Disclosure: Jotter is ours, and it is listed first. It gets the same four fields as every other app, including its drawbacks.
Short answer
Our pick is Jotter — typed notes, handwriting, checklists, scans and voice notes in one light app, free through your own iCloud. If you need notebooks on Windows too, staying with OneNote or moving to Notion makes more sense.
OneNote can do almost anything: notebooks inside notebooks, ink anywhere on a page, shared class notes, scanning, and now Copilot. It is also free. The complaints are about weight — it is slow to get a quick thought into, it wants a Microsoft account, and the current App Store version asks for iOS 26, which leaves older iPhones and iPads behind.
If you use a tenth of OneNote, a smaller app will feel better every single day. These are the ones worth trying.
Switch to Jotter if
- You want a note open in a second, not a notebook
- You only use Apple devices
- Your iPhone or iPad can’t run the newest OneNote
Stay with OneNote if
- You need the same notebooks on a Windows PC
- Your school or office shares notebooks in OneNote
- You use Copilot or Microsoft 365 with your notes
At a glance
| App | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Jotter (ours) | Opening the app and typing — with checklists, handwriting, scans and voice notes in the same note | Free, no subscription — an optional tip unlocks nothing |
| Microsoft OneNote | People who want free-form notebooks that open on Windows, the web and their phone | Free; some features need a Microsoft 365 subscription |
| Apple Notes | People who only use Apple devices and want free notes with no setup | Included with Apple devices at no extra cost |
| Goodnotes | Students and professionals who fill notebooks and annotate PDFs | Free version with a notebook limit; paid plans for unlimited |
| Notability | Students who record lectures while they write | Free; subscription or one-time Classic plan |
| Notion | People who want notes, tasks and databases in one shared workspace | Free plan plus paid plans and AI add-ons |
| Google Keep | People who want colourful sticky notes and shared lists on every device they own | Free |
The apps in detail
Jotter
Ours
- Best for
- Opening the app and typing — with checklists, handwriting, scans and voice notes in the same note
- Highlights
- No title, no folder, no save button — the first line names the note
- Checklists, Apple Pencil handwriting, scans and voice notes
- Search reads handwriting and text in photos, on the device
- Syncs through your own iCloud; exports as Markdown
- Pricing
- Free, no subscription — an optional tip unlocks nothing
- Watch out
- iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, on iOS 18 or later: no Mac app yet, no Android or web version, and no shared notes.
Microsoft OneNote
- Best for
- People who want free-form notebooks that open on Windows, the web and their phone
- Highlights
- Notebooks with digital ink and typed notes
- Voice transcription and document scanning
- Syncs across your devices, with shared notebooks
- Pricing
- Free; some features need a Microsoft 365 subscription
- Watch out
- It needs a Microsoft account, it is heavy for a quick note, and the current App Store listing requires iOS 26.
Apple Notes
- Best for
- People who only use Apple devices and want free notes with no setup
- Highlights
- Folders, tags, checklists, tables and document scanning
- Handwriting and sketches with Apple Pencil
- iCloud sync with no extra account
- Pricing
- Included with Apple devices at no extra cost
- Watch out
- Apple-only apart from a basic iCloud.com page, and getting notes out in bulk is awkward.
Goodnotes
- Best for
- Students and professionals who fill notebooks and annotate PDFs
- Highlights
- Handwritten notebooks with templates
- AI transcription, summaries and meeting notes
- iCloud sync across iPad, iPhone and Mac
- Pricing
- Free version with a notebook limit; paid plans for unlimited
- Watch out
- The free version holds only a few notebooks.
Notability
- Best for
- Students who record lectures while they write
- Highlights
- Audio synced to the moment you write
- iPad, iPhone, Mac and the web
- A one-time Classic plan, per the listing
- Pricing
- Free; subscription or one-time Classic plan
- Watch out
- Auto-backup, iCloud sync and the AI tools are in the upgrade.
Notion
- Best for
- People who want notes, tasks and databases in one shared workspace
- Highlights
- Pages, databases, tasks and projects together
- Built for teams and shared workspaces
- Notion AI for writing and summaries
- Pricing
- Free plan plus paid plans and AI add-ons
- Watch out
- Heavy for quick notes, and it needs an account and a connection for most things.
Google Keep
- Best for
- People who want colourful sticky notes and shared lists on every device they own
- Highlights
- Notes, lists, photos and audio with labels and colours
- Reminders by time or place
- Share a list and watch items get ticked off live
- Pricing
- Free
- Watch out
- Everything lives in your Google account, and it is built for short notes — long writing and handwriting are not its strength.
The honest trade-off
OneNote’s free-form page — type here, draw there, drop a table underneath — is still unusual, and so is the fact that it runs on Windows, Mac, the web and phones for free. If you move to an Apple-only app you give that reach up.
What you get back is speed. Jotter has no notebooks, sections or pages to pick first: you open it and you are already writing. For shopping lists, meeting scribbles and scanned receipts, that matters more than structure.
Common questions
Is OneNote free on iPhone and iPad?
Yes. OneNote is free with a Microsoft account; some features need a Microsoft 365 subscription.
What is the best free OneNote alternative on iPad?
Jotter or Apple Notes for quick typed and handwritten notes. Goodnotes’ free version if you want full notebooks and PDF markup, within its notebook limit.
Which iOS version does OneNote need?
The current App Store listing for OneNote requires iOS 26.0 or later.
App Store listings checked on 12 November 2026. Prices change — each entry describes how an app is paid for rather than a number that goes stale.
MMA.
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