Google Keep vs Microsoft OneNote

Google Keep

• Quick notes, shopping lists and reminders on a phone or smartwatch
• People who already work in Google Docs and other Google apps
• Households sharing lists that update in real time

Microsoft OneNote

• People who already have a Microsoft account or a Microsoft 365 subscription
• Handwritten notes and sketches with a pen or stylus
• Teachers and students working in Class Notebooks
• Free note-taking across Windows, Mac, phones and the web

Google Keep

• Keep allows up to 50 labels, and labels, colors and pins on a shared note are visible only to you.
• No desktop app is listed: Keep runs in a browser, as a Chrome extension and as Android, Wear OS, iPhone and iPad apps.
• Creating lists with Gemini in Keep requires a Google AI plan or a Pixel device.
• Workspace Business editions are capped at 300 users; larger organizations need Enterprise pricing from Google sales.

Microsoft OneNote

• A free Microsoft account stops at 5 GB of cloud storage, shared with OneDrive files and Outlook.com attachments.
• Only the Windows desktop app can keep notebooks on a local hard drive; the other versions work with cloud notebooks.
• Microsoft 365 AI features are limited to the subscription owner, with usage limits, even on the Family plan.
• Microsoft lists apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android but none for Linux, where OneNote is browser-only.

Google Keep

Notes, lists, photos, drawings and audio

A note can be text, a checklist, a photo, a drawing or an audio recording. Voice memos are transcribed automatically, and text inside images is picked up by search.

Labels, colors and pins

Notes are organized with up to 50 labels, color codes and pins. Search filters by color and by attributes such as lists, audio notes with reminders or shared notes.

Time and location reminders

A reminder brings a note back at a set time or on arrival at a place, such as a grocery list that appears at the store.

Shared notes

Several people can edit the same note or list at once, with checked-off items showing up in real time. Notes can also be shared with a Google family group.

Keep inside Google Docs and Slides

A side panel in Docs and Slides lists Keep notes, which can be dragged into the document. Highlighted text or images can be saved back to Keep.

Chrome extension and offline use

The Chrome extension saves URLs, text and images to Keep and lets you add labels. Notes can be updated offline, and changes sync once you reconnect.

Microsoft OneNote

Typed, handwritten and scanned notes

Pages hold typed text, digital ink from a pen or stylus, pictures and videos. The mobile app also scans documents and extracts their text.

Voice transcription and dictation

Voice transcription captures spoken notes for later review, and the iPhone and iPad app takes dictation in 27 languages, some of them in preview.

Copilot in OneNote

Copilot responds to prompts to draft plans, generate ideas, create lists and organize information. Microsoft 365 plans include the desktop apps with Copilot, subject to usage limits.

Sharing and collaboration

Notebooks are cloud-connected, so they can be shared with other people and opened on a PC, a Mac, a phone, a tablet or in a browser.

Web Clipper

A free browser add-on for Edge and Chrome captures web content into a notebook, where it can be edited, annotated and shared.

Class and Staff Notebooks

Class Notebook gives each student a personal workspace, a content library for handouts and a collaboration space. Staff Notebook does the same for school teams.

Google Keep

• Personal Google Account$0

  Keep on the web, in the free Android and iOS apps and as a Chrome extension, with labels, reminders and shared notes.

• Business Starter$7

  per user / month, 1-year commitment ($8.40 flexible)

  Google Workspace for up to 300 users with 30 GB pooled storage per user. Keep shared notes come with every Workspace plan.

• Business Standard$14

  per user / month, 1-year commitment ($16.80 flexible)

  Google Workspace with 2 TB pooled storage per user.

• Business Plus$22

  per user / month, 1-year commitment ($26.40 flexible)

  Google Workspace with 5 TB pooled storage per user.

• EnterpriseCustom

  For companies with more than 300 users; priced through Google sales and resellers.

Microsoft OneNote

• OneNote$0

  The standalone app on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, used with a free Microsoft account and its 5 GB of cloud storage.

• Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99

  per month, or $99.99 per year

  For 1 person: 1 TB of cloud storage and the OneNote, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook desktop apps with Copilot, on up to 5 devices at once.

• Microsoft 365 Family$12.99

  per month, or $129.99 per year

  For 1 to 6 people, with 1 TB of storage per person (up to 6 TB). AI features are for the subscription owner only.

• Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99

  per month, or $199.99 per year

  Everything in Family, plus extensive Copilot chat usage, agentic AI features for research and analytics, and more AI image creation.

Google Keep

• Annual discount

  Lower Workspace rate with a 1-year commitment

  Business Starter costs $7 per user per month on the Annual/Fixed-Term Plan versus $8.40 on the Flexible Plan. Standard drops from $16.80 to $14 and Plus from $26.40 to $22.

• Nonprofit

  Google Workspace for Nonprofits at $0

  Eligible nonprofits get Google Workspace for Nonprofits at $0 per user, or Business Standard at $3.50 and Business Plus at $6.16 per user per month on a 1-year commitment.

Microsoft OneNote

• Annual discount

  About 17% lower cost with yearly billing

  Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 per year against $9.99 per month ($119.88 over twelve months). Family and Premium show the same gap between yearly and monthly prices.

• Education

  Free Office 365 Education for students and educators

  Microsoft's education site says students and educators with a valid school email address are eligible for Office 365 Education, which includes OneNote, at no cost.