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Productivity · head to head

Microsoft OneNote vs Samsung Food

Microsoft OneNote logo

Microsoft OneNote

Productivity

Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Samsung Food logo

Samsung Food

Productivity

Recipe and grocery list app, formerly Whisk, rebranded after Samsung acquisition and integrated with Samsung appliances

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Samsung Food the appliance integration, its most distinctive feature, is only useful to someone who owns compatible Samsung kitchen hardware.
  • They diverge on capability: Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Samsung Food covers Recipe import.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Microsoft OneNote and Samsung Food actually diverge.

Attributes where Microsoft OneNote and Samsung Food differ
AttributeMicrosoft OneNoteSamsung Food
Pricing modelfreemiumFree, no subscription
PlatformsWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, WindowsiOS, Android, Web
Founded1975Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Samsung Food

  • Recipe import
  • Automatic grocery list generation
  • AI meal suggestions
  • Samsung appliance integration
  • Nutrition information
  • Shared lists

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 Samsung Food
  • Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not Samsung Food
  • A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not Samsung Food
  • Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not Samsung Food

Samsung Food

  • Someone who owns Samsung kitchen appliances and wants recipes to send settings directly to the ovennot Microsoft OneNote
  • A household wanting a shared grocery list that builds itself from saved recipesnot Microsoft OneNote
  • A home cook who saves recipes from social media and wants ingredients turned into a shopping list automaticallynot Microsoft OneNote
  • Someone who previously used Whisk and needs to know it is the same product under a new namenot 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.

Samsung Food

  • The appliance integration, its most distinctive feature, is only useful to someone who owns compatible Samsung kitchen hardware.
  • The rebrand from Whisk to Samsung Food in 2023 means older references, saved links or bookmarks under the Whisk name can confuse returning users.
  • As a Samsung ecosystem product, its long-term roadmap is tied to Samsung hardware strategy rather than to the grocery list feature on its own.
  • Recipe import from arbitrary websites and social media can be inconsistent depending on how a source page is structured.
  • It lacks some of the granular list customisation, such as manual sorting by store aisle, that dedicated list apps like AnyList and Bring focus on.

Pricing, plan by plan

Microsoft OneNote

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.

Samsung Food

Free
  • Samsung FoodFree
    • Recipe import and saving
    • Automatic grocery lists
    • Samsung appliance integration

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.
Microsoft OneNote review

Choose Samsung Food if

  • You need recipe import.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want automatic grocery list generation.
Samsung Food review

Questions people ask

Is Microsoft OneNote or Samsung Food better?
Neither clearly leads. Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and Samsung Food at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft OneNote or Samsung Food?
Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and Samsung Food at Free.
Does Microsoft OneNote or Samsung Food run on more platforms?
Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows. Samsung Food runs on iOS, Android, Web.
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 Samsung Food is typically brought in for.
What can Microsoft OneNote do that Samsung Food cannot?
Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording. Samsung Food covers Recipe import, Automatic grocery list generation, AI meal suggestions, Samsung appliance integration.

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.

Samsung Food: Is Samsung Food the same as Whisk?

Yes, Samsung acquired Whisk in 2019 and rebranded it entirely to Samsung Food in August 2023; Whisk no longer exists as a separate app.

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.

Samsung Food: Is Samsung Food free?

Yes, it has no subscription or paid tier.

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.

Samsung Food: Do I need Samsung appliances to use it?

No, the core recipe and grocery list features work without them, but appliance integration only works with compatible Samsung hardware.

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.

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