Microsoft OneNote vs Xournal++
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft's free digital notebook for typed, inked and audio notes
Xournal++
Open-source handwriting notes and PDF annotation for desktop
Where they differ
- Microsoft OneNote starts at $9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year (Microsoft 365 Personal). Xournal++ is free.
- Only Microsoft OneNote lists a web app.
- Only Microsoft OneNote lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Microsoft OneNote lists a browser extension.
- Only Xournal++ lists a Linux app.
- Xournal++ is open source, according to its own site.
- Microsoft OneNote also covers transcription, dictation and web clipper.
At a glance
| Microsoft OneNote | Xournal++ | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year (Microsoft 365 Personal) | Free |
| Free plan | OneNote is free to download and use on every supported platform. A free Microsoft account includes 5 GB of cloud storage, shared with OneDrive files and Outlook.com attachments. | Free, open-source software under the GNU GPL version 2. Every download on the project's site is free and there is no paid edition. |
| Free trial | 1-month free trial of Microsoft 365. A credit card is required, and it converts to a paid subscription unless canceled. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Microsoft | Xournal++ Team |
| Price read from | microsoft.com | xournalpp.github.io |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Xournal++
- Handwritten notes with a stylus or drawing tablet on a computer
- Writing over PDFs and exporting the annotated result
- Math and science notes that mix handwriting with LaTeX formulas
Worth knowing
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.
Xournal++
- Desktop only: the project says development of the separate Android and iOS app has stalled and the web app is no longer available.
- A journal is stored separately from its background PDF, so moving either file breaks the link unless attach mode is used.
- The macOS release will not open until two terminal commands are run to clear and re-sign the app.
- Annotations exported to PDF cannot be edited afterward, and the export drops annotations built into the source PDF.
Key features
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.
Xournal++
- Stylus and tablet input
- Supports pressure-sensitive styluses and drawing tablets from makers such as Wacom, Huion and XP-Pen, with configurable pen, highlighter and eraser tools.
- PDF annotation
- A PDF can be set as the background of a journal and written over. Text in the PDF is searchable, and the result exports back to PDF.
- Shapes, images and snapping
- Draws lines, arrows, circles, rectangles and splines, inserts images, and snaps objects to a grid or to steps of rotation.
- LaTeX editor
- A built-in LaTeX tool places typeset formulas on the page. It depends on a working LaTeX installation on the computer.
- Audio recording
- Records audio while you write and attaches the recording to objects in the note, which the Play Object tool plays back.
- Layers, toolbars and Lua plugins
- Notes can be split into layers that are hidden or edited separately, toolbars can be rearranged, and plugins are written in Lua.
Plans
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.
Xournal++
Xournal++$0
The full app for Windows, macOS and Linux, as stable or nightly builds. The Windows version is also in the Microsoft Store.
Ways to pay less
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.
Xournal++
No public discounts listed.
