reasonable pricing for premium features
- Good balance between cost and features for small businesses
- Customer Support and Resources (Rating: 5/10)
- Availability of support channels (email, chat, phone)
- Access to tutorials, guides, and user communities
- Regular updates and feature enhancements
These criteria are carefully chosen to ensure small business owners and entrepreneurs get the most out of their note-taking apps, balancing functionality, usability, and cost.
Best Note Taking App for Small Business
Evernote
This is an industry leader for a reason. Evernote provides 60 MB of free storage per month. One of the only downsides is the fact there’s a maximum file upload of 50 MB. Still when you’re looking for the best note taking app, innovation is a deciding factor. The new Spaces feature in Evernote Business lets team members have combined access on all current campaign ideas.
You can get this app for free or choose the Plus plan for $46.99 yearly. The Premium version will set you back $89.99 annually. There’s a Business plan for $12 per employee on a monthly basis. Download the free trial here.
OneNote
Simplicity is always best when it comes to notetaking apps. In fact, industry insiders say this is the only one that challenges Evernote’s supremacy in the field. There’s 1TB of online storage included here and your small business gets access to Office applications. If you’re a small business that already uses Office, the interface is going to be familiar.
On the other side of the coin, some of the features require you use their OneDrive cloud. You can get OneNote on Windows, Mac and the Web as well as mobile devices.
You’ll need a Microsoft account to get started.
Simplenote
Available for iOS, Windows, Linux, Android, Mac and on the Web, Simplenote allows you to see versions of previous notes. There is an easy-to-use slider that lets you see notes from before. The feature is great for clarifying points that were made and need to be revisited.
The instant search feature allows you to find ideas you thought you might never see again. These lists are updated instantly. Creating your free account is quick and easy.
Dropbox Paper
If your small business team works online, chances are you already have a Dropbox account. That makes it easier to check out Dropbox Paper. This app allows people to chat in real time while they’re editing a document. Keep an eye on everything your team is doing with this simple app.
It’s available on iPhone, iPad, Android and the web.
Google Keep
This app is designed for photos, lists and short notes. It’s good for reminders and quick thoughts but not so good for the big points from a big meeting. It is available on Android, the web and iOS. And the app is simple, effective and free. Download the it here.
Ulysses
Although this one is built specifically for writers, it’s useful for small business people who do their own marketing. Ulysses builds on the features you’d expect to get from a traditional word processor. It’s simple. The library places everything you write in one spot. There’s no need for Save dialogs or the kind of Finder searches that can waste your time and interrupt your train of thought.
The markdown text editor makes it great for writing on iOS and macOS and the flexibility and features are good for putting together work bulletins or a newsletter.
You get a 14 day free trial. After that, you’ll need a subscription at $4.99 monthly or $39.99 yearly.
Quip
Quip joined with Salesforce in 2016. The app is available on iOS, Android, macOS, Windows and on the web and has some great note taking features built right in. Small businesses can get documents, spreadsheets, tasks, lists and @mentions in one space. The Live Apps for Quip include polls, calendars and process bars.
If you’re looking for a pedigree here, co-founder Bret Taylor is responsible for Google Maps and even Facebook’s “like” button. The other founder, Kevin Gibbs, brought the Google App Engine to market.
Pricing starts at $30 per month for a team of five.
| Feature / App | Evernote | OneNote | Simplenote | Dropbox Paper | Google Keep | Ulysses | Quip |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Web | Windows, Mac, Web, iOS, Android | iOS, Windows, Linux, Android, Mac, Web | iPhone, iPad, Android, Web | Android, iOS, Web | iOS, macOS | iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Web |
| Free Storage | 60 MB/month | 1 TB | Unlimited (text only) | – | – | – | – |
| File Upload Limit | 50 MB | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Pricing Plans | Free, Plus ($46.99/year), Premium ($89.99/year), Business ($12/employee/month) | Free with Microsoft account | Free | Free with Dropbox account | Free | $4.99/month, $39.99/year | $30/month for a team of 5 |
| Unique Features | Spaces feature for team collaboration | Integration with Office applications | Version history slider | Real-time chat and document editing | Quick notes and reminders | Markdown text editor | Integration with Salesforce, Live Apps |
| Target Users | General, with business-oriented features | Businesses using Office suite | Users needing simple note-taking with version history | Teams using Dropbox for collaboration | Quick note-takers, not ideal for extensive notes | Writers, small business marketers | Small businesses needing integrated document management |
| Free Trial | Available | – | – | – | – | 14 days | – |
Photo via Shutterstock
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