Productivity · head to head
Microsoft OneNote vs Whimsical
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.; Whimsical the free plan is capped at 3 team boards, 3 teams and 10 guest seats
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Whimsical covers Flowcharts.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft OneNote and Whimsical actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft OneNote | Whimsical |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | subscription |
| Platforms | Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows | Web |
| Category | Productivity | Technology |
| Founded | 1975 | 2017 |
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 Whimsical
- Flowcharts
- Wireframes
- Mind maps
- Sticky notes
- Docs
- Real-time collaboration
- Templates
- Keyboard shortcuts
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 Whimsical
- Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not Whimsical
- A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not Whimsical
- Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not Whimsical
Whimsical
- Product planningnot Microsoft OneNote
- UI/UX designnot Microsoft OneNote
- Brainstormingnot Microsoft OneNote
- Process documentationnot Microsoft OneNote
- Project visualizationnot 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.
Whimsical
- The free plan is capped at 3 team boards, 3 teams and 10 guest seats
- File uploads are limited to 5MB per file and 1GB in total on the free plan
- Version history on the free plan goes back 7 days
- Voting, the timer, private teams, the GitHub integration, password-protected files and watermark removal all need Pro at $10 per editor per month
- SSO and SAML are Business tier only at $20 per editor per month
Pricing, plan by plan
Microsoft OneNote
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.
Whimsical
Free- StarterFree
- Up to 4 boards
- Unlimited viewers
- 7-day version history
- Pro$10/month
- Unlimited boards
- Unlimited version history
- Advanced permissions
- Org$20/month
- Everything in Pro
- SSO
- User management
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 Whimsical if
- You need flowcharts.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want wireframes.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft OneNote or Whimsical better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and Whimsical at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft OneNote or Whimsical?
- Microsoft OneNote starts at Free and Whimsical at Free.
- Does Microsoft OneNote or Whimsical run on more platforms?
- Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows. Whimsical runs on 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 Whimsical is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft OneNote do that Whimsical cannot?
- Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording. Whimsical covers Flowcharts, Wireframes, Mind maps, Sticky notes.
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.
Whimsical: What are Whimsical's pricing tiers?
Whimsical offers three plans: Free at 0 dollars per month per editor, Pro at 10 dollars per month per editor, and Business at 20 dollars per month per editor.
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.
Whimsical: What is included in the Free plan?
The Free plan allows creation of up to 50 board objects and 50 doc blocks per month, includes watermarked exports, and provides 7-day version history. Storage is limited to 1GB.
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.
Whimsical: What features unlock in the Pro plan?
The Pro plan removes the object creation limits, provides unlimited board objects and doc blocks, removes watermarks from exports, extends version history to 90 days, and offers 100GB of storage.
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.
Whimsical: What security and team features come with Business?
The Business plan adds private teams, SAML single sign-on, SCIM and advanced security controls, unlimited version history, priority support, and a dedicated success manager. Storage starts at 2TB.
SourceWhimsical: Do discounts apply for annual billing?
Yes, annual billing offers a 17 percent discount compared to monthly rates. Additionally, nonprofits receive a 20 percent discount and students and teachers get full access.
SourceRelated pages
More on Microsoft OneNote
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- Whimsical vs Things 3
- Whimsical vs Brain.fm
- Whimsical vs FigJam
- Whimsical vs Bear Notes
- Whimsical vs Samsung Food
- Whimsical vs Bluedot
- Whimsical vs Capacities
- Whimsical vs Kami
- Whimsical vs Google Workspace
- Whimsical vs Bring!
- Whimsical vs Akiflow
- Whimsical vs Any.do
- Whimsical vs Forest
- Whimsical vs HEY
- Whimsical vs Hubstaff
- Whimsical vs Mealime
- Whimsical vs Figma
- Whimsical vs Lucidchart
- Whimsical vs Asana
- Whimsical vs ClickUp
- Whimsical vs Linear
- Whimsical vs Notion
- Whimsical vs GitHub
- Whimsical vs Monday.com
- Whimsical vs Postman
- Whimsical vs Sketch
- Whimsical vs Aha!
- Whimsical vs Coda
- Whimsical vs Sublime Text
- Whimsical vs Thought Machine
- Whimsical vs Userpilot
- Whimsical vs Alkami
- Whimsical vs Dashlane