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With the rise of AI-powered productivity, app developers have released an impressive range of tools for creating and processing meeting notes. Unfortunately, with all the AI hype, it can be hard to tell which apps will actually help improve your productivity.
In this post, I'll highlight some of the best AI notepad apps for various use cases, from business meetings to brainstorming sessions, and show you how to choose the right one for your needs.
Here's a quick overview of the AI notepad apps mentioned in this article:
AI notepad app | Starting price | Standout feature | Best for |
---|---|---|---|
Notta | $9 USD per month | Up to 98% transcription accuracy | Business meetings |
Google Docs | $19.99 USD per month | Uses data from all your Google apps | Google Workspace users |
Apple Notes | Free | Free to use | Apple users |
AudioPen | $8.25 USD per month, billed annually | Converting freeform dictation to structured notes | Personal dictation |
Mem | $8.33 USD per month | AI chat with your notes | Typed notes |
If you're not sure how to choose between these options, here are some criteria you should consider:
Note input types. AI notepads accept input in several ways, including meeting transcription, spoken dictation, typed notes, and touch-based stylus input. Deciding on your preferred method will narrow your app choices quickly.
Ease of use. A good AI notepad needs to be available at a moment's notice, or you may lose important details. If an app has a tedious user experience, you'll find excuses not to use it, so it's often best to choose simplicity over complexity.
AI features. AI-powered notepad apps vary widely in their actual use of AI. Some provide summaries of your notes, while others completely rewrite your input in a different tone. Some even let you chat with an AI assistant that has access to all your note data.
Organization options. Good notes must be organized, so your chosen app should support folders and/or tags. Some apps use AI to cross-reference all your files, simplifying the organization process.
Formatting tools. In addition to AI features, a good AI notepad will let you edit and format your notes easily. The editing workspace should be simple, direct, and user-friendly.
Platform support. If your AI notepad doesn't support all your devices, you may be better off with a pen and paper. A good AI notepad should have a web interface and mobile apps for Android and iOS.
Sharing & export options. You don't want your notes trapped in a single app! The best AI notepads offer simple and secure ways to share notes with others and multiple export formats for use with other apps.
Now that you know what to look for, let's explore five of the best AI notepad apps you can start using today.
If you spend a lot of your working hours making notes during meetings, then Notta is the perfect AI notepad for simplifying your workflow. It records and transcribes in-person and virtual meetings with up to 98% accuracy in real-time, or you can upload prerecorded files and receive a transcript almost immediately.
Once your meeting ends, Notta provides AI-powered summaries using preset or custom templates. These summaries make it easy to extract actionable insights from your transcripts, no matter how long your meeting went or how many topics were covered. You can chat with an AI assistant to gain new insights from your notes, even across multiple files or entire folders.
Notta has an excellent editing interface for working with your transcripts, but it's not designed for people who prefer to type their own notes from scratch. Fortunately, it's available on the web, Android, iOS, and even as a Chrome extension, so you can create notes automatically from any meeting -- or monologue if that's your style.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Best transcription accuracy of any app on this list | Only works with transcribed notes |
Records and transcribes virtual and in-person meetings | |
Free plan available |
Paid plans start at $9 USD per user per month. A free plan is available with limited usage, or you can test all paid features from the 'Pro' plan with a 3-day free trial.
Notta AI meeting assistant records, transcribes, and summarizes meetings so everyone can stay engaged without missing important details.
Google Docs offers two ways to work with AI note tools: the 'Help Me Write' feature and a more powerful integration with Google's Gemini series of advanced AI models. 'Help Me Write' can create text based on a prompt or rewrite your existing notes in a different style, but working with Gemini allows you to interact with and modify existing notes you've already made by typing or dictation.
Gemini can also refer to other files stored in your Drive or Gmail accounts to analyze and insert data in your working document. Of course, this also means that to get the most benefit from your Gemini AI, you have to use Google Workspace for all your essential workflow tools, including email and virtual conferencing.
Google's AI rollout has been a bit haphazard, so the most useful features are only accessible through the web interface. While both Gemini and Google Docs have apps for Android, iOS, and ChromeOS, the AI features within the Docs app itself are still quite limited.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Can reference data stored across all your Google apps | AI access is limited in the mobile Docs app |
Excellent document formatting options | |
Collaborative editing |
Plans with access to Google Docs AI tools start at $19.99 USD per month for personal accounts or $20 USD for business accounts. Free plan users cannot access any AI tools.
Apple has been slow to launch AI-powered features, but the iOS 18.2 version of the Notes app finally has some decent AI tools. It can rewrite your notes in a new tone, summarize and list key points, or even write new content from scratch using ChatGPT.
The Notes app accepts a variety of input formats, including recorded phone calls, spoken dictation, and typed notes, although it can't transcribe a virtual meeting in a third-party app. With a stylus and a touch-sensitive device, you can even handwrite notes for conversion to typed text or input a mathematical problem to get an accurate answer.
The biggest drawback to Apple Notes is that it's only available on Apple devices, and the AI features are only available on specific models. But if you're already an Apple customer, it's often the simplest solution for an AI notepad.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Accepts more input types than other apps | Only available on Apple devices |
Automatically integrates with iCloud for cross-device syncing | |
Free ChatGPT integration |
Apple Notes is free to use, but it is only available on Apple devices.
AudioPen's central feature is transcribing freeform speech into structured notes using AI. This simple focus allows the AudioPen interface to stay equally simple and user-friendly, but it still packs some handy AI tools for processing your notes. It can create summaries based on multiple notes or translate in real-time, so you can dictate in one language and receive notes in another.
AudioPen provides more options for organizing, exporting, and publishing your notes than most other apps on this list, including the ability to save your notes as a custom-branded image for social media or publish directly to the web.
AudioPen is available through a web interface, as a native iOS app, or as a web app for Android users. A Chrome extension is also available.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Very user-friendly interface | Limited integration with other apps |
Unlimited custom vocabulary for specific terms | |
Extensive translation support |
AudioPen only offers a single paid tier, available at $99 USD for one year or $159 for two years. A limited free plan is also available.
If you prefer to type your own notes, Mem can still provide you with all the advantages of an AI notepad without dictation or transcription. It focuses more on the 'notepad' aspect than most other tools on this list, offering excellent document formatting tools in a streamlined, user-friendly interface.
The most interesting AI tool Mem offers is a ChatGPT-powered interactive assistant that can access and analyze all your notes, dramatically simplifying the tedious process of notepad organization. You can gain actionable insights across all your notes, identify thematic links between previously unconnected documents, or write new content from scratch based on your existing notes.
Mem is available on the web and as a native iOS app.
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Supports offline note-taking | Requires a Google account for signup authentication |
User-friendly interface | |
Automated organization |
Mem pricing starts at $8.33 per month when billed annually. A free plan is available but has limited access to AI tools.
AI notepad apps offer many different features for many different use cases, so it is essential to choose one that meets your specific needs. Notta provides an excellent AI-powered notetaking workflow for business meetings, while AudioPen and Mem offer a more private approach for personal use.
Notta offers the most integrated AI meeting notes, summaries, and action items so nothing gets missed.
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