Best Note-Taking App for Students in 2025

The note-taking app you use doesn't just store your notes — it shapes how you think. A cluttered, slow app interrupts your train of thought. A fast, focused one disappears into the background.

After comparing the top options available in 2025, here's our honest verdict for students at every level.

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What students actually need in a notes app

Before comparing apps, let's be clear about what actually matters for studying:

1. Speed — you need to capture a lecture point before the professor moves on
2. Organization — notes from 6 different courses need to coexist without chaos
3. Search — finding that one definition from three weeks ago shouldn't take five minutes
4. Cross-device access — your laptop in class, your phone on the bus, your tablet at home
5. Structure — headers, lists, and formatting that help you review later
6. Sharing — study guides shared with classmates, without friction

Now let's see how the main apps stack up.

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Krokanti Notes

Best for: Students who want to write fast and find things faster

Krokanti Notes is built around the three things that matter most: a great editor, instant search, and zero friction between "I have an idea" and "the idea is saved."

Key features for students:

• Markdown editor — structure your notes with headers, bullets, bold terms, and code blocks
• Folders by subject — Economics, Biology, Literature — each in its own folder
• Tags — add #exam, #readings, #todo across any note, in any folder
• Instant full-text search — find any term, definition, or phrase across all notes
• Version history — accidentally overwrote your notes? Restore any previous version
• Public sharing — share a study guide with classmates via a link, no account required

Price: Free forever for core features.

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Notion

Best for: Students who want a full productivity system (and have time to set it up)

Notion is powerful. You can build a personal wiki, semester tracker, reading list, and assignment database — all connected. Students who invest time into Notion setups get incredible results.

The downside: setup time. Building a useful Notion workspace takes hours. During a lecture is not the moment to be configuring database properties.

Best use: Semester planning, long-form research projects, personal knowledge management — not real-time lecture notes.

Price: Free for personal use (limited features), Plus at $12/month.

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Evernote

Best for: Students who need web clipping (and are willing to pay)

Evernote pioneered the category and still has the best web clipper — useful for saving research articles with formatting intact. But since 2023, the free tier is limited to a single device.

The problem for students: Students use multiple devices constantly. Paying $14.99/month for a notes app is a lot on a student budget.

Better alternative: Krokanti Notes offers free multi-device access, better Markdown, and version history on every note — at no cost.

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Apple Notes

Best for: Students entirely within the Apple ecosystem

If you have a Mac, iPhone, and iPad — Apple Notes is genuinely great. It's fast, reliable, and has solid formatting tools. Handwriting support on iPad is excellent.

The dealbreaker: No Windows, no Android, no web access outside Safari/iCloud. If you use a Windows PC for anything, you're stuck.

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Obsidian

Best for: Students studying complex, interconnected subjects (law, medicine, research)

Obsidian is a powerful tool for building knowledge graphs — notes that link to other notes, creating a web of connected ideas. This is excellent for subjects where concepts interconnect deeply.

The learning curve: Obsidian is not for beginners. It requires understanding files, vaults, plugins, and backlinks. Most students don't need this complexity.

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Our recommendation

For most students, Krokanti Notes hits the sweet spot:

• No setup time — open and write
• Free on every device you own
• Folders and tags keep courses organized
• Instant search finds anything in seconds
• Public sharing for study groups
• Version history saves you from accidental deletions

For students building complex research projects: consider using Krokanti Notes for daily notes and Notion for project management.

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FAQ

Is Krokanti Notes free for students? Yes — the core features (unlimited notes, folders, tags, search, version history) are completely free, with no time limit.

Can I use Krokanti Notes on my phone and laptop? Yes. Krokanti Notes is a web app that works on any browser, on any device. No sync setup needed.

Can I share notes with classmates for group study? Yes — toggle any note to public and share the URL. Your classmates can view it without creating an account.

Does Krokanti Notes work for STEM subjects with formulas? Currently Krokanti Notes supports code blocks and inline code. LaTeX/math formula rendering is on our roadmap.

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See also: Krokanti Notes for Students · Features overview · Krokanti Notes vs Notion