Free, fast, ubiquitous on Apple devices — and a black hole the moment you need to actually do anything with what you wrote.
Apple Notes is the best free note-capture app on Apple devices, period. It does not turn notes into structured tasks, has no habit or focus features, and doesn't exist on Windows or Android. LemTask gives you fast capture (voice, AI brain dump) plus the planning, habits and gamification layer Apple Notes deliberately leaves out. Both have free tiers; LemTask works everywhere, Apple Notes only on Apple.
Gamified task management with voice input, AI suggestions, and fun productivity features.
Free-form note capture, sketching and Apple-ecosystem-only users.
| Detail | 🍋 LemTask | Apple Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Forever-free, 10 active tasks | Free with iCloud |
| Free tier limits | 10 active tasks (notes unlimited) | Unlimited |
| Supported platforms | Web, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux | iOS, Mac, iPadOS, iCloud Web (read-only) |
| Languages | 9 | 40+ |
| Feature | 🍋 LemTask | Apple Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Per-User Language (9 languages) | Workspace-wide only | |
| Cross-platform (Web + Android + Windows) | ||
| Voice / dictation capture | Brain dump + transcripts | |
| Handwriting / sketch | ||
| OCR on photos | ||
| Real task structure (priorities, projects) | ||
| Habit tracking | ||
| Focus / Pomodoro timer | ||
| Gamification & XP | ||
| AI suggestions | ||
| Folders / tags |
Apple Notes is the most-used note app on the planet because it's free, instant and on every Apple device by default. The catch is identical to Apple Reminders: it stops at the edge of the Apple ecosystem, and it has no concept of action. You can write 'follow up with Sarah' in a note and Apple has no idea that's a task that needs doing on Tuesday. LemTask is the layer Notes was never going to add — real task structure, planning, habits, focus and motivation, with cross-platform clients so the Windows colleague isn't excluded.
We built LemTask, so we'd love to say it wins everywhere. It doesn't. Here's where Apple Notes is the better pick — honestly.
Apple Pencil handwriting and sketching is unmatched — no third-party app comes close on iPad.
OCR on photos and scans (point camera at receipt → searchable text) works at OS level.
Free, ad-free, no upsell, no separate account beyond your existing iCloud.
Share-sheet integration means anything in Safari, Mail or Messages is one tap into Notes.
Apple Notes captures brilliantly. LemTask captures and acts.
Web, Windows, Android, Linux — Apple Notes is Apple-only.
XP, streaks and habits beside your tasks.
Apple Notes is still the best free capture app on iOS. We tell you to keep it for that.
"Apple Notes is where my ideas go to die. Beautifully formatted, but never acted on. LemTask is where they actually become tasks."
— Aisha K., Producer
Switched from Apple Notes
Spin the wheel and see who wins each feature matchup!
A quick, no-data-loss migration in a few steps.
On Mac, open Notes → File → Export Notes as PDF (per folder) or use the free 'Exporter' app to bulk-export as Markdown with attachments preserved.
Settings → Import → Markdown / Generic. Each note becomes a task or note inside LemTask; folders map to projects.
Most Apple Notes archives are 90% reference and 10% action. Use LemTask's bulk-archive view to keep only the actionable items as tasks.
Many users keep Apple Notes purely for handwritten meeting notes and OCR'd receipts, and use LemTask for everything that needs to be done. There's no exclusivity.
No. It has checkboxes, but no priority system, no project hierarchy, no due dates, no calendar view and no review ritual. For light personal lists (groceries, packing) it's fine. For anything more structured — work projects, weekly planning, habit building — it's the wrong tool. That's exactly the gap LemTask fills.
Yes, with a small caveat: Apple doesn't ship a one-click export. On Mac you can export folder-by-folder as PDF, or use the free 'Exporter' app to bulk-convert to Markdown with attachments. Drop the Markdown files into LemTask's Settings → Import → Markdown and we'll create one task or note per file, preserving folder structure as projects.
No — that's a feature where Apple Notes wins clearly because Apple Pencil has OS-level integration we can't match. If handwriting on iPad is core to your workflow, keep Apple Notes for that and use LemTask for planning and execution. The two apps coexist comfortably.
No. LemTask has an official Siri shortcut: 'Hey Siri, add buy milk to LemTask' creates the task and tags it to your default list. After a one-time setup, the muscle memory is identical to Apple Notes. iOS Lock Screen widgets also work for one-tap capture without unlocking.
LemTask has a forever-free tier — no credit card, no trial countdown — that includes habits, voice brain dump, focus timer and gamification. The cap is 10 active tasks at any one time. For light users that's enough. Heavy users typically hit the cap and upgrade to Pro at $14.99/mo for unlimited tasks plus AI suggestions.
Yes — natively. We ship a Windows desktop app and a Web app that works in any browser. Compared to Apple Notes (which is Apple-only), this is the single biggest reason cross-platform households and teams switch. Same data on every device, same UI, same notifications.
Not yet. Apple Notes can scan a document with the camera and produce searchable text via on-device ML — that's an iOS-level feature we don't have. If OCR is critical to your workflow, keep Apple Notes for the scan step and forward only the actionable items into LemTask via the email-to-task integration.
Most ADHD users we've spoken to say yes, because Apple Notes is a quiet archive and LemTask actively nudges. Streaks, XP, gentle overdue reminders and the daily focus task all create external structure that Apple Notes deliberately doesn't have. Notes is a wall. LemTask is a coach. Both have a place; the second one is where action happens.
Join thousands who've made the switch to LemTask
Start Free TrialWe use both LemTask and the competing app daily across personal and team workflows. Pricing is taken directly from each vendor's public pricing page on the date listed below. Feature parity is checked by attempting the same job-to-be-done in both apps (capture, plan, execute, review). When a feature exists but is gated behind a higher tier, we say so explicitly. We also re-read the most recent G2, Reddit and Product Hunt threads about the competitor before publishing.