Best AI Note Taking App in 2026 — What Actually Works
Best AI Note Taking App in 2026
You had an idea during a call. A good one. You were going to write it down after the meeting. Then the next meeting started, and by 4pm it's gone.
AI note taking apps are supposed to fix this. They listen, watch, and capture — so you don't have to manually write everything down. But not all of them work the same way.
Some just transcribe meetings. Some capture your full screen. Some send everything to the cloud. Some keep it local. The differences matter more than most listicles admit.
Here's what's actually available in 2026 and which apps are worth your time.
The Quick Comparison
| Screenpipe | Omi | Notion AI | Obsidian + AI | Granola | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captures screen | ✅ 24/7 OCR | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Captures audio | ✅ System + mic | ✅ Wearable | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ Meetings |
| Local-first | ✅ 100% | ❌ Cloud | ❌ Cloud | ✅ Local | ❌ Cloud |
| Automatic | ✅ Always on | ✅ Always on | ❌ Manual | ❌ Manual | ⚠️ During meetings |
| Open source | ✅ MIT | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ | ❌ |
| Developer API | ✅ REST | ⚠️ Limited | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ Plugins | ❌ |
| Price | $400 lifetime | $16/mo | $10/mo | Free + plugins | $10/mo |
Screenpipe — Automatic Notes From Everything You See and Hear
Screenpipe takes a different approach from traditional note taking apps. Instead of making you write notes or transcribe specific meetings, it captures your entire screen and audio continuously. Your notes are generated after the fact — from what actually happened.
How it works for note taking:
- Runs in the background 24/7, capturing screen content via OCR and audio via transcription
- Ask the AI: "What did I work on today?" and get a structured summary
- Search for anything you saw or heard — by keyword, app, or time range
- Automatically exports daily notes to Obsidian or Notion
The key difference: Screenpipe doesn't just capture meetings. It captures everything — that Stack Overflow answer you read, the Slack message you forgot to save, the URL someone shared in a Zoom chat. All searchable, all local.
This makes it particularly useful for people who need to capture information across contexts, not just during scheduled calls. If you're a researcher, developer, or anyone who processes information from many sources throughout the day, the always-on approach captures what manual note taking misses.
Privacy: Everything stays on your device. Your screen data never leaves your machine. The code is MIT-licensed and open source. Try Screenpipe →
Omi — AI Wearable for In-Person Notes
Omi (formerly Based Hardware) is an AI wearable pendant that captures conversations. Clip it to your shirt and it transcribes in-person meetings, phone calls, and conversations you have away from your computer.
The good: It captures audio you'd otherwise miss entirely — hallway conversations, whiteboard sessions, coffee chats. The transcription quality is solid, and it generates summaries automatically.
The catch: It's audio-only. No screen content. Your data goes through their cloud. And at $16/month plus the hardware cost, it adds up. For in-person conversations specifically, it's useful. For comprehensive note taking across your digital life, it only covers one input channel. Full comparison →
Notion AI
Notion AI bolts onto the note taking tool many people already use. It can summarize pages, generate content, and answer questions about your workspace.
The good: If you already live in Notion, the AI features are natural. Ask it to summarize a meeting doc or extract action items from a page. The integration is seamless because it's built into the editor.
The catch: Notion AI doesn't capture anything automatically. You still need to write or paste your notes first — the AI just processes what's already there. There's no screen capture, no audio transcription, no automatic meeting notes. It's AI-assisted note editing, not AI note taking.
Obsidian + AI Plugins
Obsidian is a powerful local-first note taking app with a plugin ecosystem. Combine it with AI plugins and you get a capable system — but you have to build it yourself.
The good: Your notes are local markdown files. Full control. Plugins like Smart Connections add AI search across your vault. And with Screenpipe's Obsidian integration, you can automatically pipe screen and audio data into daily notes.
The catch: Out of the box, Obsidian doesn't capture anything automatically. The AI plugins vary in quality. And setting it all up takes time. It's the most powerful option for people willing to configure it — but it's not turnkey.
Granola — AI Meeting Notes
Granola does one thing well: meeting notes. You take rough notes during a meeting, and Granola uses the audio transcript to fill in the details. The result is comprehensive meeting notes that combine what you chose to highlight with everything that was said.
The good: The hybrid approach is clever. Your rough notes set the structure, and the AI fills in the gaps. Meeting notes come out better than either manual notes or pure transcription alone.
The catch: Meetings only. No screen capture. No always-on recording. Cloud-dependent. For meeting notes specifically it's great; for anything else, you'll need something additional.
What to Actually Look For in an AI Note Taking App
Automatic vs. Manual Capture
The biggest differentiator isn't which AI model the app uses — it's whether the app captures information automatically or requires you to do it manually.
Manual tools (Notion AI, basic Obsidian) process notes you've already written. Automatic tools (Screenpipe, Omi) capture information you would have missed. The gap between "AI-enhanced notes" and "AI-captured notes" is enormous in practice.
Where Does Your Data Go?
Your notes contain ideas, conversations, plans, financial information, and personal thoughts. Before choosing a tool, check:
- Is processing local or cloud-based?
- Is the code open source and auditable?
- Can you export your data anytime?
- Does the tool use your data to train models?
Screenpipe and Obsidian keep everything local. Most others send data to their cloud.
What Gets Captured?
Most "AI note taking" tools only capture audio from meetings. But your day includes:
- Code you read and write
- Messages across Slack, Teams, Discord
- Websites, documents, and PDFs
- Zoom chats and screen shares
- Random ideas you see and forget
Only tools that capture your screen get the full picture. Audio-only tools miss most of your working day.
The Verdict
- Screenpipe if you want automatic, comprehensive notes from everything — screen + audio, local-first, always running. Best for knowledge workers, developers, and researchers. $400 lifetime.
- Omi if you primarily need in-person conversation capture with a wearable.
- Notion AI if you already use Notion and want AI features on existing notes.
- Obsidian + Screenpipe if you want the ultimate local-first setup with automatic daily notes piped into your vault.
- Granola if you only need meeting notes and want a polished, focused tool.
The trend in 2026 is clear: the best note taking isn't about writing faster — it's about capturing automatically so you don't have to write at all.