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Google Keep alternative: Notaito compared with Keep
Short answer: Stay with Google Keep if you want quick sticky notes that live in your Google account and on your Android phone. Choose Notaito if you want notes filed under projects, earlier versions you can restore, a lock with a recovery code, and sharing that can be view-only.
Keep is the easiest notes app there is: open it, type, done. People look for an alternative when their notes pile up and nothing is filed anywhere, when they want to see an earlier wording of a note, or when reminders stopped doing what they used to. This page sets the two side by side, including the places where Keep is simply better.
| Notaito | Google Keep | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Any browser, and it can be added to the Home Screen as an installed web app. No store app and no widgets. | Web, Android, iPhone and iPad, and Wear OS. No desktop app is documented. Offline notes are on the mobile apps, not the web page. |
| How notes are organised | You write in one running list and each note is filed under a project, by you or (if you switch it on) by AI. | Labels (up to 50), colours and pins. There are no projects or folders. |
| Reminders | Repeating reminders (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly and more) that open the note. | Keep reminders are now saved in Google Tasks. Keep itself no longer sends reminder notifications, and location reminders have ended. |
| Earlier versions of a note | Every note keeps its earlier versions for 90 days, on the free plan too. Restore one or copy from it. | Version history is on the web only, and you can download a text file of previous versions. Pictures are not included. |
| Deleted notes | Kept in a Deleted list that is not emptied on a timer. | Seven days to recover a deleted note. |
| Locking a note | Per-note lock with a passphrase and a recovery code. | Keep's help pages describe no per-note lock. |
| Sharing | Share a project with people or by link, view-only or can-edit, and hide chosen notes from the shared view. | Collaborators can edit. Keep's sharing pages offer no view-only option. |
| Getting your notes out | A zip with Markdown, your pictures and a backup file, and you can import it again. | An archive of your Keep notes from your Google account, or copy a note to Google Docs on the web. |
| AI | The main AI switch (Auto-organise with AI) is off for every new account, and you can keep chosen projects out of AI. | Some AI features (list creation, voice notes) are limited to Android with a Google AI plan or a Pixel. |
Where Google Keep is the better choice
- Speed and simplicity. Keep opens straight into a note. Notaito does more, so it has more to learn.
- Your Google life. Keep sits inside your Google account, next to Tasks, Docs and Calendar, and on Wear OS watches.
- Android. Keep is a native app there. Notaito runs in the browser and has no widgets.
- Offline on a phone. Keep's mobile apps work offline. Notaito keeps your typing safe if the connection drops and joins it up afterwards, but it is not an offline-first app.
What Notaito does differently
Filing happens as you write. You do not choose a folder first. Each note lands under a project, and you can drag it somewhere else. If you switch AI on, it suggests the project; if you leave it off, you file by hand.
Nothing is silently lost. Earlier versions of each note are kept for 90 days, deleted notes wait in a Deleted list, and Ctrl+Z undoes the last action.
A lock you can recover. A locked note is encrypted in your browser with a passphrase. You also get a recovery code, so forgetting the passphrase is not the end of the note.
Reminders that come from the note. Where your device allows notifications, a reminder arrives from Notaito and opens the note.
What Notaito does not do
- No store app and no widgets. It is a web app you can install to the Home Screen.
- It is a notebook for working notes, not an archive of tens of thousands: a notebook holds up to 2,000 active notes (finished notes move to their own list), and one note can be up to 20,000 characters.
- The free plan includes 1 GB for pictures and PDFs. Plus raises that. See the plans.
Moving over from Keep
Notaito reads its own backup files and any Markdown or plain-text outline, and has no one-click Keep importer. For a small notebook the quickest route is to copy the notes you still use. For a big one, export your Keep archive from your Google account first, so you have everything, then bring across what you need. Keep running both side by side for a week before you decide.
Questions people ask
Does Google Keep have version history?
Yes, on the web. You can download a text file of previous versions of a note. Pictures are not included, and the help page does not say how far back it goes.
How long does Google Keep keep deleted notes?
Seven days. After you delete a note you have seven days to recover it, and deleting it also removes it for anyone you shared it with.
Why did my Google Keep reminders stop notifying me?
Keep reminders moved to Google Tasks. Google says you no longer get reminder notifications from Keep, and location-based reminders can no longer be created.
Can I lock a note in Google Keep?
Keep's help pages describe no way to lock or password-protect a single note.
Is Notaito free?
There is a free plan. Plus and Household are paid plans. The plans page has the current details.
See it for yourself
Notaito is a notebook that files your notes under your projects as you write. It runs in any browser and you can try it now without making an account.
Keep reading
Sources
- Google Tasks help: Keep reminders move to Tasks
- Google Keep help: version history
- Google Keep help: recover deleted notes
- Google Keep help: share notes
- Google Keep help: export an archive
- Google Keep help: platforms and offline use
- Google Keep help: labels and organising
- Google Keep help: AI features and who gets them
If something here is out of date, write to [email protected] and it will be fixed.