3 simple and lightweight tools to take notes

Last updated on 12 May 2026

What tool to use on a daily basis to take notes on the fly on your computer, tablet or smartphone? A tool that allows you to write your notes, courses, memos, … tasks with a minimum of formatting, but above all that allows you to find them easily and help you memorise them.

At this game services like Evernote, OneNote or Google Keep seem unbeatable. There is, however, lighter alternatives that avoid the pitfall of the gas plant and provide a simple interface without unnecessary distractions to facilitate your concentration. Here are 3 of them. 3 simple and lightweight tools and applications to take all your notes.

SimpleNote

As the name suggests, if I may say so. This tool plays the game of simplicity by offering just the right functionalities for professional use. The interface is very successful and offers a pleasant and rewarding graphic environment. You create as many notes as you want. No ranking in folders, SimpleNotes offers a tag system and a fast search engine to find everything. The application offers a very convenient versioning system that allows you to revert to previous versions of the note you are writing. Only small regret, SimpleNote does not offer functions to enrich your text.

SimpleNote also offers two other very interesting functions. First you can work together on a note, then any note created in the application can be published on the net and therefore shared via a single URL. SimpleNote is available on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android and is free.
Link: SimpleNote

TagSpaces

TagSpaces is another original solution for writing and filing all your notes. The latter does not need the cloud to function. It can work entirely locally on your device, but you lose the benefit of having your notes on all your fixed and mobile devices. TagSpaces can, however, save your notes to DropBox and Google Drive if you wish. In this case your notes will be synchronized on all your devices.

TagSpaces allows you to take notes in text, HTML or markdown format. You can add images to it easily and classify everything in folders or via tags to find everything easily. The application can also help you classify and tag any type of file on your computer, such as PDFs or sound files. Taking charge requires a little learning time, but you will then have an excellent tool for taking and ranking your grades. TagSpaces works on Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Android. You can also install a small extension on Firefox and Chrome to recover content directly from the web. TagSpaces can be used for free, a paid Pro version offers some additional features.
Link: TagSpaces

bear

Bear is the latest addition to this small list of note-taking tools. It is currently only available on Mac and iOS. No web version at the moment and especially no Windows or Android version in sight. It’s a shame, because Bear offers the finest note-taking tool I know. You take all the classic and necessary functions of this kind of tool: different writing and export formats, tag system and efficient internal search engine, quick synchronization between devices, plug-ins to retrieve content from the … browser and you add perfect ergonomics and a particularly elegant graphics.

The app offers several display modes, including a full-page mode that eliminates on-screen distractions to allow you to focus on the essentials: what you are writing. Bear manages to offer an experience that combines fun and efficiency by adding even a small dose of refreshing humor.

Bear is free for most of its functions. For around €10 per year, you will benefit from a few additional features and support the outstanding work of the app’s developers.
Link: bear