I've already been using Obsidian for a while, which I love, but I'm also realizing how I've barely scratched the surface of its features. I think Obsidian will continue to rise dramatically in popularity.
I've jumped on the bandwagon and I'm loving it so far! Learning about all of it's features and using markdown to write my notes has been a very pleasant and fun experience so far.
I went through all the top 3 apps. Starting with Evernote in 2012, then switched to Notion in 2020, and again to Obsidian in 2021. I think Obsidian is the number one choice for scientists, engineers and programmers. Both Evernote and Notion require use of UI and mouse. Obsidian notes are text files, so the complete input can be made from keyboard. With help of required plugins, tables, equations and references become easy. Obsidian requires a lot of typing skills, and memorizing some commands, that usually programmers and engineers have. I really enjoy that I have a full control over the app. Notion has a great UI but I always missed more specific control that I do have in Obsidian. I also tried Joplin, that is an Evernote with Markdown syntax. That's also a nice app, but it didn't match my working style
It's a ridiculous notion (no pun intended) that scientists/engineers somehow prefer a keyboard centric approach. Real scientists/engineers don't care at all. Most people participating in the hype are first year students procrastinating on their homework on Reddit and RU-vid.
@@randomuser5237 I think it's definitely more common amongst older programmers, specifically those of us who started out on a CLI. Most young programmers/college students I've seen today can barely navigate the terminal or basic UNIX functionality.
@@randomuser5237 I was wondering how that conclusion was made. I'm an engineer, I use the good old pen and paper method but I would like to start taking digital notes.
@@randomuser5237amen. I know this from experience. Apps trick people into feeling like they're doing work... I'm not saying it's by design or anything, it's just the way people think. It's like..."I need this to be successful..."
Suggest an app for Android mobile in 2024... Sadly I'm stucked with Google keep. All my notes piled up. I need a reliable app that keeps my notes even if i lost my phone.
as someone very new to the digital note taking space I was amazed at so many types of note apps, I am used to docs and one note because they kind of mimicked the way of having a notebook, but coming away from that I can see how using these other methods can be insanely useful, and I can see different aspects of my note taking and writing working better in different styles
I started using Joplin. I am a big supporter that open source so using this one made sense. Im not experienced "note taker" to really review how i feel versus OneNote or Obsidian but so far its been a positive experience.
I personally use Bear and Craft (however my main use for Craft is latex). Notion used to be my choice but I started finding it cluttered so I separated notion into Bear + Todoist (+ Airtable at times). I love the simplistic design of Bear however the only thing I need from it is latex rendering.
One thing to consider in regards to Roam, the beta closed around the time of these polls and now is no longer free. May be the correlation explaining your results
That's a good point. I left Roam for Obsidian, even though I was on the Believer Plan, due to Roam's lack of leadership (banning constructive criticism in their community, cultish behavior) and development (slow loading, no offline mode, and still buggy parsing of markdown).
The power of the 80/20 Principle (Again!)... Thanks Tiago for sharing these insights. One of the major causes why Obsidian is a strong Roam competitor resides in the fact it's free... and the strong community around it. Yet, the interface can be intimidating / looking old-school for a lot of users. Can't wait for your next video!
Great survey! Good work, hope to see more～ I previously used Evernote and I loved it, but It changed everything after its updates few years ago, all good things changed and now it's a slow and disappointing apps. Then I switched to notion for personal notes, it works great and it's free for students! (A large plus) Few days ago I discovered obsidian, I was so surprised and love it instantly, it is perfect to build a knowledge database (especially for reading journal articles). Looking forward to more obsidian videos. 👍🏻👍🏻
I use both Obsidian and Notion. I use Obsidian for very formal and systematic notes, and use Notion for work project management and less formal notes or quick thoughts and ideas.
Other hypothesis is: those who use Notion (or are using Evernote but thinking on moving to Notion) feel the need to invest time learning how to improve their note taking system (like participate in your workshop or acquiring your book). Also, it may show that Notion has a UI that invite users to reflect on how note taking can impact your life, due to the wide customization possibilities.
@@chrishoppner7875 Yes, I feel so I hadn't needed such a function before I started using Obsidian, so it was a wonderful fit. But anyway, adding additional features like handwriting recognition with bidirectional connection and AI support would be cool and interesting to observe and explore too.
I encountered the 4 archetypes today and I've realized I'm an intuitive Gardener and raised Architect. My first real dive into note-taking is OneNote for college which evolved to Notion after I fell in love with its organization, aesthetic, and sheer power. Never before have I seen databases, calendars, galleries, kanban boards and more in just 1 app! But somehow, I've found that after categorizing all of my ideas into neat little boxes in Notion, I never actually reviewed them again...which defeats the purpose of learning for me. Since I can't turn knowledge into action or a uniquely creative idea. Perhaps that's why Obsidian really intrigued me when I first encountered it on YT. Might also consider Roam, which I've heard for the first time here!
That's the same issue I have, after I'm done taking notes, I rarely see them again and that defeats its purpose. But yet again, do I really want to go back and see them again? That's why I'm interested in something that won't break the bank.
@@hobbyless4089 Good points! Personally, you'll see that my comment was 10 months ago and I've actually given Obsidian a try. I use it now for atomic note-taking, which I've found helpful for linking ideas together. But do I always review my notes? Not really. I only review them when I feel like it, since I want to keep the joy of learning intact. As a quick measure, I just add quick tags to all of my notes, which is quite easy to link to others since all Note Pages pop up immediately anyway. A more thorough review can come later.
Just saw your video on my feed - recognized your name and then realized I’m pretty sure I was in a class with you in high school lol. In any case fantastic video!
Thank you, Mr. Forte, for giving us the 'CODE' framework and for continuous spreading this valuable concept of BASB. BTW. Which tool do you use to visually demonstrate the interactive workflow in this video?
Your video is fantastic! How a interesting survey result~ Especially your voice is so calm and crispy! Can I ask what microphone you use? I want to start my own channel recently, thank you again.
I'm a big fan of Notion (mainly personal and for fleshing out ideas) but I also use Workflowy and Google docs/sheet for specific work projects with my VA.
I've been using Nimbus Notes for several years now along side other apps and have decided to stay with Nimbus Notes as it's the most like Evernote but at a price point I can afford, and the developers are always adding enhancements. Thanks for the video - I always watch because I love these statistics and I also love having a second brain. 😊
@@mr_red13 I really couldn't say, but if they do have ads, they would be pretty low key I would think. The premium is such a reasonable amount that I've been a pro user (not a business user) for several years now, so I really haven't seen the site from that point of view in a few years. What I can say is I don't like it's colour choice but other than that, it appears just like an Evernote, Apple Notes or OneNote screen. There's a panel down the left side for your different folders, the next panel lists your notes for the folder you're in, and the largest panel shows whatever note you've selected. Hope this helps.
Thank you for your awesome videos Tiago! I'm trying to figure out what would be the best note-taking app for myself in preparation for a post graduate exam. I've been a long-term user of Evernote and have recently switched over to Google Docs for it's ease in inserting images/graphs, and how easy I can use templates with keyboard shortcuts to speed up my note taking. I have noticed though that as my document gets larger and larger (30-100MB+) the load time is getting slower and I find this quite frustrating. I was wondering if you could point me in the right direction. Here are a few insights about myself that may help. Note-taking style - librarian or architect Purpose - post graduate exam → will be studying for >1000+ hours over 12 months, collating information to answer 3 exams (a multi-choice question paper, short answer question paper and VIVA in person exam) Content - medical content, lots of diagrams, pictures, text Would love to hear your thoughts on how I can get the best out of my note-taking experience to be exam ready! Thanks Tiago! :)
I mostly use 3 notes apps, for different things. Roam for my online hub and general notes. Logseq for personal and sensitive data. Finally, there's Obsidian for my combined Second Brain/Zettlekasten system, it's also the app I do most of my initial writing in.
Great summary. I think I have test-run every app in this space- some more than once. I keep returning to Evernote. But one area that does not get much attention in selecting a repository is the ability to share specific information with specific people who are not using the app. As an executive coach and peer advisory group chair, I take what are spare but clear notes about topics, discoveries, and action commitments- an ability to track those by client and more importantly share my notes without asking my clients to subscribe to the app I use. For the few who are not tech-phobic, I can simply share their Evernote notebook- but getting the integration on goals and outcomes with a calendar would be a big win- especially if it gets me off the hook for remembering to do so.
I agree. Sharing notes (and tasks) with others in a way that doesn't require them to sign up for that same platform would be huge! Does anybody know of an app that supports that kind of sharing?
@@DavidHansen1 Joplin with "joplin cloud" as a sync target (requires subscription), allows sharing individual notes and making them accessible for any device with a web browser.
Good to see DevonThink or DTPO as it is often called. DevonThink as an archive with its powerful search operators is incredibly useful for finding nuggets and crating connections. Putting those insights into Roam Research for further development is even more powerful
I love Notion because of how well the global tagging and integrations work. For BASB I find it to be the best. I love love love the simplicity of Apple Notes, though, and if it supported more sophisticated work, I'd use it more.
I've been playing around with Notion and it's been a fun way to play(waste time), but really I need OneNote's cross compatibility and most importantly its handwriting functionality
The only issue I have with Notion is the lack of support for handwriting. So, for now, I use Notability for handwritten or 'live' notes and Notion is where I sort everything that needs to be stored.
Interesting. I am a photographer and very visual. I had used Evernote for years but my brain could never find anything buried in there. When I found an app called Milanote (which didn't make your list) I finally found a visual note taking tool that worked with my brain. Now I'm actually on board with taking notes, finding what I need easily and actually starting to build my second brain. Just throwing Milanote out there for others who might need a note taking tool for the visually inclined.
I love Milanote too! Boards for notes, links to your favorite youtube videos and websites, check-off lists, and even pre-built templates. It's pretty amazing (and pretty!) for those who have too many thoughts, to-do's, and organizational anxiety.
Started with Notion switched to Roam and then to Obsidian. Now using primary Obsidian and for some other special stuff notion. The disadvantage of Roam is that you have pay for it while Obsidian is free and the notes are stored wherever you want. The data is yours.
This is great 👍. I think it's also worth mentioning that some apps may not work offline, so regardless of your archetype you should consider how you will use the app before committing.
Bingo. The only reason I left Notion. Not everyone has internet access. Even today, I find myself in places without a connection. The last time this was an issue was on an Amtrak train between my home and Chicago. Plenty of time to work, but no access was a slight issue.
Enjoyed this - I was part of that first Aug 2020 cohort [BASB 11] as a long-time (10-year) Evernote user. I found the course eye-opening in so many ways and have been using the lessons I learned from you every day in small and sometimes large ways ever since. Since taking the course I have also established Notion as our business collaboration platform and for project work, whilst keeping and substantially improving my use of Evernote as my personal digital brain. The course also helped me resolve my decades-long battle between paper and digital, seriously enhancing my creative productivity. Great work Tiago and looking forward to the book!
You would not use Docs as your note taking app because there is no file structure for organization, it would be done in Drive - which gives you a very similar look of the left bar to Notion, but with the power of Google and all the Drive features.
Tomorrow I will try Joplin note. Markdown version of Evernote which is free to use and doesn't have Evernote limitation of two devices and has web clipper which is exactly like Evernote clipper.
I wonder why Bear isn't more popular? Another thing I don't understand is why can't all the popular networked note taking apps come together to create some industry standards like for transclusions and linking. At present, we have Obsidian, Roam, Bear and Logeq allowing wiki style linking of notes using [[ ]]. On the other hand we have craft and nimbus note who use @ to link notes. The note transclusion aspect is even less standardized.
I have yet to come across a RU-vid video on note taking apps aimed specifically at taking notes involving coding (I.e. the ability to add code blocks into your notes)... It would be great if you could make one dedicated to that 👍
Very interesting survey results! Despite my daughter's recommendations, I never got past the learning curve of Notion. Having tried Roam, RemNote, Obsidian, Logseq and Amplenote, I have finally settled on Obsidian as my tool for PKM. Functionality aside, I am attracted to a very vibrant, friendly and helpful Obsidian user community. But I have gathered a lot of stuff in Evernote after 10 years' use. I think I will not part with Evernote but continue to use it as my filing cabinet. PS - Can't wait to read Building a Second Brain on my Kindle. Wish it could arrive earlier.
Obsidian is one of the best, it is located in local, cares for privacy and has tens of plugins to sync, draw, map... Logseq is the open source alternative because Obsidian it is free but not open source only the plugins. And Emacs is great but difficult to install and focused on Linux devices, it is fully open source and very customizable, with org mode doom Emacs and others. But for me I stay with Obsidian that runs in almost every device because use electron (based on chromium) and the majority of devices permit to install a browser. The bad thing is also the use of chromium that consume a lot of RAM and depends on Google.
I never tened to use node apps if i did i trew it in my google docs but for my dnd it was a bit meh I discoverd obsdian and i just fell in love it with im building my first world with all the notes and side things no hassle and its so nice
Just started using Obsidian, and it's so good out of the box that I'll be using only it to build my second brain. Evernote and Notion will have their uses but not as a knowledge base, more like workflow tools. Thanks for the video Mr. Forte.
@@RodneyDaut You can drag and drop photo's in a note. You can copy paste images in a note. Photo's can be added next to the note or grouped into an asset folder where all images end up in.
@@OttoVanluchene True. But with Evernote, I can easily take a photo with the app itself and take a note. I've tried doing that with Obsidian and it asks me which note to add the photo to instead of creating a new note. A bit inconvenient. But yes, the other things you mentioned, I know how to do already.
I use one note because I'm new to note taking in college, and its simplicity is good enough to write things down without trying to fight the app, while being complex enough to organize and powerful enough to write anything I throw at it
We are missing Remnote in this survey which I think is a great contender for Obsidian and Roam Research. If you have not heard about it, go and check it out. I'm just a regular user, not sponsored by any means.
Obsidian + Zettelkasten method are all you need for notetaking, especially for life-long learning purpose. i have used these combo for a year and it works for me.
There's alot of videos talking about switching from Notion to Obsidian, and I myself also enjoy Obsidian more. I think it's just because of the history of the app, cause it's older, more people knows about it, therefore making harder for newer app to catch up even if it turned out to be better. And that's why Obsidian continues to go up because as time went on, more and more is hearing about Obsidian. Like Obsidian came out in 2019 and 1.0.0 release literary just came out like 2 months ago. Lol XD You can still use Obsidian for general purposes outside of just note-taking just like Notion, the difference is customization is not as good (but still super good, top tier even) but better at note-taking to make up for that and isn't that good in collab but that's because it's more offline based which also mean you can still use it when internet is out and is also more secured and faster too cause less lag issue. Even in their website Notion says collab while Obsidian literary says second brain, and for a good reason. And on top of all that, Obsidian is cheaper too I would say. Lol XD
Clarify please. Are you saying Obsidian is not as customizable as Notion? I beg to differ. There are vastly more options for customization than Notion offers. Add 800 or more plugins and a few hundred themes and the ability to customize fonts, standard headings and almost anything else and you have a no contest winner. If Uber customization is your thing, that is.
@@robertmaxey5406 I just thought Notion being about to put widget anywhere rather than tabs based mean there's so much more things you can do with the notion, atleast in terms of customization. But Obsidian customization is still so good that I wouldn't say it's that far off though, and I also think Obsidian customization is easier to understand than Notion too. Plus there's so many other things Obsidian is better at too, hence why I still enjoy Obsidian more despite being less popular. And tabs is better I'll say when it comes to taking notes, but maybe not as much as Widget when it comes to customization. Once again, not that far off though in terms of customization. Too bad Obsidian doesn't have both. There are few widgets in Obsidian, but I only found few, plus I needed to put them in a tab rather than anywhere like Notion.
Is there any data on Samsung Notes? Also, I was wondering what method of note taking does each use? Typing, using a stylus, scan-n-save like Rocket book, etc...
It's One Note for me, it's literally a virtual Notebook, so It's super easy to use, very intuitive and has all the functionalities you could need for taking notes....
I did not take part in any of the surveys, but appreciated the data in this video. I come from the Franklin Covey note system where entries are indexed every month. From there, I finally went all digital 4 years ago, and because I am a legacy Office user, utilize OneNote... My system mimics the Franklin system, where I create a notebook for a year, then create months, and daily notes... This is the primary way I do my digital notes.... Curious if you would consider doing a video on each of the notes... I am open to switching from OneNote, but as I like to say, at least I keep notes... lol. My structure primarily utilizes hashtags and daily notes.... Would be curious for a breakdown on each of these apps from your POV. Thanks. JB
I’ve been using OneNote since 2005. I don’t know what happened to the old data, but I picked it up again around 2012. I find it extremely reliable, especially when you move from one platform to the next. It’s always there on the next platform, and it’s never costed me a dime.
tbh, i'm not an architect, a gardener, a librarian, or a student. i feel like I'm more of a museum curator, collecting lots of notes, which I never use for more than two weeks, but there are multiple on-going notes I have that stay in use year round
I use physical paper for my second brain, but I use craft for work. It’s the best combo of notion and obsidian for me, although I miss some Evernote features.
@@astronosmage3722 I don’t believe so. Evernote is great for capturing all sorts of information, whether scanning papers or clipping from the web. Evernote’s ability to capture pretty much anything is it’s golden feature that hasn’t been matched by anyone else. Because craft and obsidian are ultimately text editors first, they can’t work this same way.
My evaluation for them: Notion - though it is aesthetically beautiful and it may be systematic, it's a bit more complicated. More features than the rest Onenote - If you want it simple but organized, this is for you. My only problem is that you can't delete notebooks or change the notebook colours. Rome research - It does the job, it's simple and the notes are like pages from notion. Notes app from your phone - This is the fastest way to gather ideas and is easy to use, but it may be harder to locate the ideas that you typed.
IMO, Roam and Obsidian are direct competitors. Obsidian wins out on price, particularly for new users who aren't sure if the "gardener" style works for them
I really enjoy Nimbus Note, though know it's not big enough to make the top lists yet. Perhaps some of "other" classified here. Extremely similar in function and use to Evernote but WAY more fine tuned control and some features I felt more similar to Notion. Think just not enough people have heard of it yet
I've searched their product website but couldn't find an answer: do they support bi-directional linking of any kind? How about transclusion / embedding "live copies" of notes into other notes?
@@fynn8195 They are still working on truly bi-directional linking I believe, so not quite like Notion but 10x more powerful links and embeds than Evernote. They have a super transparent roadmap which helped me get on board. I haven't played with their embedding options a ton myself, but I have fully embedded some google sheets (editable from right within of course) and my todoist successfully.
@@drew-gray thanks a ton! I will check out the roadmap and research a little more. My organisation is full on O365 and I am searching for something that I can do a small MVP to enhance collaboration and knowledge transfer. This one looks promising.
I am very glad that I read your comments, which inspired me to look at Nimbus Note. Although it lags behind Roam, Logseq, Obsidian and the like in terms of linking, I agree with you that it is way better than Evernote in this area. I really like the design of its UI and the possibility of freely nested folders, which Evernote lacks. The problem I have with Nimbus Note is that it can be mysteriously slow when you are (a) moving your folders around, restructuring them, or (b) synchronising data with the iOS version. Having said that, Nimbus Note seems to suit my use case well, as an Evernote replacement. Instead of Obsidian + Evernote, I now plan to have Obsidian (for PKM) + Nimbus Note (for paperless document management). Moving notes from Evernote to Nimbus Note is straightforward.
I currently use notepad on windows PC, and apple notes on my phone, and random physical notes. I enjoy things being fast and simple. But I rarely go back and use the notes, searching can also be an issue. I'm screwed. I also use EverNote but find it clunky and it makes me feel bad when I look at it for some reason, I can't explain why.
I use notion for my project management. But the lack of offline mode prevents me to use it as a note taking app. I prefer Craft for all my notes and journalling. The connected notes are done correctly on Craft than any other app in my opinion.
This exactly. I've used Evernote since forever, but I wanted something with markdown support. I researched Notion, but it makes no sense to me that there is no offline mode. Ridiculous.
I've been a OneNote user for years and continually find new uses for it. For example, I recently discovered that I could install the Korean language and use it to not only type with their characters but OneNote's Immersive Reader option will actually read the page aloud in both English and Korean with good pronunciation. I was floored that I had this very cool resource and it was free.
In this video, I talk about 4 notetaking styles (and the best app to accompany each style): ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-f3dDVtJ2sec.html
Does Notion work offline? For example, when I take notes in school, can I save them to my laptop and then upload them to the cloud, once I have internet connection?
TL;DR i think i want to use notion but I don't like the idea of potentially not revisitng knowledge (that is something I tend to do and do not want to happen) it is also something that I'm hearing is a pitfall for a lot of people when it comes to notion. i saw obsidain on tiktok yesterday, which is actually what led me down this path of researching note taking, and I immediately was drawn to the graph links of notes. in my ideal world I would use notions sorting and filing as the contents of my second brain and something like the graph links as the index. i like the graph links and know that they would also suit me well (I am a mix between an architect and a gardener (also neurodivergent)). does anybody have any recommendations?
I got turned off of Evernote when they had a data breach and didn't tell their customers a few years back. Thankfully I hadn't put anything super private on my account. But for that reason, I deleted my account.
I am an Evernote Premium user, I have been for many many years. I am a Librarian/Student. My problem is that my notes get lost in Evernote, I don't have a good organising system, and it is like a drawer where I just throw in everything. Any advice on how to organise all that? 😢 Thanks a lot!!!
Is there an app that has the ease of use and UI similar to somethibg like Google docs but with the connection and the network dataview of obsidian? I rly like parts of obsidian, but I miss that simple fast and easy style of Google docs
Remonte should be here. Way nicer UI than roam with better features and easier to use. Also has an amazing team backing it that is always releasing new updates to improve UX.
Does anyone know of an app that allows you to edit text in the same way notion does (aka holding and dragging a block of text around)? That is the only feature that I really care about (it making writing on a phone a lot easier ) at it seems to be really hard to search for.
Very interesting stats. One negative holding back One Note is you have to decide if you are going to use the cloud or computer-based - when, in fact, it could be a strength because many apps are not usable off-line. Another huge negative with me is I use Office 365 at work, so logging in and out from work to personal 365 is just too much. Thanks!
That sounds off. OneNote has two paradigms for notebooks: 1. Local files only (available only on the paid Windows Office app). Notes are just a bunch of local files, never stored in the cloud. 2. Master copy of notebook stored on OneDrive, the OneNote app builds a full local cache of any notebook you open, and changes are done to that local copy first and synced separately. Importantly: OneNote literally can't operate without a local copy of your notes. Evernote has online-only notebooks accessible from within the app and notebooks that can be accessed offline. With OneNote, if it's open in your app, it's accessible offline, period. The only way to even have "online only" notebooks is to not have a Model 2 notebook open on any app, and access it via OneNote's web app. Remember, OneNote is OLD. 20 years level old. It started as an editor for local files like all the other Office apps, and that still shows in its need to work on a local copy of your notebook.
@@kentfaver1367 When I said "app" I meant any OneNote application at all, including the old version that comes with Office. If you install it on your computer, it's an app as far as the post above is concerned. On Windows, there's two OneNote apps: "OneNote" (the Office app) is available with Office and for free, and it's what MS will be supporting going forward. "OneNote for Windows 10" is from the MS Store, it can't do local-only notebooks (but still keeps a full local copy of any notebook you open), and will be phased out in the coming year or two so there's only one OneNote app for Windows. Both keep full local copies of your notebooks. They look different and do have some different features, but that part of how they work is the same.
Hi Tiago, amazing survey!! I was wondering you mentioned a webinar for pre orders of your book. I pre ordered your book via Amazon months (30 November 2021) ago but didn’t receive a invite to the class ass mentioned? Is it stil possible to get the video”s ?
I am very old school interested in notetaking programs for my genealogy stuff. I don't really understand these concepts you young people talk about. I feel it would be interesting to talk about the "learning curve" some of these programs take, i.e. obsidian. I think (obsidian) would be good for my genealogy notes, research, etc. but I have not been able to understand how it works. A lot of YT videos just show how individuals have their templates set up but they don't tell how they do it (step-by-step). May be I am just in over my head here.
You're not over your head! These apps really have so much information and so many possibilities that it's hard to pick up the pace! It can be quite overwhelming, but don't give up. What works for me is just explore the app in my free time - with no pressure, no goal, just touching stuff and seeing what happens. It comes together eventually. Best of luck with your genealogy quest!
