Best Meeting Notes Apps

The 16 Best Meeting Notes Apps for Effective Note-taking [2024]

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“The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.”

Most people have heard this quote by Mark Batterson or a version of it at least once. To this day, they still use it to iterate how note-taking and documentation are more reliable than committing conversations and events to memory.

But note-taking culture has evolved. Instead of hand-written in a notebook, recent years have seen the rise of some best meeting notes apps that are designed to help individuals or teams take effective digital notes for meetings and keep them organized.

There are many such meeting note-takers to choose from. To save you time and effort, we have searched the internet, made comparisons, and gathered our top picks of note-taking apps that are available for you.

Let’s jump right in!

Why Take Meeting Minutes using a Dedicated Note App

We all recognize the importance of taking notes in a meeting, but it’s taken on a whole new meaning in the hybrid-working era.

We have noticed an obvious shift from a physical notebook to a dedicated meeting notes app; this is a response to two major developments: 

  • First is the “new normal” of remote and hybrid work, which has increased the reliance on virtual meetings. A harsh fact is that information is much more likely to get lost during virtual meetings, and hand-written notes distract people as they need to switch between. In contrast, digital notes enable users to meet and document on a screen simultaneously, thus focusing on the conversation.

  • Second is the need to optimize note-taking for efficiency and keeping everyone on the same page. Digital note-taking achieves this by enabling users to access the meeting minutes across different devices, edit notes during and after the meeting, and easily share them with other team members.

Overall, virtual meeting notes are perfect for teams looking for an effective and convenient way to keep accurate records of meetings and improve communication within and across teams.

What Makes the Best Meeting Notes App?

Before diving into the list of best meeting notes software, we’d like to clarify the standards for picking an app that is worth your attention.

Fulfilling the main purpose of taking notes during a meeting so that you can refer back to them is just a start; the best app for meeting notes should also meet the following criteria.

Easy to use

This sounds like an obvious feature, but you'd be surprised at how many apps fell short. 

A good note-taker should be easy to use in order to maximize the efficiency of studying or working. If it wasn’t almost as convenient as scraping a pen and paper, the meeting notes app didn’t make the chance.

By having an app that is quick and easy to navigate, you can focus on the actual “note-taking” part of the process instead of figuring out how to use the app. The simpler the app is, the faster you can jump right in and utilize it for its main purpose. 

Rich formats

Notes are often more than just text; there are ideas that can be expressed better with images or GIFs. The best note-taking app should be able to accommodate visual information alongside texts, which makes the process of documenting easier and more enjoyable, as a picture can say more than words sometimes. 

Furthermore, having images in notes can make them easier to review since images provide an additional layer of memory retrieval cues. With the help of images, gifs, and other visuals, the app can become an even more powerful organizational tool.

Collaboration with team members

Taking notes is no longer an isolated process: usually, students, professionals, and members of teams have to work together to capture important information. 

The best app for meeting notes should therefore provide the ability to collaborate with team members by enabling users to share notes with each other as well as access and comment on each other's annotations. 

Not only would this create a more efficient way for groups to collaborate and store their thoughts, but it would also bring people closer together by eliminating the need for emails and encouraging open dialogue about shared notes within the app’s platform.

Integration with other apps

Note-taking apps can be a powerful way to increase productivity, but only if they have the necessary versatility. Having an app that allows for integration with other working applications would allow note-takers to easily access, collect, and incorporate information from different sources in one place. 

Furthermore, integration will help you quickly build documents since having them linked in one app would enable fast switching between multiple resources.

Value for money

Price should be an important factor when selecting an app as it can help save money over time. 

Although everyone loves a free meeting note-taking app and we have listed some below, you’ll still need to balance its features and service against the paid ones. Choosing one that satisfies your needs while being affordable makes the best value for your money.

16 Best Meeting Notes Software

From rich texts to notes collaboration, these meeting note-takers make it easier than ever to stay organized. The best part? You can access your notes from almost any device.

Notta

Best for automatic note-taking and summary.

review transcript notta

Notta is on the top of this list and it’s for good reasons.

Essentially, it is an AI transcription software that helps individuals and teams convert audio to text in over 100 languages.

Unlike most note-taking and project management apps that double as meeting notes software, Notta is designed to help you automatically generate meeting notes and collaborate with members of your team so that you do not miss out on key information. 

Here is how Notta can help in productive meeting notes:

  • Transcribe your conversations to text in real-time, so you won’t need to scribble everything down.

  • Review, edit, and highlight the meeting notes afterward. You can even insert images to assist understanding.

  • Share meeting notes with anyone easily by a link.

  • Leverage AI algorithms to generate a meeting summary in minutes, facilitating the follow-up process. 

The combination of Notta’s features produces detailed, accurate, and actionable notes. Notta also records online meetings in high-quality audio and video, which provide visual aids when looking back to the meeting afterward.

Pricing

  • Free plan with 120 transcription minutes

  • Paid plan starts at $8.25 per month (billed annually) for 1,800 transcription minutes

TakingAutomatedMeetingNotes

The Notta app helps you take detailed notes so you can focus on the conversations.

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Hypercontext

Best for taking meeting minutes.

Hypercontext user interface

Hypercontext is a meeting agenda and notes tool that provides users with a plethora of features designed to make note-taking easier and more efficient. 

It allows users to document conversations and next steps as they move through the meeting, so you have complete meeting minutes when the meeting is over. Besides, you can locate any information across many meeting notes quickly by searching for a keyword or phrase. 

Hypercontext also integrates with apps such as Dropbox and Evernote, providing a seamless way for users to export their notes when needed. On top of that, its friendly user interface makes it intuitive for anyone to figure out how the app works without having to read through countless tutorials.

Pricing

  • The basic plan is free without the notes collaboration feature.

  • The paid plan starts at $7 per month.

Notion

Best for multi-use platform.

Notion user interface

Notion is a well-known workspace for teams to centralize their note-taking and project management.

Its primary purpose notwithstanding, Notion can also be used to manage and document meetings because it can be integrated with virtual meeting platforms like Zoom. This makes collaborating within teams easier as every member can access meeting schedules and join meetings directly from Notion. 

Notion also helps with organizing meeting notes. You can sort your meetings into categories and tag them so you find them quicker, track meetings and attendees, and use any of Notion’s notes templates to structure your meeting discussions or notes.

Even though Notion does not have all the features of meeting notes apps like recording and transcription, it is undeniably a great tool for managing and organizing large volumes of meeting notes while highlighting the most important decisions. 

Pricing

Free to custom pricing is available.

Microsoft OneNote

Best for Microsoft Office users.

Microsoft OneNote user interface

Microsoft OneNote may be one of the best free note-taking apps that allows users to create digital notebooks and quickly scan and store notes, documents, audio recordings, videos, images, and more. 

One of the great features of OneNote is its ability to sync data across all devices—ensuring you always have up-to-date documents no matter where you are. 

In addition, it provides users with a range of features such as simple sharing, searchable text (including inside pictures!), and embedded files—allowing you to manage even the most complex information easily. With integration with Microsoft Office 365 and Outlook Accounts, this powerful program truly helps make your digital space work for you.

Pricing

The basic plan is free, while premium plans start at $7.99 per month. 

Evernote

Best all-purpose note-taking app


Evernote is primarily a note-taking app known for its powerful sync across different devices. The sync feature allows users to enjoy a seamless flow of activities and work across different devices.

Evernote is built to serve a variety of note-taking needs, including work, personal, and school-related. Each category spotlights a set of functions that helps ensure that your experience of the app is tailored to your needs.

For example, if you are using Evernote for work, your tailored features would be project planning, and to-do lists. If you are using it for school, on the other hand, you would find class note templates, time management, and research more suitable for you. 

Evernote also has customizable meeting note templates that include action items, due dates, task assignments, and status. And meeting notes can be shared with team members for alignment and collaboration.

Pricing

Free to $14.99/month.

Obsidian

Best for note-taking experts.

Obsidian user interface

It supports multiple different platforms, including Windows, MacOS, iOS, Android devices and even Linux.

Obsidian is the ideal note-taking app for those who need to capture thoughts and ideas and keep them organized quickly. 

It allows users to create a web of interconnected notes, which means you can connect related notes together by creating links among all the concepts and ideas. Additionally, by using tags and aliases, organizational skills are greatly improved, allowing users to quickly search through hundreds of notes without needing to read each one sequentially.

Although Obsidian offers powerful customization, it is not suitable for people who just need simple meeting notes software as there is a steep learning curve for using this app. 

Pricing

Personal use is free forever, while their Catalyst plan is available at a one-time fee of $25.

Beenote

Best for planning meeting notes


Beenote is an app created for teams and business leaders to plan and manage meetings.

Its planning phase has a set of prompts and templates to help you determine details on structure, content, and goals for your meeting and notes. 

You can add links, files including images and documents, meeting roles, decisions, and tasks to your meeting agenda ahead of your meetings. This helps you create a detailed agenda with all the details that participants need to prepare adequately for meetings.

Beenote also helps you plan your note-taking by segmenting your talk points into topics. This clear definition of what the focus of discussion is for each item on the agenda makes both deliberations and note-taking more purpose-driven and productive. 

Beenote’s integration with Microsoft Office 365 or Google Calendar allows you to also import meetings from your Calendar app into your Beenote meeting schedule.

A drawback we could identify while testing Beenote is its interface. It is not very visually pleasing and might sometimes appear messy. The app isn't as intuitive as the other products we reviewed and the built-in tutorials only contributed to making the initial experience. 

Pricing

$104 per user/year to custom pricing

nTask

Best user interface


nTask is a project management software that also offers some basic meeting notes features.

Its neat and easy-to-navigate dashboard that segments its functions contributes to an overall great experience

Like most meeting management apps, nTask integrates well with virtual meeting apps like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and it allows you to start meetings and calls from within the app. You can also integrate nTask with your Calendar app to schedule meetings and set up your agenda ahead of meetings. The meetings planned could be independent of or related to ongoing tasks.

The meeting notes are made up of the meeting agenda, discussion notes, follow-up actions, and key decisions.

Once the notes are completed, you can choose to submit them for review by all meeting participants or publish your notes directly on nTask.

Pricing

Free trial to custom pricing available.

Fellow.app

Best for meeting agenda templates


Fellow is an all-purpose meeting management app that allows you to record meeting notes, build meeting agendas, share and receive feedback, and assign action items.

Fellow distinguishes itself with its diverse meeting template options. You can select and adopt any of its meeting notes and agenda templates and save the time you would have spent creating your own.

Fellow’s feedback and collaboration features are also impressive. Invited team members can collaborate with you on agenda and notes, and add comments and quick reactions.

It has a broad range of integrations from work tools to virtual conferencing apps for an automated workflow.

Pricing

Free to custom pricing is available.

MeetingBooster

Best for organizing meeting notes


MeetingBooster’s strongest point for a meeting management software is its note-organizing features that allow teams to easily order, categorize, store, and recall their notes.

For example, MeetingBooster has the Project Label feature that allows you to group similar tasks into a label so that you can access them in previous and subsequent related meetings. 

MeetingBooster has a dedicated Meeting Agenda module that requires you to plan your talking points and topics before your meeting. This feature is intended to help you stay on the main issues for discussion and to stick to time.  

It also has a pre-meeting task feature that gives meeting participants a sense of what to expect and prepare for before attending a meeting. 

A major drawback of this app is its signup process. The process was the most inconvenient of the apps tested and required too much information - most of which are irrelevant. 

Pricing

MeetingBooster only offers custom pricing. 

Zoho Notebook

Best alternative to Evernote.

Zoho Notebook homepage

Zoho Notebook is an intuitive and powerful note-taking app that helps to capture your ideas.

It allows users to record various types of notes, including text, checklist, audio, photo, and documents. 

The best part of this tool is that you can jot down handwritten notes and sketches to realize your visual ideas.

With its advanced features like merging PDFs or annotating documents with the Zoho annotation tool, Zoho Notebook allows you to keep all of your important information gathered in one place.

Pricing

This product is free. Paid plans start from $1.99/month.

Notability

Best for handwritten notes.


Notability is a versatile application available on multiple platforms such as iOS, Mac, Windows, and Chrome. Its user interface is intuitive and organized, making the process of taking notes much smoother. 

Notability offers a variety of features including note sharing, audio recording, and PDF annotation, which make it a great choice for taking notes in any situation. 

For added convenience and creativity, Notability's freehand drawing feature enables users to draw diagrams, equations, and more directly onto notes with their finger or Apple Pencil. This lovely touch integration allows handwritten notes to appear naturally on screen just like they would on paper - making taking digital notes faster and easier than ever!

Pricing

  • The limited version is free. 

  • Notability Plus can be bought for a one-time fee.

Clover

Clover homepage

With access across mobile devices, desktops, and tablets, Clover gives users the flexibility they need to store their most important data wherever they are.

Its interface is intuitive and user-friendly, allowing anyone to quickly pick up on how to use it. 

Clover allows users to take notes in rich formats and organize them into separate categories for increased organization. It also provides an option to save notes with the latest version of Microsoft Office, making transferring notes from devices even easier. 

One unique feature of Clover is daily planner that allows you to plan work and keep track of tasks alongside a calendar.

Additionally, Clover employs advanced encryption and security protocols to keep sensitive information safe from potential predators on the Internet. 

Pricing

  • The starter plan is free with limited storage of 50 MB.

  • The Pro plan starts at $8/month.

Google Keep 

Best for Google Power users.

google-keep-user-interface

Being a part of the powerful Google apps family, Google Keep is a very straightforward meeting notes software that allows you to write and keep notes. 

You can quickly add text, images, or reminders to your notes with Keep, as well as create lists, assign tasks to specific people, and color code items for easier organization. 

The app also allows you to collaborate or share notes with other people and sync them across all of your devices so that you always have your notes with you no matter where you are. 

Pricing

Google Keep is free forever as long as you have a Google account; bravo!

GoodNotes 5

Best for iPad users.

goodnotes user interface

Being nominated iPad App of the Year 2022, this app has a highly intuitive interface that is easy to navigate and understand, while its powerful capabilities allow users to create extremely organized documents with ease. 

GoodNotes supports multiple types of media, like jpg and pdf, which allows users to combine their notes with relevant images or other forms of documents in the same space. 

It also provides a great search function for quickly finding information, and its versatile customizability gives users complete control over creating the perfect environment for taking notes just the way they like it.

With its OCR technology, users can scribble out thoughts and reminders in their own handwriting to capture ideas without needing to type. 

Goodnotes Note has become an invaluable tool for busy professionals who need to stay organized while still jotting down individualized handwritten notes. 

Pricing

Good Notes 5 is free for 3 notebooks; it can be purchased for a one-time fee of $8.99.

Apple Notes

Best for Apple users.

Apple Notes user interface

Apple Notes is an excellent note-taking app, perfect for those looking for an easy-to-use solution to stay organized. The app is user-friendly and provides options to save, tag, and sort all your notes - making it easy to access what you're searching for in one place. 

It also has helpful integrations with other Apple apps like Mail and Reminders, providing users a powerful way to stay connected across their devices. Additionally, the option to create checklists makes it easy to complete tasks or grocery lists quickly and easily. With its unique features and reliable capabilities, Apple Notes is sure to be the go-to note-taking app for everyday use.

Bottom line

There you have it. Our top picks for the best meeting notes apps available in the market to choose from.

The good thing is that all these apps offer a free trial, so you can have a try on some and choose the one that suits you best!

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