AI-assisted draft, not yet reviewed by a named person
Written by LaunchFaro editorial (AI-assisted draft) on Oct 13, 2026. Every claim cites a source below, but no named editor has checked this guide yet, so treat it as a starting point and confirm prices and limits on the vendor page before you decide.
The short answer
Obsidian and Joplin both have documented OneNote import routes, so they are the safest moves if you want your pages converted. Obsidian is free and keeps notes as local Markdown; Joplin is open source with optional paid sync. Evernote and Notion are the cloud options, but neither page read here describes a OneNote import. Standard Notes suits encrypted plain-text notes. Check export limits before deleting anything from OneDrive.
Notion offers a Free plan and imports Markdown, HTML, Word and other files, so converted pages can be loaded, though no OneNote importer is documented.[11][12]
Its free tier lists end-to-end encryption, device sync and offline access for plain text notes, at the cost of rich formatting.[13]
What you may be solving for
If the Windows 10 app was your daily driver
Microsoft says OneNote for Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025. Existing notes can be opened and viewed, but not created, edited or synced, and the app receives no fixes. Microsoft points users to OneNote on Windows, which is free.
So staying inside Microsoft's family is a short step, not a migration: cloud-synced notebooks carry over, but notes with unsynced changes or sync errors do not appear until resolved. Look elsewhere only if your reason for leaving is something else, such as storage in OneDrive or the format.[1][2]
If you want notes outside Microsoft's cloud
Microsoft's version guide says only the Windows desktop version stores notebooks locally on the PC; the web, Mac and mobile versions work with cloud notebooks. If you leave, your notebooks sit on OneDrive until you export them.
Obsidian saves notes on your device by its own licence page. Joplin keeps a local copy and syncs through Joplin Cloud or a server you run. Standard Notes keeps encrypted notes synced across devices. All three move the primary copy away from OneDrive.[1][6][8][13]
OneNote lets you place text, ink and attachments anywhere on a page. Markdown tools such as Obsidian and Joplin store linear documents, so pages built around freely placed blocks will flatten on import. Ink is a good example: nothing read here says handwriting survives conversion.
Evernote and Notion are also document-style rather than canvas-style, so there is no like-for-like replacement for the free-form layout among the options here.[1][4][7]
OneNote itself has no standalone price; Microsoft says supported versions are free and a Microsoft 365 subscription unlocks extras. Evernote's free plan is much tighter than that: 50 notes, one notebook and one synced device on the comparison page read, with paid plan prices not shown on the page.
Obsidian is free for any use with Sync from $4 per user per month billed annually. Joplin Cloud starts at 2.99 EUR per month, and Notion's Free plan allows 5 MB per uploaded file.[1][5][8][10][11]
Best for People who want OneNote pages as editable Markdown on their own device and accept building their own organisation.
What you give up
OneNote's free-form layout becomes linear notes, and password-protected sections are skipped on file import.
Sync across devices is a paid add-on unless you arrange your own file sync.
Pricing and limits
App free including commercial use; Sync $4 per user per month billed annually or $5 monthly.[5]
Restrictions that change the answer
A commercial licence at $50 per user per year is offered but optional.
Moving from Microsoft OneNote
Install the Importer plugin. Account route: only notebooks you own on OneDrive and visible in OneNote Web. File route: .onepkg or .one files exported from OneNote for Windows; the Mac and Windows 10 apps cannot export these.[4]
Best for Open-source users who want a notebook with local storage and a choice of sync, including a self-hosted server.
What you give up
Interface is more utilitarian than OneNote, and ink or canvas layout is not mentioned as preserved.
Sharing and Teams need paid Joplin Cloud plans; Basic has no sharing.
Pricing and limits
Apps free; Joplin Cloud Basic 2.99 EUR, Pro 5.99 EUR per month; Teams 7.99 EUR per user with a two-user minimum.[8]
Restrictions that change the answer
Basic: 10 MB per note or attachment and 2 GB storage.
Moving from Microsoft OneNote
OneNote Online route: download the notebook folder from OneDrive as a ZIP and import it (Joplin 3.5.1+). Windows desktop route: import .one, .onex or .onepkg files (3.5.5+); .onepkg import works only on Windows.[7]
Export notebook in OneNote for the web: right-click the notebook and export; the result is a ZIP with a folder named for the notebook. It works only for notebooks on a personal OneDrive account, not work or school OneDrive or SharePoint.[3]
Very large notebooks may fail to export and need splitting into smaller notebooks; an errors.txt inside the ZIP means the export failed.[3]
Microsoft's page marks importing OneNote notebooks as deprecated and recommends exporting pages as PDF to reuse them.[3]
Third-party importers read .onepkg or .one files exported from OneNote for Windows, per Obsidian's and Joplin's own documentation.[4][7]
Start by making sure everything has synced. Microsoft's move guide says unsynced changes or sync errors keep notes from appearing, and uninstalling the Windows 10 app deletes its local data, so confirm sections are in the cloud and back up the local .one files from the app's backup folder first.
Pick the destination by importer, not by feature list. Obsidian and Joplin each document a OneNote route; Notion, Evernote and Standard Notes do not on the pages read, so those would be manual or via an intermediate Markdown, HTML or PDF.
Moving back is not documented for most of these tools, so keep the original notebooks on OneDrive until you have opened a sample of converted pages.
Watch out for
Obsidian's importer skips password-protected sections on file import and hides locked sections; remove protection in OneNote first.
Notebooks shared with you by others are not supported by the account-based Obsidian import.
Obsidian says the Mac app and the older Windows 10 app cannot export the file formats its file route needs.
Facts we could verify
Each value links to the page it was read from and shows the date it was read. Not verified means we found no source we could confirm.
End-to-end encrypted note app with free plain-text notes and paid editors.
iOS appsOpen-source releasesWeb apps
Price (store label): Free
Same category. Not ranked or scored.
Questions people ask
Is OneNote for Windows 10 still supported?+
No. Microsoft's move guide gives October 14, 2025 as the end of support. The app opens existing notes read-only, with no creating, editing or syncing, and the recommended app is OneNote on Windows.[2]
Is OneNote free?+
Microsoft says all supported versions are free to download and use, with a Microsoft 365 or Office subscription adding premium features. Notebooks are stored in the cloud except on Windows desktop, which can also store locally.[1]
Can I export a OneNote notebook?+
Yes, from OneNote for the web, as a ZIP, but only for notebooks on a personal OneDrive account. Microsoft also says its notebook import is deprecated.[3]
Can I move OneNote notes to Obsidian or Joplin?+
Both document it. Obsidian's Importer plugin converts notebooks to Markdown via a Microsoft account or .onepkg and .one files. Joplin imports a OneDrive ZIP or Windows desktop exports.[4][7]
How this guide was made
This is a desk-research draft built from Microsoft support pages, importer documentation and vendor pricing pages read on 13 October 2026. No product was installed or tested, so conversion quality for ink, tables and layout is unknown.
Alternatives were chosen to cover distinct needs: converting to Markdown, open source, cloud workspace, a free cloud notebook and encrypted notes. They are not ranked. The OneNote versions page still describes the Windows 10 end of support as upcoming; the more recent move guide states it has passed, and this guide follows the latter.
Nobody has used these products for this guide. It contains no ratings, scores or rankings by score.
