Productivity · head to head
Microsoft OneNote vs Tana
Microsoft OneNote
Productivity
Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive
- 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.; Tana the free plan hosts only 5 meetings a month with AI transcripts and summaries
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Tana covers Outliner interface.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft OneNote and Tana actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft OneNote | Tana |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | subscription |
| Platforms | Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows | Web, Desktop |
| Founded | 1975 | 2020 |
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 Tana
- Outliner interface
- Supertags
- Live queries
- AI integration
- Graph views
- Email capture
- API
- Zapier
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 Tana
- Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not Tana
- A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not Tana
- Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not Tana
Tana
- Structured note taking with a graph based supertag data modelnot Microsoft OneNote
- Automatic meeting capture with AI transcripts and summariesnot Microsoft OneNote
- Turning notes into queryable structured databasesnot 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.
Tana
- The free plan hosts only 5 meetings a month with AI transcripts and summaries
- The free plan connects only 1 calendar and allows 50 AI queries
- Pro is $30 per user per month at standard price, with $20 shown as an early bird rate
- Max is $120 per user per month at standard price, with $80 shown as an early bird rate
- Integrations and full MCP require the Pro plan
- Dedicated support and onboarding, and unlimited agents, skills and types, require the Max plan
- The Business plan is custom priced, billed yearly and has no published rate
- The free trial runs 30 days
Pricing, plan by plan
Microsoft OneNote
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.
Tana
Free- FreeFree
- 5 hosted meetings monthly with AI transcripts
- 1 calendar connection
- 50 AI queries
- Pro$20/month
- Early bird pricing (regular $30/month)
- Unlimited hosted meetings
- Botless meeting agent for Zoom, Teams, Google Meet
- Max$80/month
- Early bird pricing (regular $120/month)
- 5x more AI than Pro plan
- Dedicated support and onboarding
- Business$null/year
- Custom pricing (billed yearly)
- SAML SSO and advanced security controls
- Designated customer success manager
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 Tana if
- You need outliner interface.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Desktop.
- You also want supertags.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft OneNote or Tana better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and Tana at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft OneNote or Tana?
- Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and Tana at Free.
- Does Microsoft OneNote or Tana run on more platforms?
- Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows. Tana runs on Web, Desktop.
- 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 Tana is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft OneNote do that Tana cannot?
- Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording. Tana covers Outliner interface, Supertags, Live queries, AI 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.
Tana: What is Tana's cheapest paid plan?
Tana Pro starts at $20/month with early bird pricing (regular $30/month) per user, offering unlimited hosted meetings and AI transcripts.
SourceMicrosoft 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.
Tana: Does Tana offer a free trial?
Yes, Tana provides a 30-day free trial with no credit card required, plus a 60-day refund window for yearly plan subscribers.
SourceMicrosoft 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.
Tana: What is the difference between Tana Pro and Max plans?
Max provides 5x more AI than Pro ($80/month early bird or $120 regular), dedicated support, onboarding, and unlimited agents and skills.
SourceMicrosoft 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.
Related pages
More on Microsoft OneNote
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