OneNote vs. Workflowy

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
OneNote
Score 8.4 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft's OneNote is a digital note-taking app, supporting photos, annotating, web page clipping, emailing, and synchronizing notes across devices.N/A
Workflowy
Score 9.6 out of 10
N/A
Workflowy is a note-taking and organizational tool designed to help users manage their tasks, notes, and projects. Its simplicity and features make it a choice for individuals and teams looking to streamline their workflow. Infinite Nesting Structure: Workflowy allows users to create lists within lists to an infinite degree, enabling a detailed and structured way to organize information Global Search: Its search function is used to search through all their…
$0
per user
Pricing
OneNoteWorkflowy
Editions & Modules
Microsoft OneNote
Free
Workflowy basic
$0
per user
Workflowy pro - Monthly
$8.99
per month per user
Workflowy pro - Yearly
$83.88
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
OneNoteWorkflowy
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
YesYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
OneNoteWorkflowy
Features
OneNoteWorkflowy
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
OneNote
-
Ratings
Workflowy
7.3
Ratings
5% below category average
Task Management00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Search00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
OneNote
-
Ratings
Workflowy
7.3
Ratings
7% below category average
Video files00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Document collaboration00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Access control00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Device sync00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
User Ratings
OneNoteWorkflowy
Likelihood to Recommend
8.0
(0 ratings)
9.1
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(0 ratings)
8.2
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.8
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.7
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
OneNoteWorkflowy
Likelihood to Recommend
It is well suited for capturing weekly departmental task lists. For example, each week we create a new page in a shared departmental notebook. In this new page, each department member enters his/her top 3 accomplishments for the week and the top 3 things which the member will attempt to accomplish in the coming week. We then use this page during our Monday morning stand-up meeting and it helps provide an agenda, structure, and discussion points for the meeting.
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It is one of the few apps I’ve ever found that handles outlining as well as the ancient program called “ThinkTank” did. It’s better in that it’s accessible anywhere I have web access. Anyway, to address the specific question: I think better if I can just pour my thoughts out onto the screen, and then worry about sorting, editing, and outlining afterwords. Before Workflowy, I was stuck trying everything else. But all the outlining programs were too complex, and all the word processors that offered outlining SUCKED at outlining. Workflowy hits that sweet spot.
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Pros
  • OneNote synchronizes across platforms very quickly. I often find that notes entered, or updated, on my desktop are synchronized to my laptop and smartphone well before I ever open them up to access the information.
  • OneNote has apps for just every major platform available. This includes Windows, iOS, and Android. The web app has plenty of features so you won't feel let down if you have to access your notebooks through a browser.
  • The multimedia features of OneNote are wonderful. I can draw pictures, add sound bites, add videos, add files, and much more. This helps me capture the full context of a note, including any references that I might need, all within the note itself. I don't have to go outside of OneNote to find a video clip, logo, or soundbite.
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  • Task management
  • Planning - Short and long-term
  • Viewing my information from different perspectives. I am visual so I can fully exploit the visual nature of Workflowy and still get granular if and when I need to
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Cons
  • OneNote could improve on its web clipping features. Evernote still beats it in terms of robustness, but OneNote is sufficient for most purposes.
  • OneNote could also improve on its tagging system. Its the other major way of categorizing notes, which Evernote uses to great effect, but OneNote de-emphasizes this in favor of a hierarchical ordering.
  • This is a silly point, but it drives me mad. OneNote's free-form editing on pages, meaning you can click anywhere and start editing makes for sloppier notes that aren't as well aligned. This could be an enjoyable feature for some, but for me, I like my pages orderly.
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  • I think a scheduling feature would be a powerful addition. Users should be able to set points to pop up again on a schedule.
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Likelihood to Renew
As this is not a compulsory tool in our organization, I would say all depends on the decision makers, however since this is a part of MS Office, I am sure we will have it for as long as we will possibly need it. However, I would not be so sure, if it was a separate product
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No answers on this topic
Usability
It is easy to use day to day and has become a common use application like Outlook or Teams. There is little to no learning curve, and you can use it in the way that is most suitable for you. Features like moving sections of text around and creating new tabs is self-explanatory.
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I now have 12+ years of notes stored in Workflowy - everything from song lyrics to book outlines to classroom notes. It makes it VERY easy to find, VERY easy to sort, and VERY easy to organize.
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Performance
I find OneNote to perform very well. I experience quick load times and automatic updates which are two things that are very important to our organization. I personally do not integrate OneNote with other software or systems but I do like that it can generate a sharing link for other people to view.
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No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Since it is part of Microsoft Office and used across the globe there are a lot of support options available. It's quickest to just do a google search which will have plenty of articles to help you since there are so many OneNote users but as an Office customer you also have access to Microsoft support and I have had good experiences with their support (probably because I'm with a large company who is a large customer to them).
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No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
I’ll be honest, once I met OneNote, I knew my search was over. I found a software package that could do everything I needed and more. Pen and paper are helpful but not searchable, not private, not easily shared. Your notebook can be misplaced or stolen. You cannot use it to access websites with a click. I was a user of Lotus notes back in the day and though it had better function than pen and paper, I lost my entire notebook twice because of system issues and it didn’t have 1/10th of the function OneNote had
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There is also IndiGrid and Calculist. Workflowy outshines them all with it's various layouts, which other apps do not have (except maybe Todoist). Did I mention the ability to keep my hands on the keyboard while I can think and create without interruption?
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Return on Investment
  • By giving employees this tool, each one can try to make the most out of it, and use it as they want. I know that many employees are utilizing features of OneNote every day, and it does help them to work more organized, and more efficiently.
  • I don't think there is any negative impact. Those who don't know how to use the tool are likely not to use it, so there is no risk for negative impact other than the cost of the license.
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  • Workflowy allows me to keep all of my business and personal information in one place. I can quickly organize, reorganize, link, and add information whether on my phone or on my laptop.
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ScreenShots

Workflowy Screenshots

Screenshot of a kanban board in Workflowy, used to organize files and images.Screenshot of the interface to draft complex documents and artistic works while keeping everything organized.Screenshot of Workflowy's task management interface, where boards boards and lists can be managed and combined.Screenshot of item highlighting, with search by highlight color.Screenshot of tags, used to find anything in an account, no matter where it is.