Best note-taking apps for Canadian small businesses

A Smithville sole prop does not need a second brain priced like a consultancy. They need a note they can open offline, a link a client can actually open, and an honest CAD or USD sticker. US “best Notion alternative 2026” lists skip the bill: GST/HST on SaaS, Evernote’s 50-note free ceiling, and the fact that Workspace or Microsoft 365 may already include the notebook.

This comparison is five options shops actually open: Notion (USD seats, Canadian tax), Evernote (official CAD table), Microsoft OneNote (free download; 365 for local notebooks), Apple Notes (iCloud storage), and Google Keep / Docs (Workspace CAD when you pay the suite). Note-taking app prices checked against public vendor pages, 6 September 2026.

Who this page is for

• A Canadian SMB quoted Notion Plus or Evernote Advanced who needs official CAD/USD, not a blog conversion.
• Anyone already paying Workspace or Microsoft 365 who is about to buy a fourth notes app.
• A mixed Windows/Mac shop that was told “just use Apple Notes.”
• Not a PKM religion. Not a hands-on lab.

Snapshot (public pages, 6 September 2026)

Notion — USD seats, Canadian tax, wiki first

Official notion.so/pricing (6 September 2026): Free $0/member/month — personal projects, basic forms and sites. Plus US$10/member/month on the public annual display (JSON: US$12 monthly). Business US$20/member/month on the public annual display (JSON: US$24 monthly) notion.so/pricing plan cards show $0 / $10 / $20. Embedded billing JSON on the same page is USD (Plus $12 monthly / $10 annual; Business $24 monthly / $20 annual). No public CAD list. Official notion.com/pricing feature list: use Notion offline on the desktop and mobile app; choose pages to download; Recents and Favorites auto-download on paid cards retrieved 6 September 2026. Source: https://www.notion.so/pricing.

Official Notion help “Sales tax on Notion bills”: tax follows your address. Canada section: Notion charges GST, QST, HST, and PST depending on the province. You can add a federal tax ID in the 123456789RT0001 format. Not tax advice. Source: Notion sales tax.

Buy Plus when the shop is a wiki with databases and you accept USD. If the work is deadlines and who owns the next step, stay on project management software. Notion is not a replacement for the inbox.

Evernote — official CAD table, tight free tier

Official evernote.com/pricing feature table plus the Starter/Advanced FAQ: Free: 50 notes, 1 notebook, 20 tags, 200 attachments, 1 GB storage, 1 synced device. Starter: 1,000 notes, 20 notebooks, 5 GB, 3 devices. Official CAD $17.99/month or CAD $124.90/year. USD $14.99/month or USD $99.00/year. Advanced: unlimited notes/notebooks/attachments (with safeguard limits), unlimited storage, unlimited devices. Official CAD $30.99/month or CAD $309.99/year. USD $24.99/month or USD $249.99/year. evernote.com/pricing retrieved 6 September 2026 printed the feature table, not dollar cards. Official help “Introducing Starter & Advanced” (updated April 2026) prints a currency table including CAD and USD. Apple/Google Play prices can differ — subscribe direct to match that table. Sources: https://evernote.com/pricing; https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/46317642175763-Discontinuing-Evernote-Personal-Professional-Introducing-Starter-Advanced-FAQ.

Official help “Access notes offline”: Mac/Windows desktop stores synced notes locally if you are signed in before you disconnect. Mobile stores titles and snippets unless you recently viewed the note or set it available offline. Official pricing compare lists email-in, PDF export, and sharing. Clients do not need an Evernote account to read a PDF export. Official Evernote help: tax follows the billing address and is collected on the invoice. Individual Free/Starter/Advanced users cannot add or change billing address, Tax ID, or company name on invoices. Tax exemption is listed for Teams/Enterprise only. Not tax advice. Sources: https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/209005917-Access-notes-offline; https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/5506238472339-Understanding-Tax-charges-for-individual-users-Free-Personal-or-Professional.

Buy Starter if you already live in Evernote and 1,000 notes is enough. Buy Advanced when you need unlimited devices. Do not start a new shop here if Keep or OneNote already holds the scraps — the free ceiling is 50 notes.

OneNote — free download, storage is OneDrive

Official Microsoft Support “What’s the difference between the OneNote versions?”: all supported versions are free to download and use. Certain premium features unlock with Microsoft 365. The desktop app is also installed with Microsoft 365 subscriptions that include the client apps. Official OneNote / Microsoft 365 FAQ: a Microsoft 365 subscription currently unlocks local notebook support. Free cloud notebooks sync through a Microsoft account / OneDrive quota (5 GB on a free account). Shared notebooks live on OneDrive. A client without a Microsoft account is a weak share. The shop file root is still OneDrive / SharePoint, not a second note SKU. Sources: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/what-s-the-difference-between-the-onenote-versions; https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/frequently-asked-questions-about-onenote-in-office-2019-and-microsoft-365.

If you already pay Microsoft 365, OneNote is in the install. Business Basic CAD $9.50/user/month paid yearly, plus applicable tax — microsoft.com/en-ca SharePoint business compare Confirm the live CAD widget. Seat math lives on Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 in Canada.

Apple Notes — free on the phone, iCloud quota, Apple-only share

Apple Notes ships with iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Notes in iCloud use the same 5 GB free iCloud storage as photos and backups (apple.com/ca/icloud/). Paid iCloud+ is extra storage, not a Notes SKU. Official Apple Support: collaborate on a note or folder in iCloud. Participants must be signed in to an Apple Account with Notes turned on in iCloud. You can send a copy instead. Locked notes cannot be collaborated. Official: up to 100 people on a note. Notes on the device stay available offline. Shared iCloud notes sync when you reconnect. Collaboration needs upgraded iCloud notes. A Windows bookkeeper cannot live in Apple Notes. Send a copy, or use OneNote / Docs / Notion for mixed shops. Sources: https://support.apple.com/guide/notes/collaborate-with-shared-notes-and-folders-apd4e6e2c9a6/mac; https://support.apple.com/en-am/102462; https://www.apple.com/ca/icloud/.

apple.com/ca/icloud/ printed those dollar cards without a USD/CAD label. Confirm CAD at Apple checkout. Do not invent a USD conversion. Buy iCloud+ so photos stop eating the 5 GB — not because Notes needs its own SKU.

Google Keep and Docs — stickies vs the shop document

Official workspace.google.com/products/keep/: create and share notes, lists, photos, drawings, and audio. Syncs across devices. Work offline; changes sync when you reconnect. Export notes to Docs. Real-time collaborative edit. Included with a Google Account; storage shares the 15 GB Drive/Gmail/Photos pool. Google Docs is the shop document, not a sticky-note app. Official Docs Help: offline needs Chrome or Edge, the Docs Offline extension, and offline turned on in Drive settings. Paid shop Docs ride Workspace CAD. Keep shares with Google accounts. Docs shares with a link or named accounts — that is the client brief. Keep is the parking lot; Docs is the handoff. Sources: https://workspace.google.com/products/keep/; https://support.google.com/docs/answer/6388102.

Already on Google Workspace: Keep is in the side panel; Docs is the brief you send. Business Starter CAD $11/user/month (flexible); Business Starter CAD $9.20/user/month on a one-year commitment. Do not buy Notion for the same meeting notes.

When Workspace or Microsoft 365 already covers the notebook

• You pay Workspace: Keep plus Docs is the default. Export Keep to Docs when a sticky becomes a client brief.
• You pay Microsoft 365: OneNote is in the suite. Shared notebooks sit on OneDrive / SharePoint.
• You are Apple-only at home and Windows at the shop: Notes for the phone, OneNote or Docs for the client.
• Seat math: Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365 in Canada.

A practical pick

1. Already on Workspace: Keep for scraps, Docs for the handoff. Do not buy Evernote for the same 50 notes.
2. Already on Microsoft 365: OneNote. Same rule.
3. iPhone-only sole prop, no Windows clients: Apple Notes. iCloud+ if the 5 GB is gone.
4. Need a wiki with databases and you accept USD: Notion Plus at US$10/member/month annual. Confirm GST/HST on the invoice.
5. Already in Evernote and hitting 50 notes: Starter at CAD $124.90/year on the official help table — confirm checkout. Advanced if you need more than three devices.
6. The work is who owns Friday, not the meeting scrap: project management software for Canadian small businesses.