Digital Planning Apps

I've been using Evernote for over 10 years as my note taking, to-do list making, email draft writing, business card storing, business-empire building all-in-one-app. It's a free app that organizes your notes, scans, handwriting, etc into notebooks, but over the years various aspects of the app have been removed from the free version to the paid version. At the end of last year, my plan was changed to only 50 notes (I have over a thousand), so I've been forced to look elsewhere since I don't want to spend $14.99 per month for what I used to have for free.   

I started researching the organizational app options out there and there are many, but the top options are reviewed here.

1| Google Keep app

Working in Google Keep is much like a digital bulletin board. As you add notes or checklists to your board, you can customize, rearrange, and pin them. Once you finish an item, you can delete or archive them for later. It is a stand alone app on your devices or desktop and it's free. As a visual person, I found Google Keep helpful for not only my to-do lists for various areas of my business and life, but also as a way to track progress and manage tasks in stages for larger projects. 

2| Google Tasks

Google Tasks is not a stand-alone app, instead you find it in the toolbar of your Google apps like Google Calendar and Gmail. It is a simpler interface and brings your focus to one to-do list at a time. While you can create multiple lists, you have to switch between them to view their contents. This is an excellent solution for those who want to limit distractions. While it doesn’t offer much beyond listing tasks, adding subtasks, and putting stars beside what’s most important, its minimal features make it that much more focused. 

3| GoodNotes app

GoodNotes is a nice mix between a digital notepad and PDF markup tool. Use it to type notes on the keyboard, handwrite your ideas with an Apple Pencil, add images, decorate planner pages, or even scribble your grocery list. Has free version for up to 3 notebooks and paid version with unlimited notebooks starts at $9.99 annually.

4| Notability app

The Notability app was designed with students in mind, but great for professionals as well. It takes up the least space on your iPad and this makes it perfect for those on small budgets that can’t afford iPads with bigger storage. Notability handles big notebooks and many documents very well. It’s super easy to use and has robust features like the type tool, voice dictation, and autosave feature. Has a free version with limited note editing and a paid version for $14.99 annually.

5| Noteshelf app

The Noteshelf app makes it easy to sketch ideas on the go, organize your notes in categories and store large word documents to annotate on. It will improve bad handwriting and has a massive collection of free planner templates for finance, parenting, event planners, health & fitness, etc. It is also the only app of the three that allows you to publish your notes to Evernote. If you use Evernote already, then you might benefit more from using Noteshelf. Has free version for up to 3 notebooks with unlimited pages and paid version with unlimited notebooks for a one-time fee of $9.99.

My Conclusions

I'm trying Google Keep to create my to-do lists for the various areas of my business and keeping my existing notes in Evernote (since I have so many). Overall, the Notability app seems the most straightforward and least overwhelming, but has the same annual fee as Evernote. Goodnotes seems a bit more overwhelming, but seems excellent for people who want to invest more time in customizing their notes pages, but has an annual fee. However, Noteshelf has numerous capabilities and extras, and only has a one-time fee. If I decide to not use Evernote anymore, I will definitely switch to Noteshelf.