Comparison

Notebook vs Google Keep

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Notebook

Capture your thoughts, ideas, and tasks with a versatile digital notebook. Create rich notes with text, files, audio, and video. Organize content visually, collaborate in real-time, and access everything across your devices.

Highlights
  • Rich note creation with text, files, audio, and video
  • Checklist creation for task management
  • Bookmark collection and offline reading
  • Kanban-style note organization
  • Real-time collaboration and sharing
  • AI-powered journaling suggestions
  • Cross-device and cloud synchronization
Features
Read full description

Zoho Notebook is a free, ad-free note-taking app for students, teams and researchers: capture, find and reuse what you write down — typed notes, Apple Pencil handwriting, voice recordings with AI transcription, checklists, files and document scans in one note. Syncs across iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and other devices. WHAT PEOPLE USE NOTEBOOK FOR 1. MEETING AND LECTURE NOTES Record with audio or video cards; Notebook AI turns it into searchable text with timestamps, so you jump straight to the decision instead of replaying it. Structured minutes with title, participants, decisions and action points sit in the note beside your highlights. Record screen and self at once; longer videos get chapters. 2. STUDY AND RESEARCH Record lectures and search the transcript weeks later. Scan textbooks and business cards, handwrite and sketch with Apple Pencil, use OCR to find text inside photos and handwritten notes, so nothing you captured becomes unfindable. A long note becomes an AI mind map before an exam. 3. DAILY TO-DOS AND JOURNALING Dedicated checklist cards keep tasks beside your notes, and recurring reminders keep them on schedule. Journaling prompts come from your own activity, easier to keep than a blank page. 4. FILES, SCANS, AND SAVED READING Add PDFs, Word docs and spreadsheets with file cards. Articles, videos, recipes and how-tos become Smart Cards, formatted automatically, readable offline and ad-free. Group it all into nested collections. QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK Is it free? Yes, with 2GB of free storage and no ads. Notebook Pro adds more storage, longer notes, larger attachments, Email-In to save emails as notes, premium covers, and custom recurring reminders. Can I move my notes from Evernote, Google Keep, or OneNote? Yes, with dedicated migration tools; it arrives organized. Is my data private? Notes are encrypted in transit and at rest. We never sell your data and never show ads. Lock notes or notebooks with a password, Touch ID or Face ID; previews stay hidden until unlocked. Does it work offline? Yes. Create, edit and read offline, then pick up on another device once it syncs to the cloud. What can Notebook AI do? Transcribe audio and video, build mind maps, summarize and simplify, fix grammar, set tone (casual, professional, friendly, direct, or confident), translate into any language, draft notes, checklists, tables, code or a template from a prompt, and suggest tags. Notebook AI is a separate add-on. Does it use on-device AI and Siri? Yes. An on-device Knowledge Graph links ideas across notebooks and answers questions from your own notes. Siri creates and updates notes by voice with the app closed, and On-Screen Awareness summarizes what's on screen without switching apps. Can I share with non-users? Yes. @mention people to collaborate in real time, or publish a public note or video by link. MORE INSIDE - Search by title, content, tag, collaborator, or notebook; filter by any card type, contact, or link; search within one note; sort by date or relevance, with auto-suggestions and recent searches, offline and across languages - iPhone: text-search audio notes, share via iMessage, dictate with Siri, recent notes from the Notification Bar, SharePlay in calls - iPad: drag and drop, split view, slide over, multiple windows, Stage Manager - Apple Watch: record audio, scribble notes, check off lists, add photo notes, record in one tap from a watch face complication - VoiceOver and a dark interface - Roll back to any of a note's last 10 versions Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled and are charged to your Apple Account. Prices vary by location. Manage in your account settings. Privacy - https://www.zoho.com/privacy.html Terms - https://www.zoho.com/terms.html

About

Google Keep

Capture, edit, and share notes and lists across all your devices. Organize with labels and colors, and set time or location-based reminders. Collaborate with others in real-time for shared tasks.

Highlights
  • Capture notes, lists, photos, and audio
  • Organize with labels and colors
  • Set time and location-based reminders
  • Collaborate on notes and lists
  • Transcribe voice memos
  • Extract text from images
Currently charting
Read full description

• Capture, edit, share, and collaborate on your notes on any device, anywhere. • Add notes, lists, photos, and audio to Keep. • Organize your notes with labels and colors. • Set and forget. Get reminded about a note at the right time or place. • Record a voice memo and have it automatically transcribed. • Grab the text from an image to help you quickly find that note again through search. WHEN AND WHERE YOU NEED IT Need to remember to pick up some groceries? Set a location-based reminder to pull up your grocery list right when you get to the store. Need to finish a to-do? Set a time-based reminder to make sure you never miss a thing. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS Next time you go to the store, share your shopping list on Keep and watch as items get checked off in real time. No need for text messages back and forth. Get things done together, faster. FIND WHAT YOU NEED, FAST Quickly filter and search for notes by color and other attributes like lists with the label “To-dos”, audio notes with reminders or just see shared notes. Find what you're looking for even faster, and let Keep do the remembering for you. ALWAYS WITHIN REACH Keep works on your phone, tablet and computer. Everything you add to Keep syncs across your devices so your important stuff is always with you. Try Google Keep on the web at http://keep.google.com and find it in the Chrome Web Store at http://g.co/keepinchrome.

Screenshots

Notebook4 screens
Google Keep4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Google Keep at none against Notebook's 8. Google Keep also leads on chart position (#76 vs unranked). Notebook's advantage is review sentiment (65% vs 42%) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Notebook sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. Google Keep asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Notebook against 4.6 for Google Keep. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 24K and 29K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Notebook's written reviews are positive against 42% of Google Keep's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Notebook ships an update every 6 days, Google Keep weekly. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Notebook versus Google Keep: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNotebookGoogle Keep
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (24K ratings) — better4.6 (29K ratings)
Positive reviews64.7% of reviews — better42.4% of reviews
Number of ratings24K29K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#76 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size220 MB210 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperZoho CorporationGoogle

Customer experience

Notebook

All ratings23,853 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.1%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews603 reviews
Positive64.7%
Neutral10.4%
Negative24.9%

Google Keep

All ratings28,987 ratings
Positive89.3%
Neutral3.6%
Negative7.1%
Written reviews1,226 reviews
Positive42.4%
Neutral16.6%
Negative40.9%

User reviews

Notebook

From 24K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Highly organized and customizable
  • 👍 Visually appealing and intuitive
  • 🔒 Secure with password protection
  • 🤳 Seamless cross-device sync
  • 📝 Versatile note-taking features

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional sync and stability issues
  • 🔀 Inconsistent note order after editing
  • 🔍 Limited search functionality
  • 📤 Lack of export/backup options
  • 🔗 Difficulty inserting links in notes

Google Keep

From 29K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Lean and efficient
  • 👍 Minimalistic and easy to use
  • 🤝 Good for collaboration
  • 💡 Useful for note-taking and lists

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Buggy and crashes frequently
  • 🔄 Sync issues and data loss
  • 🕰️ Slow performance and lag
  • 📱 Limited functionality on mobile
  • 🔒 Lack of security features

Bugs and requests

Notebook

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Freezing and crashing issues
  • Inconsistent behavior when editing notes
  • Syncing problems across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved sorting and reordering options for notes
  • Enhanced search capabilities
  • Ability to export notes in various formats
  • More customization options for notebook covers
  • Integration with other productivity apps

Google Keep

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes randomly duplicating or disappearing
  • Checkboxes not working as expected
  • Keyboard issues and text input problems
  • Refresh failures and connectivity problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for widgets
  • Improve text formatting options
  • Introduce folder/category organization
  • Enable password protection for notes
  • Enhance search and sorting capabilities

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Notebook

Subscriptions7
  • Notebook Pro$2.491 Month
  • Notebook Pro Plus$3.991 Month
  • Notebook AI$4.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Notebook Personal$14.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro2 variants$24.991 Year
  • Notebook Pro Plus$39.991 Year
  • Notebook AI$49.991 Year
None

Google Keep

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Notebook free?
Notebook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Google Keep free?
Google Keep is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Notebook or Google Keep?
Notebook is rated higher. Notebook averages 4.7 out of 5 from 24K ratings, while Google Keep averages 4.6 from 29K ratings.
Do Notebook or Google Keep have ads?
Neither Notebook nor Google Keep shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Notebook or Google Keep?
Notebook ships an update every 6 days, and Google Keep weekly. Most recently, Notebook was updated on September 24, 2026 and Google Keep on September 24, 2026.

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