Head to head
Cimanote vs Google Keep
Keep is a wall of sticky notes: perfect for a phone number, a grocery list, a fleeting thought. The trouble starts when those notes need to become knowledge.
Try Cimanote freeChoose Google Keep (the sticky-note wall) if…
- →Your notes are short, disposable, and rarely revisited.
- →You live in Google's ecosystem and want zero friction capture.
- →Free is non-negotiable.
Choose Cimanote (the AI-native notes app) if…
- Your notes outgrow stickies: headings, checklists, code, tables, attachments.
- You want notebooks, tags, pinning, and color labels - structure that scales past 50 notes.
- You want AI to synthesize what you've captured into living knowledge pages.
- You need a real web clipper and a real export path.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Cimanote | Google Keep |
|---|---|---|
| Rich text editor | Basic (H1/H2, bold - added 2025) | |
| Notebooks & tags | Labels only | |
| Code blocks & tables | ||
| AI knowledge base | Automatic synthesis | Gemini creates and finds notes |
| Attachments | Any file, 25 MB, with previews | Images, drawings, audio |
| Web clipper | 5 modes, free | Link only |
| Real-time collaboration | Basic sharing | |
| Quick capture | ||
| Data export | Markdown / HTML, ZIP on Pro | Google Takeout |
| Price | $6/mo, free 30-day trial | Free |
The short version
Keep what Keep is good at - fleeting capture. When notes deserve to live longer than a week, Cimanote gives them structure, search, and a knowledge engine.
Surveying the field rather than comparing two? The honest Google Keep alternative guide →
Coming from Evernote? See why Cimanote is the Evernote alternative people switch to →
Common questions
Is Cimanote a good Google Keep alternative?
Keep is excellent at fleeting capture and Cimanote does not try to beat it there. Cimanote is for when those notes need to last: notebooks, tags, pinning, color labels, code blocks, tables and attachments.
Can I import my Google Keep notes?
Yes. Export your notes from Google Takeout and drop the archive into Cimanote.
Does Google Keep have a rich text editor?
Only a basic one. Keep added H1, H2 and bold formatting in 2025, but it still has no code blocks and no tables.
Can I attach files to notes?
In Cimanote, yes: any file up to 25 MB, with inline previews for images, PDFs, video and audio. Keep handles images, drawings and voice recordings rather than arbitrary file attachments, so PDFs and documents have nowhere to go.
Is Cimanote free?
There is a free plan with unlimited notes, notebooks, tags, full-text search and the web clipper. Pro adds the Knowledge Engine, collaboration and offline sync, and every new account starts with 30 days of Pro.