Eight apps students use for notes and revision: what each one is best at, where it falls short, and which of them bring your notes back for review before the exam.
We make Breef, and it’s on this list. It comes first because it’s ours, not because it ranks first: the others are in no particular order. Every app is described from its own website and help pages as of November 2026, with what it does better than Breef said plainly.
Students ask three things of a notes app: somewhere to take notes, by typing, handwriting or recording; a way to keep a term of them organised by course; and help remembering them at the exam. Most apps are built around one of the three. Notebook apps are best at the first, workspaces at the second, and flashcard apps at the third.
The third matters more than it looks. Reviews of study techniques rate testing yourself and spreading study out over time as the two that work best, and rereading notes as one of the weakest. So alongside how each app feels to write in, we’ve noted whether it brings material back for spaced review, and how.
YesFlashcards made inside your notes, scheduled for review
1Breef
Remembering what you study, from your own notes
Price
Free; Pro is paid
Platforms
In the browser on any computer or phone; installable
Breef is a note-taking app built for remembering. Notes link with [[double brackets]], are drawn as one map of everything you know, and come back for review a day after you write them, then less and less often, with three questions written from each. Lectures recorded in a note are written up for you, and PDFs become linked notes; Pro, at €6 a month or €48 a year, is for heavier use of voice notes and AI.
Strengths
Spaced review of your notes themselves, with quizzes written from them
Lectures recorded and written up into notes, 2 hours a month free
A map of your notes, coloured by how well you know each one
Limits
Browser only, installable as an app, and it needs a connection; no handwriting or drawing
No shared decks, and no editing together: shared notes and courses are read-only
2Notion
One workspace for notes, projects and group work
Price
Free; paid plans; a free Education Plan for students
Platforms
Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android
Notion is a workspace for docs, wikis and databases, used for everything from class notes to group projects and life admin. Pages link to each other both ways and sync everywhere, but there are no study features like spaced review built in. Students with a school email can get its Education Plan free.
Strengths
Databases, templates and views to organise almost anything
Real-time editing and comments for group work
A free Education Plan for students
Limits
No spaced review or quizzes built in
Notion AI is only a trial on the Free and Plus plans
A free notebook for typing, drawing and handwriting
Price
Free; Copilot with Microsoft 365
Platforms
Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android, web
OneNote is Microsoft’s free digital notebook: notebooks, sections and pages on an open canvas, where you can type, draw and handwrite anywhere. It runs on nearly every device, keeps notebooks for offline use, and schools use its Class Notebooks. Its AI, Copilot, needs a Microsoft 365 plan, and its study guides with flashcards and quizzes are for school and work accounts on Windows.
Strengths
Free, on Windows, Mac, iPad, iPhone, Android and the web
Typing, handwriting and drawing on the same page
Shared notebooks edited in real time, and Class Notebooks for schools
Limits
Nothing brings notes back for review
Audio recording, transcription and handwriting to text are fullest on Windows
Goodnotes is a handwriting app for tablets: notebooks you write in with a stylus, PDFs you mark up, and handwriting you can search. Its Study Sets hold flashcards, and on Apple devices Smart Learn spreads their review over days. The free plan holds 3 documents in all, and syncing between Apple and other devices takes Pro.
Strengths
Handwriting and PDF annotation, with handwriting search
Flashcards with spaced review on iPad, iPhone and Mac
Audio recordings that replay with your handwriting, on Apple devices
Limits
Study Sets and some other features are on Apple devices only
Notability brings handwriting, typing and PDF annotation together with lecture recording: it records the lecture while you write, and keeps the recording with the note. It transcribes recordings and makes AI quizzes and flashcards, with limits on the cheaper plans and chat with your notes on Pro.
Strengths
Handwriting with a stylus, beside typed text and PDFs
Lecture recordings kept with your notes, to play back
Linked notes kept as Markdown files on your own device
Price
Free; Sync and Publish paid
Platforms
Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android
Obsidian keeps your notes as Markdown files in a folder on your device, linked with [[links]] and drawn as a graph. It’s free for personal and work use, works fully offline, and does almost anything with community plugins, spaced repetition among them. Syncing between devices and publishing are paid, or you set up your own sync.
Flashcards and shared decks, with a scheduler you can tune
Price
Free; iOS app paid
Platforms
Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS; AnkiWeb in the browser
Anki is the long-standing flashcard app: you write cards, or download decks others have shared, and it schedules each card with SM-2 or the adaptive FSRS. It’s free on computers and Android, with a paid iOS app and free sync through AnkiWeb. It isn’t a place to take notes, so many students pair it with one that is.
Strengths
A scheduler you can tune in depth, FSRS included
Shared decks for medicine, languages and much more
RemNote puts notes and flashcards in one app: you mark lines of your notes as cards of many kinds, and it schedules them with spaced repetition. It also annotates PDFs beside your notes and has an exam scheduler. The free plan has unlimited notes and cards, with limits on PDFs and exams; the Lecture Recorder and AI chat are on its top plan.
Strengths
Flashcards of many kinds, written inside your notes
We followed what a student does over a term: take notes in class, from slides and from books; keep them organised by course; and remember them at the exam. For each app we checked, on its own website and help pages in November 2026, how you write in it, whether it records lectures, whether it brings material back for spaced review, which devices it runs on, and which parts are paid.
We left out exact prices, which change often, and anything we couldn’t find on an app’s own pages. We didn’t score or rank the apps: the right one depends on whether you handwrite or type, whether you work alone or in a group, and whether you need to remember the material or only keep it. If something here is out of date, write to support@breef.app and we’ll put it right.
Questions
What is the best note-taking app for students?
It depends on how you take notes. For handwriting on a tablet, Goodnotes or Notability; for a free notebook on every device, OneNote; for group projects and organising, Notion; for linked notes as files you own, Obsidian; for flashcards, Anki or RemNote. If you want your notes themselves to come back for review, that’s what Breef is for.
Which note-taking apps have spaced repetition built in?
Anki, RemNote and Breef schedule reviews wherever they run; Goodnotes does for its Study Sets on Apple devices. Notability makes quizzes and flashcards from your notes, Obsidian has spaced repetition through community plugins, and Notion and OneNote have none built in.
Is there a free note-taking app for students?
Several. OneNote is free with a Microsoft account, Obsidian is free for personal use, Anki is free except on iOS, and Notion has a free Education Plan for students with a school email. Breef, Goodnotes, Notability and RemNote have free plans with limits.
Should I handwrite or type my notes?
The research hasn’t settled it: the well-known finding that handwriting beats a laptop didn’t hold up in later replications. Putting things in your own words and reviewing them matters more. If you handwrite, Goodnotes, Notability and OneNote suit you; if you type, any of the others do.