How to choose the right note-taking app

• The architect. They enjoy planning, designing processes and frameworks, and need a note-taking tool that allows them to easily structure their ideas.
• The gardener. They enjoy exploring, connecting various thoughts together, and need a note-taking tool that allows them to easily grow their ideas.
• The librarian. They enjoy collecting, building a catalogue of resources, and need a note-taking tool that allows them to easily retrieve their ideas.

Architectural note-taking apps rely on a hierarchical structure based on pages and categories. They require a bit of planning to decide whether an idea deserves its own category or its own page.

But once you have made the effort to go through that decision-making and design process, you can keep on re-using your templates for different workflows, which can be great for productivity.

• Notion
• Coda
• Tettra

Instead of having a template-first approach, they are more akin to the process of simultaneously exploring and building a map.

Non-linear, these apps offer bi-directional linking, allowing you to not only see what a note links to, but what notes link back to it. So you can discover connections between ideas that you may have not made yourself. 

• Roam Research.
• Obsidian.
• Remnote

Note-taking apps do not have to be more than a place to store and retrieve information you care about. 

Web clipping, rich formatting, file attachment, tagging, and a way to filter your notes is all you need to quickly save and access what you need.

• Evernote
• OneNote
• Bear

• Need to store a large amount of mostly static information in order to easily retrieve it later? Evernote 
• Need to brainstorm new ideas? Obsidian, Remnote
• Need to organize a large project and manage your productivity? Notion