07 May 2025
Notes Productivity

we make note-taking app are non-super-app. we want to help users focus ...

...and finish their works. about UX, we make a lean, optimal, fast. we focus on individual, instead of a group of people. we focus on creating note to achieve goals, not over-organizing their note, not decoration. about UI, we make lean chat to make note, help users dump their thoughts easily. we make mind-map view note to overview their progress. we make AI-assistance, but not for replacement of people works, we don't make autocomplete-note, summarize document, we make AI understand your thoughts, analyze data you ask, you give.

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.


Your are here

The note-taking app space is crowded, fitting squarely into the "Swamp" category, where many mediocre solutions already exist. With 21 similar products already out there, standing out will be a significant challenge. The engagement on these similar products is low, indicated by the average of 3 comments. Users are also questioning the value proposition of new note-taking apps compared to existing solutions like Notion and OneNote, which means you will need to clearly and immediately articulate a unique differentiator. Your focus on individual users, lean UX/UI, and AI assistance for data analysis are interesting, but you'll need to demonstrate tangible benefits that go beyond the current offerings to capture user attention in a market already full of alternatives.

Recommendations

  1. Start by deeply understanding why existing minimalist note-taking apps haven't taken off. What are their shortcomings? Are users not finding them useful, or are they simply not discovering them? Look at the criticism from other product launches to understand what users dislike. For example, users of Draftonn Desktop were concerned over the absence of a free trial, while users of NotezAI noted the app's lack of online accessibility.
  2. Define a very specific niche of users that your app caters to. General "productivity" is too broad. Are you targeting students, researchers, writers, or developers? What are their unique pain points that current apps don't solve? For instance, if you focus on researchers, you could emphasize features like AI-powered data analysis and mind-map visualization tailored to academic workflows. Be sure to highlight the value prop in your marketing materials, since products like 'Notes - Streamlined notes' have been criticized for an unclear value proposition compared to competitors.
  3. Before building a full-fledged app, consider offering your AI-powered data analysis as a tool that integrates into existing note-taking apps like Notion or Obsidian. This allows you to validate your core technology and gain traction without needing to build an entire ecosystem. Also, consider integrations with popular tools like Trello and Asana, which users are actively requesting. Starting with integrations is a good move because noteX was criticized for a lack of such integrations.
  4. Instead of directly competing with established note-taking apps, explore adjacent problems in the productivity space. Could your AI capabilities be applied to task management, project planning, or knowledge management? The discussion around BrainNote highlighted concerns about differentiation from existing speech-to-text technologies and platforms like OpenAI, which suggests a need to carve out a unique niche.
  5. Create a compelling demo video showcasing your app's lean UX/UI and AI-powered data analysis capabilities. Highlight how it solves specific user problems and improves their workflow. Ensure the website and landing pages are clear, functional, and up-to-date as a non-loading main website image was a point of criticism for Mixim Drafts. Offering a free trial can also help address user skepticism and encourage adoption, as Draftonn Desktop users expressed concern over the lack of a free trial.
  6. Prioritize data privacy and security. Given the increasing concerns around AI and data, clearly communicate your security measures and data handling policies. Build trust by being transparent about how you protect user information, as the Product Hunt launch of NoteX garnered positive feedback regarding its security and safe storage. Remember that security concerns were raised during the launch of NoteX, so make this a priority.

Questions

  1. What specific data analysis tasks will your AI assistant handle better than existing solutions, and how will you demonstrate this superiority to potential users?
  2. How will you balance the desire for a lean, optimal UX with the need for robust features and integrations that users have come to expect from established note-taking apps?
  3. What is your plan to acquire initial users and generate buzz in a crowded market where many similar apps have failed to gain traction?

Your are here

The note-taking app space is crowded, fitting squarely into the "Swamp" category, where many mediocre solutions already exist. With 21 similar products already out there, standing out will be a significant challenge. The engagement on these similar products is low, indicated by the average of 3 comments. Users are also questioning the value proposition of new note-taking apps compared to existing solutions like Notion and OneNote, which means you will need to clearly and immediately articulate a unique differentiator. Your focus on individual users, lean UX/UI, and AI assistance for data analysis are interesting, but you'll need to demonstrate tangible benefits that go beyond the current offerings to capture user attention in a market already full of alternatives.

Recommendations

  1. Start by deeply understanding why existing minimalist note-taking apps haven't taken off. What are their shortcomings? Are users not finding them useful, or are they simply not discovering them? Look at the criticism from other product launches to understand what users dislike. For example, users of Draftonn Desktop were concerned over the absence of a free trial, while users of NotezAI noted the app's lack of online accessibility.
  2. Define a very specific niche of users that your app caters to. General "productivity" is too broad. Are you targeting students, researchers, writers, or developers? What are their unique pain points that current apps don't solve? For instance, if you focus on researchers, you could emphasize features like AI-powered data analysis and mind-map visualization tailored to academic workflows. Be sure to highlight the value prop in your marketing materials, since products like 'Notes - Streamlined notes' have been criticized for an unclear value proposition compared to competitors.
  3. Before building a full-fledged app, consider offering your AI-powered data analysis as a tool that integrates into existing note-taking apps like Notion or Obsidian. This allows you to validate your core technology and gain traction without needing to build an entire ecosystem. Also, consider integrations with popular tools like Trello and Asana, which users are actively requesting. Starting with integrations is a good move because noteX was criticized for a lack of such integrations.
  4. Instead of directly competing with established note-taking apps, explore adjacent problems in the productivity space. Could your AI capabilities be applied to task management, project planning, or knowledge management? The discussion around BrainNote highlighted concerns about differentiation from existing speech-to-text technologies and platforms like OpenAI, which suggests a need to carve out a unique niche.
  5. Create a compelling demo video showcasing your app's lean UX/UI and AI-powered data analysis capabilities. Highlight how it solves specific user problems and improves their workflow. Ensure the website and landing pages are clear, functional, and up-to-date as a non-loading main website image was a point of criticism for Mixim Drafts. Offering a free trial can also help address user skepticism and encourage adoption, as Draftonn Desktop users expressed concern over the lack of a free trial.
  6. Prioritize data privacy and security. Given the increasing concerns around AI and data, clearly communicate your security measures and data handling policies. Build trust by being transparent about how you protect user information, as the Product Hunt launch of NoteX garnered positive feedback regarding its security and safe storage. Remember that security concerns were raised during the launch of NoteX, so make this a priority.

Questions

  1. What specific data analysis tasks will your AI assistant handle better than existing solutions, and how will you demonstrate this superiority to potential users?
  2. How will you balance the desire for a lean, optimal UX with the need for robust features and integrations that users have come to expect from established note-taking apps?
  3. What is your plan to acquire initial users and generate buzz in a crowded market where many similar apps have failed to gain traction?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 21
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 3
  • Net use signal: 16.9%
    • Positive use signal: 19.0%
    • Negative use signal: 2.1%
  • Net buy signal: -2.1%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 2.1%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

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Draftonn Desktop - The minimalistic note taking app of the future

Draftonn is a simple and easy-to-use note-taking app built from the ground up for students and productivity enthusiasts. It's primary and foremost goal is to be a simple distraction-free note-taking app that students can use to take notes.

Users express concern over the absence of a free trial or a method to test the product before purchase. There's also an inquiry regarding macOS compatibility, indicating missing OS information which creates uncertainty for potential users.

Users criticized the Product Hunt launch for lacking a free trial or any form of free access to test the product. Additionally, there was criticism regarding the absence of information specifying which operating systems the product is compatible with, causing uncertainty for potential users.


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Minimal note-taking app

09 Aug 2023 Notes Productivity

No accounts, barely any UI chrome. Web-based note taking app with real-time collaboration. Visiting homepage generates a new note with a unique URL.

Users appreciate the early-web app aesthetic and the quick, straightforward text sharing with a fixed URL. Some are unsure of the use case, but find it accidentally cool. The real-time collaboration feature and use of ProseMirror are noted positively.

The product has received criticism for having an unclear intended use case, making it difficult for users to understand its purpose and how it can be effectively utilized.


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Mixim Drafts - Simple yet powerful note-taking app for productive minds

03 Jul 2023 Notes Writing Productivity

Simplify your note-taking experience with Drafts, the minimalistic app designed to help you focus on what matters most: your ideas.

A user reported that the main website image isn't loading and requested a notification when the issue is resolved. Another user simply commented "woow".

The primary criticism is that the main website image is not loading, hindering the user experience and potentially discouraging initial engagement. This technical issue needs immediate attention to ensure users can properly view and understand the product.


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noteX - Discover the power of AI-powered note-taking with noteX

09 Sep 2024 SaaS Notes Productivity

NoteX: AI-powered productivity hub. Organize thoughts and boost efficiency with Gemini Pro insights. Secure cloud storage for ideas, accessible anywhere. Combines intuitive note-taking with AI assistance to elevate your workflow and unleash creativity.

NoteX's Product Hunt launch garnered positive feedback, with users praising its AI-driven capabilities, Gemini Pro integration, intuitive design, and productivity-enhancing features. Many highlighted its potential for organization, insights, and cross-platform access. Security and safe storage were also well-received. Feature suggestions included note tagging/categorization, sharing capabilities, and integration with tools like Notion/Trello. Some users expressed concerns about the need for another AI note-taking app, data privacy, security, offline capabilities, and the handling of disorganized notes, urging real-world testing.

Users expressed several criticisms. A key concern revolves around the lack of integrations with popular tools like Trello and Asana. There are also strong calls for better collaboration features, such as those found in Evernote, and enhanced cloud security. Some users find the app overpriced and question the necessity of AI in note-taking, preferring more offline functionality. The product launch also received negative feedback about users being unable to open links. Finally, security concerns were raised, with the need for real-world testing emphasized over marketing claims.


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183
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Relevance

Notability - Note-taking chatbot that knows where to put your notes

Hi HN, Igor here, I've built this thing last night.I've been obsessed with note-taking for a while, using Evernote for over 10 years, then moved to Notion. My ongoing frustration was that when you have a thought to capture, the last thing you want is to spend time navigating the note-taking app's UI. I just want to write it! This is especially painful on spotty connections on mobile.So about a year ago I've built a Telegram bot that saves notes in Notion. All into one page, which is obviously a problem - it is now enormous. But to my surprise, I completely stopped using Evernote and Notion apps to write things down. It's easier to search later than to struggle with the app in the moment of writing. Indeed, chat apps are built for frictionless writing on the go - unlike apps like Notion and Evernote.Also, as a team we tend to capture meeting notes, retrospectives and other points in Slack rather than in Notion. Some critical distilled bits still go to Notion but Slack is so much easier.But one thing was missing - the UI to "route" the notes. I thought of something like inline buttons in the chat, or maybe a separate chat-like app that would have categories or some sort of a "tree-like" navigation after you enter the note. This seemed like a rabbit whole, there was no right way in sight.And then over the weekend it clicked - the right UI is _no UI_. Note routing should be automatic! It is possible to tell what the note is about from its content, even without LLMs, but with things like ChatGPT that's just trivial. So, last night I've replaced the single-page logic with a page selector that picks the right page based on note's content.Now I'm thinking what it can also be used for and it's starting to look kind of crazy. What if something like this ends up with a "knowledge routing" layer? You just throw ideas, links, screenshots to it and it makes it readily available for everyone in your organisation. Different input sources (Slack, Teams) and more destinations eg Confluence. Also the matching right now only uses subpage titles - but it could use all of the notes to make matching 100% precise.Anyways - what do you all think? Give it a try!


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2
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NotezAI - AI powered note taking app

Discover how NotezAI, the revolutionary AI-powered note-taking app, can help you effortlessly manage your ideas, streamline your content planning, and enhance your productivity.

Users congratulate the launch of NotezAI and praise it as an amazing and helpful tool for organization. Account creation was successful for at least one user. Some users suggest productivity influencers like Ali Abdaal may be interested. A potential issue with a "Not set" label on the landing page and the absence of a Play Store link were noted. Some users question the need to switch from existing tools like OneNote or Notion. Many users wish good luck to Yaw and the team.

Users criticized the product launch for an unclear "Not set" label, suggesting a potential oversight. Additionally, they noted the app's lack of online accessibility and discoverability, implying difficulties in finding and using the product.


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A Note-Taking App for the Way You Think

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As a 16-year-old developer from Germany, I spent the last eight months building something I’ve always wanted but couldn’t find—a note-taking app that fits the way I think. Oneboard is an AI-powered tool that helps you capture ideas naturally, whether it’s handwriting, sketching, or organizing thoughts in a way that makes sense. It has all the essential features without the distractions, and it’s become my go-to for staying creative and productive. This has been a deeply personal project, and I’m excited to share it with anyone who’s looking for a smarter, more intuitive way to take notes.Website: https://oneboard.framer.website Download: https://apps.apple.com/de/app/oneboard/id6474271576


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I created a minimalist notes app with a built-in Excalidraw editor

06 Aug 2024 Notes

Hey HN,I like to draw little sketches to remember and process information, like mind maps or app architectures. I'm also tired of note-taking apps being cluttered with features I don't use.So, I came up with the idea to combine drawing and writing notes together, wrapped in a minimalistic UI. Apart from Excalidraw sketches, it’s just notes, folders, formatting, and sharing.What do you think about that? If you like the idea, please let me know what would make you consider using it. If you don't, why?

Users appreciate the simple sketches with plaintext notes. However, there is feedback about an abrupt ending in the shared review link.

Users raised concerns about the data format, exportability, and the availability of a demo. Additionally, there was criticism about the harsh and abrupt ending.


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Notable AI - AI-powered note-taking with smart summaries & voice commands

Effortlessly capture notes, manage tasks, and generate AI summaries with voice commands. Enjoy seamless cross-platform sync without an account. Stay organized and boost productivity with Notable AI's intuitive interface and smart features.

Users express excitement about the app, highlighting its potential for improved organization and productivity. The innovative voice command tool, featuring AI summaries and synchronization, is a key feature that is seen as promising. Users are eager to try the app and integrate it into their workflow.


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ScriptMind - Elevate note-taking with AI assistants

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The product launch is receiving positive feedback with users congratulating the team. Many users express excitement about the potential of AI to enhance note-taking and improve tools like Obsidian. Users find the tool cool and promising.

Users have expressed concerns and asked questions regarding the functionalities available in the free version, the specific features included in the paid subscription, and the availability of an Android application for the product.


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Bring CLARITY to your ideas - Faster. Struggling to organize your thoughts? BrainNote.ai transforms rambling ideas into actionable notes. Just speak, and let our AI-powered notetaker handle the rest. Effortless clarity in seconds!

BrainNote is praised for its ability to transform scattered thoughts into clear notes effortlessly, particularly while multitasking like driving and listening to podcasts. Users highlight its utility for chaotic brainstorming sessions and suggest topic separation features. A key concern revolves around how BrainNote differentiates itself from existing speech-to-text technologies and platforms like OpenAI.

Users are requesting more organizational features, specifically the ability to separate and organize different topics. There are also concerns regarding differentiation from existing speech-to-text technologies, including feature parity with solutions like OpenAI's voice mode. A specific question was raised about the product's ability to distinguish between different voices.


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Notes - Streamlined notes: quick & organized

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Users are questioning the value proposition compared to existing note-taking apps and inquiring about importing from other apps. There's a suggestion to list the product in a productivity directory to increase visibility. At least one user likes the idea and is awaiting more robust features, while congratulating the maker.

The primary criticism revolves around the product's uncertain market position, particularly how it differentiates itself and competes with existing popular alternatives. Users question its unique value proposition within the current landscape.


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75
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I built an App that CHANGES how you LEARN while navigating the Web

This ain't your junior dev's copypaste Note taking app, I'm changing the way you browse the web, all without leaving your web browser!You can create notes and group them together in notes to consolidtate your ideas!Notate will also provide intelligent suggestions to add notes similar to your notebook based on the webpage you're viewing!Check it out on my Github! Cheers!

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