75% of Notetakers Use These 4 Apps

I surveyed 6,519 notetaking app students over 2 years and found out the most popular notes apps - AND the surprise notes apps growing fastest behind the scenes.

WATCH THE FULL SERIES

CHAPTERS
00:00 We Asked 6,519 Which Notes App They Use
00:16 What Notetaking App Is Everyone Else Using?
00:28 Survey 1: Results (August 2020)
01:15 Survey 2: Results (May 2021)
02:06 The Big 3 Notetaking Apps
02:58 Survey 3: Results (November 2021)
04:27 Survey 4: Results (March 2022)
05:52 The #1 Most Used Notetaking App (Librarian)
05:59 The #2 Most Used Notetaking App (Architect)
06:06 The #3 Most Used Notetaking App (Gardener) + Fastest growing app
06:17 The Up and Coming Apps
06:35 How to Get a Quick Dive Into Each Notetaking App (50+)

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[happinessisafulltank]

I've already been using Obsidian for a while, which I love, but I'm also realizing how I've barely scratched the surface of its features. I think Obsidian will continue to rise dramatically in popularity.

[maxim]

I went through all the top 3 apps. Starting with Evernote in 2012, then switched to Notion in 2020, and again to Obsidian in 2021. I think Obsidian is the number one choice for scientists, engineers and programmers. Both Evernote and Notion require use of UI and mouse. Obsidian notes are text files, so the complete input can be made from keyboard. With help of required plugins, tables, equations and references become easy. Obsidian requires a lot of typing skills, and memorizing some commands, that usually programmers and engineers have. I really enjoy that I have a full control over the app. Notion has a great UI but I always missed more specific control that I do have in Obsidian.
I also tried Joplin, that is an Evernote with Markdown syntax. That's also a nice app, but it didn't match my working style

[beccisharp]

as someone very new to the digital note taking space I was amazed at so many types of note apps, I am used to docs and one note because they kind of mimicked the way of having a notebook, but coming away from that I can see how using these other methods can be insanely useful, and I can see different aspects of my note taking and writing working better in different styles

[arnavmotwani]

I personally use Bear and Craft (however my main use for Craft is latex). Notion used to be my choice but I started finding it cluttered so I separated notion into Bear + Todoist (+ Airtable at times). I love the simplistic design of Bear however the only thing I need from it is latex rendering.

[mustange]

I started using Joplin. I am a big supporter that open source so using this one made sense. Im not experienced "note taker" to really review how i feel versus OneNote or Obsidian but so far its been a positive experience.

[judyju]

Great survey! Good work, hope to see more～ I previously used Evernote and I loved it, but It changed everything after its updates few years ago, all good things changed and now it's a slow and disappointing apps. Then I switched to notion for personal notes, it works great and it's free for students! (A large plus) Few days ago I discovered obsidian, I was so surprised and love it instantly, it is perfect to build a knowledge database (especially for reading journal articles). Looking forward to more obsidian videos. 👍🏻👍🏻

[raphaelstanzani]

Other hypothesis is: those who use Notion (or are using Evernote but thinking on moving to Notion) feel the need to invest time learning how to improve their note taking system (like participate in your workshop or acquiring your book).
Also, it may show that Notion has a UI that invite users to reflect on how note taking can impact your life, due to the wide customization possibilities.

[walacerosalaurindo]

Amazing video Tiago! Thanks for sharing with us all of your passion and wisdow

[mattgiaro]

The power of the 80/20 Principle (Again!)... Thanks Tiago for sharing these insights.
One of the major causes why Obsidian is a strong Roam competitor resides in the fact it's free... and the strong community around it.
Yet, the interface can be intimidating / looking old-school for a lot of users.
Can't wait for your next video!

[chzx]

I use both Obsidian and Notion. I use Obsidian for very formal and systematic notes, and use Notion for work project management and less formal notes or quick thoughts and ideas.

[poorv]

Thank you, Mr. Forte, for giving us the 'CODE' framework and for continuous spreading this valuable concept of BASB.
BTW. Which tool do you use to visually demonstrate the interactive workflow in this video?

[hurmaes]

I encountered the 4 archetypes today and I've realized I'm an intuitive Gardener and raised Architect. My first real dive into note-taking is OneNote for college which evolved to Notion after I fell in love with its organization, aesthetic, and sheer power. Never before have I seen databases, calendars, galleries, kanban boards and more in just 1 app! But somehow, I've found that after categorizing all of my ideas into neat little boxes in Notion, I never actually reviewed them again...which defeats the purpose of learning for me. Since I can't turn knowledge into action or a uniquely creative idea. Perhaps that's why Obsidian really intrigued me when I first encountered it on YT. Might also consider Roam, which I've heard for the first time here!

[flexluther]

One thing to consider in regards to Roam, the beta closed around the time of these polls and now is no longer free. May be the correlation explaining your results

[onlinemoneyjourney]

To me, obsidian is the most powerful of all.

[williambergmann]

The only issue I have with Notion is the lack of support for handwriting. So, for now, I use Notability for handwritten or 'live' notes and Notion is where I sort everything that needs to be stored.

[RxSentinel]

Trying to choose a notepad for my projects...
This was so helpful...
Thank you

[ttyy]

Looking forward to the next app choosing videos👏👏👏🤩🤩🤩

[RafaShiva]

Thank you for your awesome videos Tiago! I'm trying to figure out what would be the best note-taking app for myself in preparation for a post graduate exam. I've been a long-term user of Evernote and have recently switched over to Google Docs for it's ease in inserting images/graphs, and how easy I can use templates with keyboard shortcuts to speed up my note taking. I have noticed though that as my document gets larger and larger (30-100MB+) the load time is getting slower and I find this quite frustrating. I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. Here are a few insights about myself that may help.

Note-taking style – librarian or architect
Purpose – post graduate exam → will be studying for >1000+ hours over 12 months, collating information to answer 3 exams (a multi-choice question paper, short answer question paper and VIVA in person exam)
Content – medical content, lots of diagrams, pictures, text

Would love to hear your thoughts on how I can get the best out of my note-taking experience to be exam ready! Thanks Tiago! :)

[barrygoldberg]

Great summary. I think I have test-run every app in this space- some more than once. I keep returning to Evernote. But one area that does not get much attention in selecting a repository is the ability to share specific information with specific people who are not using the app. As an executive coach and peer advisory group chair, I take what are spare but clear notes about topics, discoveries, and action commitments- an ability to track those by client and more importantly share my notes without asking my clients to subscribe to the app I use. For the few who are not tech-phobic, I can simply share their Evernote notebook- but getting the integration on goals and outcomes with a calendar would be a big win- especially if it gets me off the hook for remembering to do so.

[Mek]

Just saw your video on my feed - recognized your name and then realized I’m pretty sure I was in a class with you in high school lol. In any case fantastic video!