Productivity · head to head
Microsoft OneNote vs RowShare
Microsoft OneNote
Productivity
Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
RowShare
Productivity
Shared online table where each contributor sees only their own rows
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Microsoft OneNote has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- 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.; RowShare it is a table rather than a spreadsheet, so the formula and analysis capability people expect from Excel is not there, and anything requiring modelling or charting has to be exported and finished elsewhere.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, RowShare covers Row-level permissions.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft OneNote and RowShare actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft OneNote | RowShare |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | On request |
| Pricing model | freemium | subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows | Web |
| Founded | 1975 | Unknown |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).
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 RowShare
- Row-level permissions
- Column-level permissions
- Typed columns
- Forms
- Automatic reminders
- Microsoft Teams integration
- Zapier connections
- Excel import and export
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 RowShare
- Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not RowShare
- A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not RowShare
- Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not RowShare
RowShare
- Collecting a recurring return such as timesheets, budget lines or stock counts where contributors must not see each other's entries.not Microsoft OneNote
- Replacing an emailed spreadsheet that one person consolidates by hand at the end of every month.not Microsoft OneNote
- A shared list where some columns belong to the contributor and others are only for the administrator.not Microsoft OneNote
- A structured departmental table inside Microsoft Teams that does not warrant a full database or a heavier platform licence.not 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.
RowShare
- It is a table rather than a spreadsheet, so the formula and analysis capability people expect from Excel is not there, and anything requiring modelling or charting has to be exported and finished elsewhere.
- It is a small independent product, so putting a recurring business process on it means a single vendor decision can end that process, and unlike the larger alternatives there is no ecosystem or partner network to fall back on.
- Integration is largely through Zapier rather than deep native connectors, which adds an intermediary service, another subscription and another place for a data flow to fail silently.
- The niche it occupies is increasingly covered by list tools included in Microsoft 365, so the purchase has to be justified against something the organisation may already be paying for and already administers.
- Licensing in this category is per user, so if contributors need accounts rather than form links, an occasional contributor costs the same per head as a daily one, and it is worth confirming which model applies before planning a rollout.
Pricing, plan by plan
Microsoft OneNote
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.
RowShare
On requestNo published plan breakdown. See the RowShare review.
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 RowShare if
- You need row-level permissions.
- You also want column-level permissions.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft OneNote or RowShare better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and RowShare at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft OneNote or RowShare?
- Microsoft OneNote has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Microsoft OneNote and On request for RowShare.
- Does Microsoft OneNote or RowShare run on more platforms?
- Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows. RowShare runs on Web.
- Can I use Microsoft OneNote for free?
- Yes. Microsoft OneNote has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. RowShare starts at On request.
- 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 RowShare is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft OneNote do that RowShare cannot?
- Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording. RowShare covers Row-level permissions, Column-level permissions, Typed columns, Forms.
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.
RowShare: How is this different from a shared spreadsheet?
Sharing is per row rather than per file. Everyone works in one table, and each person sees only their own rows, which removes the consolidation step rather than speeding it up.
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.
RowShare: Can I get my data out?
Tables export to Excel and CSV, so the data itself moves. The permission structure, forms and reminders that made the process work do not, so an exit means rebuilding the workflow.
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.
RowShare: Is it a database?
No. It is a permissioned table with typed columns, not a relational store you can query, so it collects structured data rather than modelling it.
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.
RowShare: Who is behind it?
A French vendor with named enterprise customers. It is a small company, so weigh continuity carefully before making it the home of a process you expect to run for years.
Related pages
More on Microsoft OneNote
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