10 Best Online Notepad in 2024 (All free)
Online notepads help you to take and save notes with ease. Some are simple, while others offer more bells and whistles.
Capturing and organizing your ideas quickly and efficiently is a major asset for creativity. But creative people engage in the most varied professions, making it impossible to have one single best tool.
This post presents the best online notepads with unique features out there. It looks at their helpful functions to discover how they can best serve your needs.
Online Notepad Usage Tips
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when selecting or using an online notepad.
- Some sites need you to sign up, while others do not.
- Some notepads save your data locally, while others save in the cloud.
- Many notepads are entirely web-based, while some also have smartphone apps.
- Always be careful with personal information online. Because you never know who might get access to the stuff you save on a server somewhere.
- Keep in mind that those notepads that recognize you without logging in work with cookies. So, if you ever clear your browser’s cache, then you may lose all your notes.
- The same goes for incognito or private browsing, your data will get deleted once you close the tab or browser.
10 Best Online Notepads
Name | Best For | Account | Cost | Website |
---|---|---|---|---|
Google Keep | Notes, reminders, syncs | Yes | Free | keep.google.com |
RapidTables | General use, extra tools | No | Free | rapidtables.com |
Shrib | Simple & advanced | No, Yes | Freemium | shrib.com |
ClickUp Notepad | Meeting notes, Chrome | Yes | Freemium | clickup.com |
aNotepad | Simple online notes | No, Yes | Free | anotepad.com |
Memo Notepad | Multi-platform | No, Yes | Free | memonotepad.com |
StackEdit | Markdown | No & yes | Free | stackedit.io |
CollabEdit | Collaboration, coding | No, yes | Free | collabedit.com |
ZippyJot | UI layout | No | Free | zippyjot.com |
Workflowy | Mind maps, planning | Yes | Freemium | workflowy.com |
1. Google Keep
- Highlights: Syncing, web, app, lists, audio notes
- Requires registration: Yes
- Cost: Free
- Website: keep.google.com
Google Keep is part of the web giant’s Google Docs offering. It lets you take notes and make lists in a simple and intuitive interface. It is available on the web and as smartphone apps.
First, you need an account, but any Google account or functional Android phone will do. The app lets you type with the keyboard, draw notes with different pens and colors, create stylish lists, and then arrange the notes by moving them around.
Unlike other rigid notepads, Google Keep is very flexible as it arranges the notes in small blocks that you can move around, pin, and even archive, by simply dragging them off. Sharing features are also available.
The app lets you dictate your notes as well, then it stores the audio with its automatic transcripts. And you can use your phone’s camera to take picture notes if you need to.
Google Keep also syncs your data in real-time. It updates your app as you work on the web, and the web as you work on the app. You can further create or attach reminders with alarms to your notes. And you can label the notes for better grouping.
If you are looking for a flexible way to manage your ideas, then Google Keep might be for you. The Android version is available at the Play Store, while the iOS 13.0+ version is at the App Store.
2. RapidTables
- Highlights: General use, diverse tools
- Requires registration: No
- Cost: Free
- Website: rapidtables.com
The RapidTables website is a collection of numerous online tools for a vast range of professionals. These tools range from maths to electricity, clocks, voice recorders, and so on.
It also has a fully-featured notepad that includes all the necessary word processing features, such as copy, cut, paste, undo, redo, and zooming in and out. Plus, it does not need an account or registration.
You can modify the settings for font size, family, and weight. Plus, you can switch between dark and light modes.
The RapidTables notepad also lets you save notes to the hard disk on your machine. And you are free to upload it back anytime.
For downsides, RapidTables does not offer a smartphone app. So, you can only use it on the web via your favorite browser. The wide range of helpful conversions, tools, and articles, however, make it a great resource for everyone.
3. Shrib
- Highlights: Simple notepad, advanced features
- Requires registration: No & yes
- Cost: Freemium
- Website: shrib.com
Shrib is a simple notebook with an emphasis on writing down your ideas as quickly and easily as possible. It works as a simple website with a minimalist design, but it also offers some advanced features.
For instance, you can edit your Shrib notes using markdown, and you can easily publish the notes on the web, using the included sharing buttons.
Shrib is also available in two plans: the basic and the Shrib Pro. While the basic plan is free, the Pro plan costs one Euro per month, but it comes with cloud storage, a subdomain, keyboard shortcuts, a search function, and no ads.
One downside is that there are no native Shrib apps for smartphones, but the web platform is so simple and responsive. It even locks the data for editing if you are accessing it from two devices.
Shrib Pro can additionally lock individual notes with an encryption algorithm, so it is only accessible with the right password. But if you forget that password, then you are on your own.
4. ClickUp Notepad
- Highlights: Chrome extension, meeting notes, convert to tasks
- Requires registration: Yes
- Cost: Freemium
- Website: clickup.com
ClickUp is a productivity suite that combines all the tools that a modern workforce needs to thrive on one platform. It offers project management, reminders, calendars, scheduling, a notepad, and lots more.
Two features stand out with ClickUp’s Notepad. The first is that it is both available on the platform and as a Chrome extension that travels the web with you. The second feature is that it is great for taking meeting notes.
Simply note important points at your team meeting, then turn them later into tasks on ClickUp, assigning them to the right persons. This integration streamlines your operations and maximizes efficiency.
Of course, you can also use the app to create other lists, add rich editing to your text, view history, search for words in the notes, or go into full-screen mode.
ClickUp includes this Notepad in its free plan, with unlimited tasks, members, and 100 MB storage.
5. aNotepad
- Highlights: Simple, no login, optional free accounts
- Requires registration: No & Yes
- Cost: Free
- Website: anotepad.com
Simple and straight to the point, aNotepad provides a clean and easy-to-use online note system with many nice features.
You can create notes without an account. But your notes will be public and you will only have access to them from the same browser.
You can also choose to create a free account. And then, you will have the opportunity of saving your notes and setting them either private or public.
aNotepad offers a nice HTML editor, easy social media sharing of your notes, file manager with multiple folder creation, downloads in many formats, and import compatibility with Word documents.
6. Memo Notepad
- Highlights: 4 platforms, syncing, nide design
- Requires registration: No & Yes
- Cost: Free
- Website: memonotepad.com
Available on four platforms, Memo Notepad stands out from the rest. You can use it on the website, through a Chrome browser extension, and its apps for either Android or Apple iOS platforms.
The website lets you take notes without an account and you are free to create a free account as well. The Chrome extension works both online and offline. It lets you change font sizes and color, and it syncs automatically.
With the smartphone versions, you get auto-saving, sorting, and six colors to choose from. You can also share the notes using your phone’s sharing features.
Memo Notepad is free to use but it is supported by ads. You can get it for Android 4.4+, where it has over 1 million installs. Or for Apple iOS 10.0+ platforms.
7. StackEdit
- Highlights: Geeky, Markdown, publishing
- Requires registration: No and yes
- Cost: Free
- Website: stackedit.io
If you are one of those that do not find HTML cool anymore, then you might want to try StackEdit. It lets you create notes online and edit them using Markdown.
Created in 2004 by John Gruber and Aaron Schwartz, Markdown is a markup language like HTML, but it is lightweight and designed for use with plain-text editors. Markdown has since gained cult status among geeks.
StackEdit lets you make as many notes as you like and offers you a markdown toolbar to help with the formatting. This includes text bolding, cursive, lists, strikethrough, and few others.
You can also undo and redo your actions, as well as save and load files for later use. For this, StackEdit includes a nice little file manager.
StackEdit divides your browser into two panes, one for writing and the other as a live preview with scroll sync. You can also sync your data to Google or other accounts, including GitHub. And on Google workspace, you can collaborate and comment on the same file with colleagues.
For downsides, StackEdit does not offer smartphone apps. But I doubt any geek would enjoy writing Markdown on a mobile phone. StackEdit can even publish to your WordPress or Blogger blogs automatically.
8. CollabEdit
- Highlights: Collaboration, coding, syntax highlighting
- Requires registration: No & yes
- Cost: Free
- Website: collabedit.com
CollabEdit is a unique notepad with unique features. First, it allows collaborations. Second, it works with plain text and can highlight many programming languages.
These two features make CollabEdit perfect for software development teams that need to share code online, and for teachers that need to show their students how to code in real-time.
Some companies even use it to conduct phone interviews before hiring a coder. Although the CollabEdit developer has since launched a new website called Coding Hire, which caters specifically to this need of watching potential hires write code in real-time.
There is highlighting for everything from C to C++, Java, Python, and even Pascal. The sidebar includes a list of collaborators, a chat window, and chat input. While the main window contains the text that you are collaborating on.
CollabEdit might not be for everyone. But it is great to know that such a free tool exists because you might need it someday.
9. ZippyJot
- Highlights: UI design, practical
- Requires registration: No
- Cost: Free
- Website: zippyjot.com
ZippyJot offers just about the same features as most other online notepads on this list. What sets it apart, however, is how it offers it; the site’s layout is intuitive and user-friendly.
You can choose to sign up or use ZippyJot without an account. All you need is a title, then start writing your note and it will auto-save.
When you are done writing, hit “Create Note” to add the note to a list of your notes, available below the fold. Just scroll down to see them. You can search with words, and sort by date or title.
ZippyJot also includes delete and edit links on each note in the list. This makes things easier to manage, plus you can easily get back to where you left off. This may be a simple website, but its design is user-friendly and very practical.
10. WorkFlowy
- Highlights: Mind maps, organization, outlining
- Requires registration: Yes
- Cost: Freemium
- Website: workflowy.com
If you need to organize complex information that you are not yet sure about, then consider a tool like WorkFlowy. It is a list-based writing tool used by some of the most productive people on the planet.
WorkFlowy helps you to get ideas out of your mind and to arrange them easily and efficiently. You just have to make a rough list of things, then further edit and arrange the list as you see fit.
The best part is that you can nest lists inside lists, and this is infinite. So, just note rough ideas, then go through each idea and drill down to details. You can add notes, upload files, mark items as complete, and collaborate with friends and colleagues.
WorkFlowy comes in 2 plans: Free with basic features, and Pro with unlimited everything for $4.99 per month. It is available on the web, as an Android app from version 5.0, and for iOS 11.0+ users as well.
Conclusion
Coming to the end of this list of the web’s best online notepads, you have seen the variety in the functionality of the different offers out there.
While many keep to simple note-taking, other platforms offer more features that make them better suited to certain groups. So, your best choice then depends on who you are and what you need a notepad for.