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Best Note Taking App For Students

250+ iOS apps curated and reviewed

4.8 avg rating
20 free apps
Updated November 2026

From beginner-friendly picks to power-user tools, our note taking app for students list covers 250+ iPhone apps updated through November 2026. Compare ratings, prices, and screenshots in one place.

Compare top Note Taking App For Students (November 2026)

#AppPriceRatingAdsIn-App PurchasesUpdated
1Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDFGoodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDFFree4.7★ (470K)NoYesNov 2026
2Microsoft OneNoteMicrosoft OneNoteFree4.7★ (1.1M)NoYesNov 2026
3Freenotes®: AI Notes TakingFreenotes®: AI Notes TakingFree4.7★ (66K)NoYesNov 2026
4Take Note - Pocket EditionTake Note - Pocket EditionFree5.0★ (2)NoNoMay 2026
5Notify - AI Note TakerNotify - AI Note TakerFree—NoYesSep 2026
6Note Instant Taker AINote Instant Taker AIFree—NoYesOct 2026
7SmartNotes - AI Note TakingSmartNotes - AI Note TakingFree—NoYesOct 2026
8StudyNotes - Note Taking AIStudyNotes - Note Taking AIFree—NoYesOct 2026

Top Picks for Note Taking App For Students

Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF#1

Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF by Goodnotes Limited

Note taking, Planner & Journal
Editor's Choice
📊 Productivity
4.7😊(470K ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF screenshot 1
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Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF screenshot 4
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF screenshot 5
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF screenshot 6

Capture ideas and unlock insights with powerful AI tools for note-taking, brainstorming, and document creation. Enhance productivity for professionals and students with features like AI transcription, summarization, and interactive study sets.

What We Love

  • 🚀 Excellent note-taking experience
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🚀 Smooth writing with Apple Pencil
  • 📁 Powerful organization with folders and notebooks
  • 🖼️ Ability to annotate PDFs and documents
  • 🌈 Customizable paper styles and covers

Room to Improve

  • 🐛 Glitches and crashes
  • 🔍 Syncing and iCloud issues
  • 🔍 Lack of flexibility with text input
  • 🔍 Limited eraser and highlighting options
  • 🔍 Subpar performance on Mac app
Microsoft OneNote#2

Microsoft OneNote by Microsoft Corporation

Capture Notes, Ideas and Memos
Strong Contender
📊 Productivity
4.7😐(1.1M ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
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Microsoft OneNote screenshot 6

Capture and organize your thoughts, ideas, and plans with a powerful digital note-taking app. Utilize AI features for summarization and transcription, and seamlessly sync notes across all your devices. Collaborate on creative projects and integrate with other Microsoft Office applications.

What We Love

  • 🚀 Simple, works well
  • 👍 Great for planning
  • 👍 Powerful note-taking app
  • 👍 Invaluable tool for note taking
  • 👍 Used for years, couldn't be without this app
  • 👍 Helps keep up with college
  • 👍 A+ for getting life organized
  • 👍 Best app to get organized
  • 👍 Excellent across ALMOST all platforms
  • 👍 Excellent for work and school
  • 👍 Wonderful app (better than Evernote)
  • 👍 Paperless uni student
  • 👍 EVERYTHING in one place & mega easy to find
  • 👍 Amazing. Especially since it's free
  • 👍 Awesome app
  • 👍 Using it for years

Room to Improve

  • 🔨 Could be better
  • 🔨 Formatting issues on mobile app
  • 🔨 Buggy widget, no dark app icon
  • 🐛 Glitchy, crashes often
  • 🐛 Terrible sync speeds
  • 🐛 The drawing tool switches to text tool without being selected
  • 🐛 Crashes since iOS 17
  • 🐛 Dude, please fix scrolling issue
  • 🐛 Bugs, lots of bugs
  • 🐛 Terrible on iPad, very slow
  • 🐛 Glitchy af now
  • 🐛 Strokes vanish randomly when writing with Apple Pencil
  • 🐛 No easy way to select large amounts of only highlighting
  • 🐛 Unbelievably unreliable
  • 🐛 Wildly inconsistent syncing
  • 🐛 Very glitchy, too risky
  • 🐛 App crashing
Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking#3

Freenotes®: AI Notes Taking by Free Notes AI Note Taker LTD

Docs PDF Memo Planner Pencil
Worth Considering
📊 Productivity
4.7😊(66K ratings)
FreeIn-App Purchases
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Transform your device into an AI-powered digital notepad for natural handwriting and intelligent organization. Quickly summarize documents, ask questions about PDFs, and get homework help. Ideal for students and professionals seeking a smarter, paperless workflow.

What We Love

  • 🚀 Completely free app with no ads or in-app purchases
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 📚 Comprehensive note-taking features (layers, templates, stickers, etc.)
  • 🎨 Highly customizable (colors, fonts, covers, etc.)
  • 🗂️ Excellent organization tools (folders, notebooks, etc.)
  • 💻 Seamless integration with iPad and Apple Pencil
  • 🔥 Regularly updated with new features and improvements

Room to Improve

  • 🐛 Occasional issues with syncing and iCloud backup
  • 🖌️ Limited customization options for pen/pencil settings
  • 🔍 Lack of handwriting recognition and search
  • 🔗 No support for external links or clickable content
  • 🔀 Difficulty in rearranging or splitting notebooks

More Note Taking App For Students apps to explore

FAQ about Note Taking App For Students

What is the best note taking app for students for iPhone?
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF tops our note taking app for students ranking as of November 2026, with a 4.7-star average from 470K App Store ratings, and it's free to download.
Yes — 20 of the top note taking app for students we rank are free to download, including Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF and Microsoft OneNote.
Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF has no ads and offers in-app purchases, according to its App Store listing as of November 2026.
We track 250+ note taking app for students on the iOS App Store as of November 2026, ranked by rating, recency, and analysis of real user reviews.