If you’ve been using Microsoft OneNote but feel it lacks key features and feels outdated, you’re not alone. In 2025, there are more notetaking apps than ever, each with different strengths: some focus on students and college work, others on professional collaboration, and some on creativity and sketching.
In this post, we’ll look at the best OneNote alternatives in 2025 - across Mac, Windows, Linux, and the web - and explain why Notanic is quickly becoming the best notetaking app for people who want flexibility, freedom, and modern features.
Microsoft OneNote is powerful, but many users outgrow it because:
That’s why alternatives like Notanic, Obsidian, Notion, and Evernote are gaining traction in 2025.
Notanic is a modern notetaking app designed for students, researchers, developers, and anyone who thinks visually. Unlike traditional apps, it combines an infinite canvas with an infinite tree of notes, so you can brainstorm freely while keeping everything neatly structured.
Key features of Notanic:
👉 For many, Notanic feels like a mix of OneNote’s flexibility, Notion’s embeds, and Excalidraw’s infinite canvas - but integrated into one tool.
If you’re looking for the best notetaking app for students or simply the best free notetaking app to organize your thoughts in 2025, Notanic is the standout choice.
Obsidian is a Markdown-based knowledge management app popular with developers and researchers. It excels at linking notes into a network (a “second brain”), but lacks a built-in canvas and requires plugins for collaboration.
Notion is a powerful all-in-one workspace with databases, notes, and project management. It’s widely used by teams, but its performance can be slower on large note collections, and offline support is limited.
Evernote has been around for years and still offers solid organization with notebooks and tags. However, it hasn’t kept pace with modern collaboration or technical features.
If you want a OneNote alternative that works on Mac, Windows, Linux, and the web, supports students and professionals, and balances structure with creativity, then Notanic is the clear winner.
It’s not just another notetaking app - it’s a tool designed for how people actually think: visually, collaboratively, and across devices.
👉 Ready to move beyond OneNote?
Get started with Notanic Cloud for just $5.99/month - enjoy sync across all your devices, web access, and real-time collaboration.
Or, use the local-first version for free with open file formats that stay under your control.
Start taking notes the way you want - Download Notanic today.