Google Keep Alternatives in 2026: 9 Compared

Google Keep Alternatives in 2026: 9 Options, Prices Checked

The best Google Keep alternative in 2026 depends on why you are leaving. Apple Notes is the easiest free swap on iPhone, iPad and Mac. Microsoft OneNote is free to sign up for and handles longer notes. UpNote feels closest to Keep's quick, clean notes on every platform. Notion is for turning notes into projects and databases. Every price below was read on the vendor's own pricing page on 25 September 2026.

The short answer

On Apple devices: Apple Notes. Already installed, syncs through iCloud, and iCloud starts with 5 GB free.
On Windows or for school and work notes: Microsoft OneNote. Free to sign up for, with notebooks, drawing and voice transcription.
Closest to Keep's feel, on every platform: UpNote. Clean editor, offline, apps for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.
For projects and shared lists: Notion. Free for individuals.
For private notes: Standard Notes, with end-to-end encryption on its free plan.

Keep itself is still a fine place for shopping lists and quick reminders. Leave only for the limit you have actually hit. If that limit is wanting quick notes on a server you control, start with apps for quick notes you can host yourself.

How we picked

Each tool had to cover what people use Keep for: quick notes, lists and notes you want on your phone and computer.
Prices were read on each vendor's own pricing page on 25 September 2026, with the billing period named. Where a vendor showed us euros, the price stays in euros.
Every entry has a "Best for" line and a "Where it falls short" line, ours included.

dEssence is our product and it is number 6 on this list. It is not a notes app, so it will not replace Keep for lists or quick jottings. It is on the list for one reason people give for leaving Keep: they saved something useful and cannot find it again.

The nine at a glance: free plan and price

#	Tool	Free plan	Paid price on 25 Sep 2026
1	Apple Notes	Free on Apple devices, iCloud 5 GB free	iCloud+ 50 GB $0.99 a month
2	Microsoft OneNote	Free sign-up	Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year
3	Notion	Free for individuals	Plus $10 per seat a month billed yearly, $12 monthly
4	UpNote	Free up to 50 notes	Premium $1.99 a month or $39.99 lifetime
5	Obsidian	Free app	Sync $4 a month billed annually
6	dEssence	Free plan	Paid Pro plan on the site
7	Joplin	App is free and open source	Joplin Cloud Basic €2.40 a month billed yearly, €2.99 monthly
8	Standard Notes	Free, plain text, encrypted	Productivity $90 a year
9	Evernote	Free up to 50 notes	Starter €79.90 a year or €12.99 monthly

The same nine: what it does and who it suits

#	Tool	What it does	Best for
1	Apple Notes	Built-in notes and to-do lists, synced across Apple devices and iCloud.com	iPhone and Mac users who want zero setup
2	Microsoft OneNote	Notebooks with pages, drawing, voice transcription, Sticky Notes	Class, meeting and work notes
3	Notion	Pages, databases, forms and shared workspaces	Notes that turn into projects
4	UpNote	Rich text and Markdown, nested notebooks, offline, web clipper	A clean Keep replacement on every platform
5	Obsidian	Local Markdown files you own, links between notes, plugins	Long-term notes you want to keep as files
6	dEssence	Saves links, pages and screenshots, answers questions about them later	Finding a saved thing you can only half describe
7	Joplin	Open-source notebooks with Rich Text or Markdown editors	Notes in an open format you can move any time
8	Standard Notes	End-to-end encrypted notes synced on web, desktop and mobile	Private notes
9	Evernote	Notes, tags, reminders and search, with note limits by plan	People coming back to a familiar notebook app

1. Apple Notes

If you use an iPhone, iPad or Mac, the best Google Keep alternative is probably already installed. Apple Notes syncs through iCloud, so a list written on your Mac is on your iPhone when you are out.

Price on 25 September 2026. Notes comes with Apple devices. iCloud starts with 5 GB free. iCloud+ is $0.99 a month for 50 GB, $2.99 for 200 GB and $9.99 for 2 TB. Source: apple.com/icloud.

Best for: iPhone and Mac users who want zero setup.

Where it falls short. It is built for Apple devices. On Android or Windows you are limited to iCloud.com in a browser.

2. Microsoft OneNote

OneNote is Microsoft's free notes app for people who have outgrown sticky notes. It works in notebooks, sections and pages, lets you draw and annotate, transcribes voice, and now has Sticky Notes built in for quick capture.

Price on 25 September 2026. Free to sign up for at onenote.cloud.microsoft. Microsoft 365 Personal, which adds 1 TB of cloud storage and the other Office apps, is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. Source: microsoft.com OneNote pricing.

Best for: class notes, meeting notes and anything longer than a sticky note.

Where it falls short. You maintain the notebook structure yourself. A note filed in the wrong section is as hard to find as a note with the wrong label in Keep.

3. Notion

Notion is what people usually mean by "Google Keep or Notion". It turns notes into pages and databases: a reading list becomes a table, a trip becomes a page with checklists, and you can share any of it.

Price on 25 September 2026. Free for individuals. Plus is $10 per seat a month billed yearly or $12 monthly. Source: notion.com/pricing.

Best for: notes that turn into projects, plans or shared lists.

Where it falls short. Every page needs some setup. For a quick grocery list, Keep is still simpler. If you want well-designed documents more than databases, compare Craft vs Notion and the other Craft alternatives.

4. UpNote

UpNote is the closest match to what people like about Keep: a clean editor, automatic sync and apps everywhere. It adds nested notebooks, Markdown, internal links between notes, a lock, and web clippers for Chrome, Safari and Firefox. Notes work offline.

Price on 25 September 2026. Free up to 50 notes. Premium is $1.99 a month or $39.99 for a lifetime license, bought in the iOS, Android or Mac app. Apps for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. Source: getupnote.com.

Best for: a simple Keep replacement that also works on a Windows or Linux computer.

Where it falls short. The free plan stops at 50 notes, so anyone leaving a large Keep archive will need Premium.

5. Obsidian

Obsidian stores notes as Markdown files on your own device and lets you link them. It is the pick if you want notes that will outlive any app.

Price on 25 September 2026. The app is free, with no sign-up. Sync is $4 per user a month billed annually. Source: obsidian.md/pricing.

Best for: long-term notes you want to own as plain files.

Where it falls short. It is a big step up in effort from Keep. Folders, file names and links are yours to maintain.

6. dEssence

Ours, so the boundary first. dEssence is not a notes app. It will not replace Keep for typed notes, lists or quick reminders. You save links, pages and screenshots from the Chrome extension, the Telegram bot or the web app, and later you ask about them in your own words.

Price on 25 September 2026. There is a free plan and a paid Pro plan. Source: dessence.ai.

What it does. It keeps what you save and answers questions about your library, so you do not need the right label or the exact word. You can also ask it to watch a saved product for a price drop or your size coming back.

Best for: the article, recipe or product you saved and can only half describe.

Where it falls short. It is not built for typing notes or lists. If most of your Keep is typed notes and lists, pick one of the apps above.

7. Joplin

Joplin is a free, open-source notes app that saves notes in an open format. You choose a Rich Text or a Markdown editor, and organize notes in notebooks.

Price on 25 September 2026. The app is free. Joplin Cloud sync is €2.40 a month billed yearly or €2.99 monthly for Basic with 2 GB, as shown to us in euros. You can also self-host sync. Apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. Source: joplinapp.org/plans.

Best for: notes you want to be able to move out of any app at any time.

Where it falls short. It is organized around notebooks, so it asks for more filing than Keep.

8. Standard Notes

Standard Notes is for notes you want private. Even the free plan has end-to-end encryption, sync on web, desktop and mobile, offline access, tags and note passwords.

Price on 25 September 2026. Free for plain text notes. Productivity is $90 a year and adds rich text, checklists, folders and a web clipper. Professional is $120 a year with 100 GB of encrypted files. Source: standardnotes.com/plans.

Best for: private notes where encryption matters more than looks.

Where it falls short. The free plan is plain text. Checklists, which many Keep users rely on, are in the paid Super note type.

9. Evernote

Evernote is the long-running notebook app. It still has notes, tags, reminders and search, but the free plan is now small.

Price on 25 September 2026. Free up to 50 notes. Starter is €79.90 a year or €12.99 monthly, up to 1,000 notes. Advanced is €199.99 a year or €21.99 monthly with unlimited notes, as shown to us in euros. Source: evernote.com/compare-plans.

Best for: people who want a familiar notebook app and are fine paying for it.

Where it falls short. Note limits on Free and Starter make it one of the pricier moves on this list.

Pick by the reason you are leaving Keep

You switched to iPhone. Apple Notes. It is free and already there.
Your notes got longer. OneNote or UpNote. Both handle long notes, and OneNote is free to sign up for.
Your lists turned into projects. Notion. Google Keep or Notion is really a question of whether you need databases.
You want the notes to be yours. Obsidian or Joplin, both free apps with open formats.
You want them private. Standard Notes, encrypted on the free plan.
You cannot find what you saved. A better editor will not fix that. This is the one case dEssence is on this list for.

Test with five old notes before you switch

Pick five Keep notes you still need, including one list and one with a photo.
Move them into the new app by hand.
Add a new note from your phone in under ten seconds.
Find one of the five by what it was about, not by its title.
Check it on your computer.

If the new app is slower at step 3 than Keep, keep using Keep for quick notes and use the new app for the rest. Many people end up with two tools, and that is fine.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Google Keep?

Apple Notes on Apple devices, because it is free and already installed. On Android or Windows, UpNote is the closest in feel and OneNote is the strongest free option. Notion is better if your notes are turning into projects.

What app is similar to Google Keep?

UpNote is the most similar: quick, clean notes with automatic sync and apps on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android. Its free plan stops at 50 notes, and Premium was $1.99 a month or $39.99 lifetime on 25 September 2026.

Is there a Google Notes alternative with no limits on the free plan?

Obsidian's pricing page calls the app "free without limits", and Joplin's app is free and open source. Apple Notes is free, but it shares the 5 GB of free iCloud storage. UpNote and Evernote both cap their free plans at 50 notes.

Google Keep or Notion: which is better?

Keep for quick notes, lists and reminders. Notion for pages, databases and shared plans. Many people use both. Notion's Plus plan was $10 per seat a month billed yearly on 25 September 2026, and it is free for individuals.

What is the best tool for memo notes?

For short memos you want on your phone and computer, Apple Notes if you are on Apple devices and UpNote or OneNote if you are not. For memos you want to find again months later by what they were about, a save-and-ask tool like dEssence.

Is Google Keep free?

Yes. Keep is free with a Google account, and every Google account comes with up to 15 GB of storage shared across Google services, according to the Google One plans page.