Onenote#
OneNote is the first electronic note-taking software I used, starting when I entered college. At that time, I mainly used it to record some class notes, such as humanities courses and math courses. It is convenient for free arrangement and handwriting. I remember that I even bought a drawing tablet specifically for using OneNote on the computer. In the end, I gradually stopped using OneNote because it was inconvenient to export on the Mac platform and there were some synchronization issues.
Notion#
I discovered Notion in 2019 or 2020. The first time I used it, I found its note-taking function very powerful and its interface design very exquisite, leaving a deep impression on me. I started using it intermittently. At that time, the biggest problem for me was that it didn't have an offline mode. Without internet access, I couldn't access it. Later on, I continued to use Notion intermittently.
Craft#
In 2021, I came across Craft. What attracted me the most was the aesthetics of this note-taking software, so I bought a one-year membership. In the following year, I mainly used Craft. Later, I found that the main problem was that it didn't perform well on the Mac platform, but I continued to use it anyway.
Although I also used note-taking software during my undergraduate years, I didn't remember much. Although I occasionally took notes in class, most of the time I wrote directly on PDFs and then reviewed them by looking at the PDFs. From this perspective, PDF Expert is the software I use most frequently.
Obsidian#
I started using Obsidian in September 2022. I had tried it a few times before, but I didn't use it intensively. The reason I started using Obsidian was because I couldn't stand the slow network loading speed of Notion and the lag of Graph on Mac. As a local note-taking software, Obsidian's biggest advantage is its speed, almost instant. However, the main problem is that managing images is difficult and complex, requiring a self-built image hosting service. In addition, Obsidian's official sync service is expensive enough to buy other full-featured note-taking software. I use devices including Windows, MacOS, and iOS, so syncing between iOS and Windows became a problem. I use Dropbox and Remotely Save for syncing, but the main problem with this approach is that if Remotely Save is set to auto-sync, it can easily create conflicting files. And when syncing manually, I often forget to sync after writing, so I can't see it on other computers. This gradually became the reason why I reduced my use of Obsidian.
Heptabase#
In November 2022, I learned about Heptabase on a tech website. I was pleasantly surprised by its discovery. Using a whiteboard to organize cards is exactly what I expect from note-taking software. After hesitating for a while, I decided to purchase a one-year subscription to Heptabase. The user experience of Heptabase is great, and the official updates are also fast.
Later, while using Heptabase, I found that once my whiteboard project became larger, I became lazy to adjust the card positions because adjusting one card usually means adjusting a bunch of cards. This became one of the reasons why I reduced my use of Heptabase. However, they later introduced the MindMap feature, which integrates cards into mind maps, simplifying the process. In addition, I also felt that using Heptabase's whiteboard to organize simple course notes was a bit cumbersome, but they later upgraded the tag system, which solved this problem. Overall, I didn't encounter any major issues while using Heptabase, and I am very satisfied with this software, except for the price.
UpNote#
In Heptabase's Discord discussion group, I discovered UpNote. It supports cross-platform syncing and also supports rich-text Markdown and other content. UpNote provides cloud sync service and has a one-time purchase price of $29, which surprised me. The main reason I bought it at that time was to use it as a cross-platform memo app, so that I could have a similar experience to Apple's Notes app on Windows. However, later on, I didn't use this software frequently because I didn't have any special needs in this regard.
Capacities#
While exploring other software, I came across Capacities. It improves some of Notion's features to some extent by putting all content in one database. This means that unlike Notion, which creates multiple databases and associates them, Capacities allows you to manage all content in one database. However, it also has some shortcomings. I think the biggest problem is the editor. As a relatively new software, the editor still has some issues. In addition, it is an online note-taking software like Notion, so the loading speed is not very fast.
Workflowy#
Later on, I continued to search for other note-taking software and finally found Workflowy. Workflowy is a note-taking software that has been around for over a decade. It is a minimalist outline-based software. In terms of functionality, it takes outlines to the extreme and supports features such as tag selection, linking, and mirroring. However, one drawback is that it does not support mathematical formulas. In addition, Workflowy does not provide a good way to view multiple notes in parallel. Although it has a board mode, I don't think it is done very well.
Logseq#
Next, I learned about Logseq, which is on par with Obsidian. When I was using Obsidian, I had already heard of Logseq, but I never tried it because it is mainly an outline-based note-taking software. Recently, I downloaded Logseq to try it out and found that its UI is quite rough. Although it has a plugin marketplace, its functionality is not satisfactory. After trying it out, I uninstalled the software.
Tana#
Finally, I learned about Tana, a recently popular software that seems to still be in the invitation-only stage. Tana is an outline note-taking software, but it uses a database model at its core. You can treat each node as an item in the database, similar to Notion's databases. I think because Tana is still in the early stages, its editor is not very polished and does not support mathematical formulas and images. Although it supports inserting images, the operation is not smooth. I think its biggest problem is that the filtering function of the database is not well done and does not reach the usability of Notion.
Conclusion#
In the process of trying out these note-taking software, although I didn't gain any additional knowledge, I did experience some joy.
Recently, I have been using Notion for note-taking and Whimsical for whiteboard organization. The main reason for choosing these two tools is that they are free. Previously, I organized my subscription service list and found that the subscription costs exceeded my expectations. Therefore, I currently only keep some essential subscription services, such as Dropbox.