What is the best note taking app for Android with a stylus?

Samsung Notes, if you have a Galaxy with an S Pen. On any other Android tablet or a Chromebook, start with Squid, which is free to install and needs no account.

Is there a free note taking app for Android that works with a stylus?

Yes. Samsung Notes, OneNote and Google Keep cost nothing, and Squid, MyScript Notes, Notewise, Noteshelf 3 and Goodnotes have free versions with limits.

Do I need a special stylus for note taking on Android?

No, but an active pen gets more out of the apps. Squid and MyScript Notes take a plain capacitive stylus, while an active pen such as the S Pen adds pressure and lets Squid erase with your finger. A Pixel Tablet takes USI 2.0 pens.

Which Android note app converts handwriting to text?

MyScript Notes, which reads 66 languages and turns a page into clean typed text. Samsung Notes does it on a Galaxy, and so do Notewise and Noteshelf 3 with its one-time upgrade. OneNote pulls the text out of a scanned paper page.

Can I sync handwritten notes between Android and an iPad?

Only with some apps. Notewise is sold on both stores and its cloud plans sync between devices. Goodnotes and Noteshelf 3 don't join Android and iPad notebooks yet.

What is the best stylus note app on Android for students?

Notewise, for lectures with slides. It records and transcribes the class, keeps the PDF beside your handwriting, and turns notes into flashcards or a quiz. On a Galaxy, Samsung Notes is the free choice.

9 best note taking apps for Android stylus in 2026

How we chose

The best note taking app for an Android stylus starts with the pen in your hand. With an S Pen on a Galaxy, the strongest choice is already installed: Samsung Notes. On a Pixel Tablet or any other Android tablet, start with Squid, which is free, needs no account and keeps your pages on the tablet. The other seven each beat those two at one job.

We asked six questions of every app:

What does it cost, and what stops working on the free version?
Does it take an active pen like the S Pen, or only a rubber-tipped stylus?
Will it turn handwriting into typed text, and will search find a word you wrote by hand?
Can you write on a PDF and send it back?
Where do your pages live, and how do they come out if you leave?
Does it run on the laptop or iPad you already own?

We read every price and feature on the maker's own site, help pages or Google Play listing on 30 October 2026. We didn't install the apps or time the ink, so there are no star ratings or lag scores here. Ink feel depends on your screen, so judge it with the ten-minute test on your own tablet. Want an app that records a meeting and writes the notes for you instead? Start with the best AI note taking apps.

The 9 best note taking apps for an Android stylus

Stop at the first one that matches your tablet and the way you write.

1. Samsung Notes: best on a Galaxy with an S Pen

Samsung Notes comes on Galaxy phones and tablets, and its Google Play listing has nothing to buy. Samsung's handwriting guide shows how to turn any part of a page into typed text or straighten a wobbly line, and Handwriting help draws guidelines and corrects letter shapes while you write. Hold the pen's side button and the tip becomes an eraser.

Open a PDF inside a note to sign a form or mark up a reading. When you're done, Samsung's PDF guide shows how to export the note as a PDF or as a Word or PowerPoint file. On recent models with One UI 6.1 or later, Note Assist formats your notes, summarises them and translates them. It needs a Samsung account and an internet connection, and Samsung says its basic Galaxy AI features are free.

Pick it if you own a Galaxy with an S Pen and want one free app for lists and signed forms. Skip it if your tablet isn't a Galaxy, because Samsung's own guides only cover Galaxy phones and tablets and its Galaxy Book laptops.

2. Microsoft OneNote: best free notebook that follows you to Windows

OneNote files pages into notebooks and sections. On Android you write with the pen and type beside your ink, or scan a paper page and pull the text out of the photo, and dictation works in 27 languages. The app is free on Android 9.0 or later and needs a free Microsoft account.

Microsoft's OneNote page lists PCs, Macs, phones and tablets, so the page you write at home is waiting on the office computer. Microsoft 365 Basic adds 100 GB of cloud storage for US$19.99 a year.

Pick it if your work laptop runs Windows and you want ink and scans in one free notebook. Skip it if you'd rather not sign in to anything, because OneNote asks for a Microsoft account before your first word.

3. Squid: best for handwriting on any Android tablet or Chromebook

Squid is a handwriting app for Android tablets and phones and for Chromebooks, and your notes stay on the device with no account or sign-in. On a tablet with an active pen like the S Pen, the pen writes while a finger erases, and Squid's site adds pressure sensitivity and quick actions on the side button. Elsewhere a finger or a plain capacitive stylus does the writing.

You can import a PDF or a photo, sign a form and insert blank pages between PDF pages, then export the result as a PDF or an image. Squid costs nothing to install, and its paid upgrade, priced in Google Play, adds more paper backgrounds, shapes and typed text, along with bulk export to Google Drive, Dropbox or Box. Low-latency ink works on Chromebooks today, and the listing says it's still on the way for Android devices.

Pick it if you want pages that never leave the tablet, written with the stylus you already own. Skip it if you need handwriting turned into typed text, because nothing on Squid's site or listing offers that.

4. MyScript Notes: best for turning handwriting into typed text

MyScript Notes, the app that used to be called Nebo, is built around handwriting recognition, and its Play listing says it reads 66 languages. Write a paragraph, convert it to clean text and paste it into an email. Scribble over a word to delete it, or hold the pen still after drawing a line or a shape and it snaps into a neat one. Search covers your handwriting along with the text in diagrams and your PDF annotations.

It works with active and passive pens, and sync runs through Google Drive or Dropbox with a free MyScript account. Handwriting you paste into another app arrives as text.

You start with a 7-day free trial, then keep a limited free version or pay by subscription or once for life. MyScript's plan page doesn't print the amounts, so check them in Google Play.

Pick it if your notes end up typed somewhere else, like an email or a report. Skip it if you want a paper planner with covers and stickers, which Noteshelf does better.

5. Notewise: best when slides, recordings and handwriting share a page

Notewise puts handwriting and typing, sketches, PDFs and audio in one note on Android phones and tablets. It records and transcribes lectures and meetings in more than 20 languages and converts handwriting to text, and its search reaches your handwriting as well as transcripts and PDFs. It also turns your notes into flashcards or a quiz.

Notewise's pricing page lists Classic Free with 10 canvases of up to 50 pages each. Classic Unlimited costs US$16.99 once, lifts the limits and removes the watermark, and keeps everything offline. Sync between devices and the AI tools need a cloud plan: Starter costs US$36.99 a year after a 7-day free trial, and the plans are sold on the App Store as well as Google Play.

Pick it if you study or sit in meetings and want the recording and the slides beside your scribbles. Skip it if AI isn't what you're after. Notewise calls itself an AI note-taking app, and its plans are priced by AI credits.

6. Noteshelf 3: best for planners, and for paying once

Noteshelf 3 works like a paper notebook on an Android tablet or phone. Pens, pencils and highlighters come in any colour, and its hundreds of templates run from dotted paper and Cornell notes to daily and weekly planners. Import a textbook as a PDF, add blank pages between its pages and export the marked-up copy, or record audio while you write and play it back beside the page.

The free version has no time limit and holds up to 3 notebooks. A one-time purchase adds unlimited notebooks and every template, plus handwriting recognition, auto-backup and more AI credits. Noteshelf's FAQ says its AI runs on OpenAI's API, so the page you're on goes to OpenAI when you use it.

Pick it if you plan your week by hand and you're tired of subscriptions. Skip it if your Android notebooks have to appear on an iPad today: Noteshelf syncs Android with Windows through Google Drive and Apple devices through iCloud, and says full sync across every platform is still in the works.

7. Goodnotes: best if you also write on a Windows PC

Goodnotes for Android runs on Android tablets and Chromebooks, from Google Play or, on Samsung tablets, the Galaxy Store. You write and sketch on 50+ templates, edit ink after it's down and mark up PDFs. The same Goodnotes account works on Windows, so your Android notes open on the PC.

The pricing page gives the free plan 3 files, 5 MB imports and 20 minutes of audio. Essential removes the limits for US$11.99 a year, and Pro, at US$35.99 a year, adds sync across devices and real-time collaboration. Owners of a Galaxy Tab S9, S10 or S11 get a year of Essential free through the Galaxy Picks folder.

Pick it if you own a recent Galaxy Tab and a Windows laptop. Skip it if your notebooks already live in Goodnotes on an iPad: Goodnotes says iPad documents don't sync to the Android app yet, and the Android version lacks some features of Goodnotes 6 on iPad.

8. Google Keep: best for a quick sketch beside a list

Google Keep is free and keeps your phone, tablet, computer and Wear OS watch in sync. Keep's drawing help shows how to start a drawing from Create and switch between a pen for thin lines, a marker for thick ones and a highlighter.

You can also draw on a photo in a note and circle the right shelf bracket in a picture from the hardware shop. Reminders bring a list back when you need it, and a shared note suits a grocery list you plan with someone else.

Pick it if most of your pen use is a doodle or a circled photo next to a list. Skip it if you write whole pages or mark up PDFs: when a drawing runs out of room, Keep's help tells you to draw at the bottom of the screen and scroll up.

9. Obsidian with Excalidraw: best for typed notes with a hand-drawn diagram

Obsidian is free without limits and asks for no sign-up. It stores your notes on your own device, collects no telemetry and runs on Android, iOS, Windows and Linux. The free Excalidraw plugin adds a sketching tool whose drawings live in your vault, embed in notes and link to other notes.

If you want the vault on other devices, Obsidian Sync costs US$4 a month billed yearly, with end-to-end encryption. Torn between this and Notion? Read Obsidian vs Notion first.

Pick it if privacy is why you're shopping and the pen is only for diagrams. Skip it if handwriting is most of what you do, because Excalidraw is a drawing board, not a lined notebook.

What each one costs

Prices are in US dollars, as of October 2026.

App	Free version	Paid from	Also on
Samsung Notes	Everything	Nothing to buy	Galaxy Book
OneNote	Everything	US$19.99 a year, storage	Windows, Mac, iPhone
Squid	Core pen tools	Price in Google Play	Chromebook
MyScript Notes	Limited, after a trial	Price in Google Play	Apple devices
Notewise	10 canvases	US$16.99 once	iPhone, iPad
Noteshelf 3	3 notebooks	One-time, in Google Play	Windows, iPad
Goodnotes	3 files	US$11.99 a year	Windows, iPad
Google Keep	Everything	Nothing to buy	Computer, Wear OS
Obsidian	Everything	Sync, US$4 a month	iOS, Windows, Linux

Which pen works with your tablet

Buy the app after the pen, because the pen decides what the app can do.

A Galaxy with an S Pen: Samsung Notes is built around it, and Squid treats it as an active pen that writes while your finger erases.
A Pixel Tablet: Google's Pixel Tablet FAQ says it works with third-party styluses that meet the USI 2.0 standard, and it names no Google pen.
No active pen: a rubber-tipped capacitive stylus writes the way a fingertip does. Squid and MyScript Notes both take one, but you give up pressure and the finger eraser.

Test an app in ten minutes

Run this on two apps on the same evening:

Write a full paragraph at your normal speed and watch how far the ink trails the tip.
Rest your hand on the glass and write three more lines, then count the stray marks.
Press the pen's side button to see what it does. Samsung Notes turns the tip into an eraser while you hold it.
Convert one handwritten line to text and count the words it got wrong.
Search for a word you wrote by hand.
Import a PDF, sign one page, export it and open the export in a different app.
Switch on airplane mode and open the note again.

The app you reach for the next morning is the one to keep.

Moving notes between devices, and out again

A Windows laptop: OneNote and Goodnotes open the same notes there, and Noteshelf 3 syncs Android and Windows through Google Drive.
An iPad: Notewise is sold on the App Store too, and its cloud plans sync between devices. Goodnotes and Noteshelf don't join Android and iPad notebooks yet.
An iPhone: OneNote is free on both, and Notewise's cloud plans reach it too. For typed notes on the phone itself, start with the best note taking apps for iPhone.

Then check how the pages come back out:

Samsung Notes: PDF, Word or PowerPoint.
Squid: PDF, PNG, JPEG or its own Squid Note file.
MyScript Notes: PDF, PNG, SVG, Word or its own format.
Goodnotes: exports from a free account carry a watermark.
Noteshelf 3: auto-backup to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or WebDAV.
Obsidian: nothing to export, because the notes are already files on your device.

Export three pages before you commit, then open them somewhere else.

Which one fits your day

Find the line that sounds like you:

A Galaxy with an S Pen: Samsung Notes.
A Windows laptop at work: OneNote, or Goodnotes on a recent Galaxy Tab.
Any other tablet, and no account: Squid.
Handwriting that ends up typed: MyScript Notes.
Lectures and meetings with slides: Notewise.
A planner you fill in by hand, paid once: Noteshelf 3.
A doodle next to a shopping list: Google Keep.
Typed notes, a drawn diagram, nothing in the cloud: Obsidian with Excalidraw.

Half your pen notes are things to do this week? A reminder app does that job better, and the best reminder apps start there. Keep one pen app and one typing app at most, because a third app is where a page goes missing.

Your handwritten pages full of to-dos? ActivityTracker installs from Chrome on an Android phone, one search looks through every note, and Turn into tasks makes a task from each unticked line of a checklist.

See how notes work

Priya's first week with a pen

Made-up example: Priya takes a bookkeeping course on Monday and Tuesday evenings, and her laptop at work runs Windows. Last month she bought a Pixel Tablet and, after reading Google's FAQ, a USI 2.0 pen.

Sunday: she runs the ten-minute test in Squid and MyScript Notes.

Monday: the tutor emails 30 slides as a PDF, and she writes in the margins in Squid during class.

Tuesday: her study group asks for a summary of the depreciation lesson. She writes it in MyScript Notes, converts it to text and pastes it into the group email.

Friday: she counts the week: 11 handwritten pages in Squid, 3 typed summaries from MyScript Notes and nothing paid. She keeps both apps, Squid for the pages she keeps and MyScript Notes for anything someone else will read.