Productivity · head to head
Microsoft OneNote vs OWASP ZAP
Microsoft OneNote
Productivity
Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
OWASP ZAP
Cybersecurity
Free, open-source web application scanner and intercepting proxy, now governed by the Software Security Project.
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Microsoft OneNote notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.; OWASP ZAP authenticated scanning of modern single-page applications is the hard part and ZAP makes you build it by hand: session handling, token refresh and login scripts are configured per application, and a misconfigured session means the scanner logs itself out and reports a clean result for pages it never reached.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft OneNote and OWASP ZAP actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft OneNote | OWASP ZAP |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | free |
| Platforms | Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows | Desktop, Cli, Api |
| Category | Productivity | Cybersecurity |
| Founded | 1975 | 2001 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Microsoft OneNote
- Free-form page canvas
- Notebook hierarchy
- Indexed handwriting
- Audio recording
- Web clipper and Outlook capture
- Shared notebooks
- Cross-platform clients
- Tags and cross-notebook search
Only in OWASP ZAP
- Intercepting proxy
- Passive scanner
- Active scanner
- AJAX spider
- Automation Framework
- Headless daemon and REST API
- Docker images
- Add-on marketplace
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Microsoft OneNote
- Handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote.not OWASP ZAP
- Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not OWASP ZAP
- A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not OWASP ZAP
- Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not OWASP ZAP
OWASP ZAP
- Adding a baseline security scan to every application's pipeline where per-target commercial licensing would limit coverage to a handfulnot Microsoft OneNote
- Manual penetration testing that needs an intercepting proxy, request replay and fuzzing without a paid licence per testernot Microsoft OneNote
- Teaching developers what an attack against their own endpoint looks like, using a tool they can install themselvesnot Microsoft OneNote
- Pre-release regression scanning of an internal application that would never justify a commercial DAST subscriptionnot Microsoft OneNote
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Microsoft OneNote
- Notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
- Personal notebooks consume OneDrive quota, which is 5 GB on a free Microsoft account, so a notebook full of scans, images and recordings quietly exhausts the whole account including the space Outlook needs for mail.
- Sync happens at section level and conflicts are resolved by placing both versions on the page, so simultaneous edits to a large or media-heavy section produce duplicated content that somebody has to merge by hand.
- Search behaves differently across clients, so what the Windows desktop app finds inside handwriting, images and attachments is not necessarily what the browser or mobile version finds, and the same query gives different answers on different devices.
- There is no relational structure, no database and no properties, so anything that needs a table of records with fields has to be maintained by hand or moved elsewhere, and OneNote's own tables cannot be queried or filtered.
OWASP ZAP
- Authenticated scanning of modern single-page applications is the hard part and ZAP makes you build it by hand: session handling, token refresh and login scripts are configured per application, and a misconfigured session means the scanner logs itself out and reports a clean result for pages it never reached.
- There is no support contract in the product, so when a scan breaks the day before a release the escalation path is a GitHub issue and a community chat, which is not an answer that satisfies a delivery manager or an auditor who wants a named responsible party.
- Active scanning sends genuine attack traffic, so it can create records, trigger emails, exhaust rate limits or destabilise a fragile environment, and pointing it at production without prior agreement produces an incident rather than a test result.
- Output needs triage: passive rules generate large volumes of low-severity informational findings about headers and cookie flags that bury the few results that matter, and a team without someone tuning the rule set stops reading the report within a few sprints.
- As a dynamic scanner it can only test what it can reach, so authorisation flaws between accounts, business logic abuse and anything behind an undiscovered endpoint go unreported, and a passing ZAP scan is evidence of nothing more than the absence of the classes of bug it looks for.
Pricing, plan by plan
Microsoft OneNote
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.
OWASP ZAP
Free- Free & Open SourceFree
- Full functionality
- Active & passive scanning
- Spider
Which should you pick?
Choose Microsoft OneNote if
- You need free-form page canvas.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
- You also want notebook hierarchy.
Choose OWASP ZAP if
- You need intercepting proxy.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Desktop, Cli, Api.
- You also want passive scanner.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft OneNote or OWASP ZAP better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and OWASP ZAP at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft OneNote or OWASP ZAP?
- Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and OWASP ZAP at Free.
- Does Microsoft OneNote or OWASP ZAP run on more platforms?
- Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows. OWASP ZAP runs on Desktop, Cli, Api.
- Can I use Microsoft OneNote for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Microsoft OneNote best used for?
- Microsoft OneNote is most often used for handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote., lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time., a team already inside microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval., collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.. Of those, handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote. and lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time. are not what OWASP ZAP is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft OneNote do that OWASP ZAP cannot?
- Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording. OWASP ZAP covers Intercepting proxy, Passive scanner, Active scanner, AJAX spider.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Microsoft OneNote: Is OneNote really free?
Yes. The application is free with a Microsoft account, with no time limit and no feature gate. What you may end up paying for is the OneDrive storage the notebooks consume.
OWASP ZAP: Is it still called OWASP ZAP?
The project left OWASP in August 2024 and is now governed by the Software Security Project, with core development sponsored by Checkmarx. The tool is now just ZAP, though most existing documentation, courses and search results still use the OWASP name.
Microsoft OneNote: Can I keep notebooks off Microsoft's cloud?
The Windows desktop app can keep local notebooks, but they will not sync to other devices and any shared access requires OneDrive or SharePoint.
OWASP ZAP: Is it free for commercial use?
Yes. It is Apache 2.0 licensed, with no per-application, per-scan or per-user cost, and it can be used and modified commercially without a licence agreement.
Microsoft OneNote: How do I get my notes out?
Section by section as a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document. A OneNote package preserves a whole notebook but only for another copy of OneNote. Third-party converters exist and the page layout usually does not survive them.
OWASP ZAP: Can it replace a penetration test?
No. It automates checks for known vulnerability classes against endpoints it can reach. It does not reason about business logic, chain findings into an attack, or test authorisation between accounts, which is most of what a tester actually does.
Microsoft OneNote: Which version should I install?
Microsoft consolidated onto a single OneNote application on Windows after retiring the Store version, so install the one distributed with Microsoft 365 rather than looking for an alternative.
OWASP ZAP: Does it run in CI?
Yes, through the official Docker images and the Automation Framework, which defines scan jobs in YAML so configuration lives in the repository. A baseline passive scan is the usual starting point because it is fast and non-intrusive.
OWASP ZAP: How does it compare to Burp Suite?
Burp Suite Professional is the more polished manual testing tool and has a stronger scanner and extension ecosystem, but it is licensed per tester and Burp Suite Enterprise per target. ZAP is the better fit where cost per target is the binding constraint; many teams use both.
Related pages
More on Microsoft OneNote
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- OWASP ZAP vs JumpCloud
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