Apple Notes

For the person who already carries an iPhone and wants zero setup. Notes is already installed, syncs through iCloud and costs nothing beyond your iCloud storage, which is why so many switchers quietly end up back here. Its old lock-in problem finally eased with iOS 26 and macOS Tahoe, which added Export as Markdown, giving notes a real exit to other apps rather than just PDF copies. The remaining catch is the platform itself: there is no Windows or Android app, only iCloud in a browser, so choose it only if you expect to stay with Apple hardware.