Its 2016, and still mankind has not been able to build a perfect note taking app. Almost all of them have some kind of flaw. Some are too bloated, some are too basic and some (Looking at you, EverNote) are too expensive for what they have to offer. In the Note-taking app crowd, OneNote and Simplenote are two best and unique apps. In this post, we will take a look at in Onenote vs Simplenote , which one is better for you and why.
Onenote vs Simplenote
Simplenote and OneNote both are some of the best apps ever made. Microsoft and Auttomatic both have been in this market for some time. Whereas Microsoft has built OneNote and sold it with other Microsoft Office apps for years Auttomatic has simply bought the app and made it completely free for everyone.
When thinking about Onenote vs Simplenote , the differences are not just these. As the philosophy and overall feel for both note-taking apps is completely different.
Creating Notes
The best notebook is one that you have everytime, SimpleNote and Onenote both are more than enough to cover your note taking need in an instant.
Onenote has a full wordprocessor style UI where you can create and format notes as you wish, to take a note, simply click on any empty place and start hitting your keyboard. In Simplenote, you also have same convenince as Onenote – except for one thing, you cant format any note more than Markdown. There are no options for you to change text colors or to instet any thing other than text. OneNote has great support for stylus, whereas Simplenote does not have it at all.
In Onenote, you can write, draw, insert images and audio recordings. In Simplenote, you are striittly limited to plain text that can be used with markdown. If you paste a image from a web page, Simplenote will convert it to a link to image that can be opened in a web browser.
Managing notes
When deciding between Onenote vs Simplenote , OneNote is great for most people because it does so much and it has most features that a simple user may need.
Instead of listing a endless amount of notes on a sidebar, OneNote lets you create separate Notebooks and sections. You can create a notebook for Work and one for your home or hobby.
Simplenote is a bit restrictive on notes management as it doesn’t let you divide notes in folders or sections. Instead, you can add tags to your notes and later find and sort notes based on tags.
For this single reason, Onenote should be the winner for most users in Onenote vs Simplenote debate.
Also Read: Best Onenote alternatives
Simplenote has some great plus points too
Granted that Onenote has extra features, Simplenote is still favorite for many known writers and publishers. The reason lies in convenience and attention to polish.
Simplenote has some features that Onenote simply cant offer. For example, you can directly publish a note on the internet and send a link to your friend to read it. Unlike other services, It just works, two clicks and boom- you don’t even have to launch a web browser.
Not just that, Simplenote has good Fantastic markdown support.
for an example, to make a sentence to H1 simple Place a # in front of it.
Also, a UI as minimalist as Simplenote will definalety help you in focusing on your work rather than searching within tons of toolbars.
Performance and cross platform availability
Both of the apps are available for almost all common platforms. Onenote looks and works best on Windows. Whereas Simplenote ‘s OS X app feels more polished than other platforms. Android apps are a different story though, OneNote is good enough for simple takes but feels too complicated sometimes. Simplenote on android feels snappy but it looses its markdown feature.
Debate on performance between Simplenote and Onenote goes in favor of Simplenote. The apps are ridiculously small for both platforms. The Android version sizes 4 MB to download not only it makes it faster in installation but also overall the app is far more faster in operation.
So, Which one should you pick?
So after looking on different aspects of these note taking solutions, which one is really better? Simplenote or Onenote?
OneNote is good for almost everybody
Granted that the app is a bit bloated, Onenote is still the best Note taking solution for normal users. Not only it is feature rich but also Onenote offers better flexibility than even some paid alternatives.
In case you are a student, or you need to work with photos, Onenote is the only winner for you in Simplenote vs Onenote comparison.
Onenote feels like a Word Processor
Simplenote is for some specific users
Simplenote, while being too limited compared to OneNote, is still a worth consideration for many cases. Writers, Bloggers and creative people find its minimalism useful.
Programmers and developers can benefit from its excellent markdown support. If you need to focus while jotting down notes and you don’t have needs for image support or a stylus, you should be going with Simplenote.
After using OneNote for 2 Years, I have switched to Simplentoe
Which one do you prefer?
After talking about Onenote vs Simplenote on many points, which one do you prefer and why? Share with others in the comments below.
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