You have a note-taking app, a task list, and a calendar. Three apps, three workflows, and a constant feeling that you’re forgetting something. Amplenote promises to approach this differently by putting everything in one tool. I used it for a few months to see if that actually works, or if it’s just another app that tries to do too much.
Amplenote: the company
Amplenote was built by a small team that was frustrated with how productivity tools work. They saw that people constantly had to switch between apps: notes in Evernote, tasks in Todoist, calendar in Google Calendar. Every time you want to schedule something, you have to copy and paste data.
Their solution is called the “Idea Execution Funnel”. The idea is simple: a thought starts as a quick note (a “jot”), gets developed into a full note, turns into a task, and ends up on your calendar. Everything in one flow, without having to switch apps.
What makes Amplenote different is that they don’t try to be the prettiest or hippest app. They focus on functionality. You can see that in the design – it looks a bit old-fashioned – but also in features like the Task Score algorithm that automatically calculates which tasks deserve your priority.
Who is Amplenote actually for?
Amplenote is for people who struggle with organizing their thoughts and tasks. Think of knowledge workers who take a lot of notes and want to turn them into concrete actions. Freelancers who need to track their projects without a complicated project management system. Students who summarize lectures and want to extract study tasks from them.
It’s also interesting for people who are frustrated with how slow Notion is, but still want that combination of notes and tasks. Or for Obsidian users looking for a better task manager without having to install five plugins.
Who is it not for? Teams that need to collaborate intensively are better off with Notion. Pure task managers like Todoist are more powerful if you only want to manage tasks. And if design is important to you – let’s be honest – you’ll probably get stuck on how Amplenote looks.
Amplenote features
Let’s look at what you can actually do with Amplenote:
- Idea Execution Funnel – This is the core idea. You start with a quick thought in “Jots” (think of an inbox). You develop that into a note. In it you create tasks that appear on your task list. And you can then drag those tasks to your calendar. It sounds simple, but it works surprisingly well because you never have to copy and paste.
- Task Score – Every task automatically gets a score based on urgency, importance, and start date. The system uses the Eisenhower Matrix to calculate what you need to do now. Sounds abstract, but in practice it means that in the morning you immediately see: these are your top 3 tasks today.
- Rich Footnotes – You can add footnotes to any note, and those footnotes can contain links to other notes. It’s a bit like Obsidian’s backlinks, but more neatly organized. Useful if you want to track sources without cluttering your main text.
- Bidirectional linking – Type [[ and you can link to other notes. Each note automatically shows which other notes reference it. This way you build a network of ideas without having to design a separate knowledge system.
- Calendar Sync – Connect your Google, Outlook or Apple calendar and your tasks appear alongside your appointments. You can see at a glance: when do I have time to do that task? Only works on paid plans.
- Vault Notes – Notes you want to encrypt can be put in a “vault”. These are client-side encrypted, which means even Amplenote can’t read them. Great for sensitive information like passwords or private notes.
- Web Clipper (Amplecap) – Browser extension to save articles. It works reasonably well, but isn’t as good as the Notion Web Clipper. You often get a lot of formatting that you have to clean up manually.
- Offline access – The apps on iOS, Android and desktop work offline. Changes sync as soon as you’re back online. This works smoothly – I didn’t lose any data during testing.
The Task Score system deserves some extra attention. You give each task an urgency (how quickly does it need to be done?) and importance (how important is it really?). Amplenote then calculates a score. Tasks with a high score appear at the top. What makes this different from just choosing a priority is that the score automatically changes as the deadline approaches. A task that’s not due until next week but is important slowly climbs to the top of your list.
The bidirectional links are also interesting. Unlike Roam Research or Obsidian, where you can build entire knowledge graphs, Amplenote keeps it simpler. You just see: this note links to that note, and vice versa. There is a graph view on the paid plans, but it’s basic. It’s not a replacement for Obsidian if you want to build a serious knowledge system, but it’s enough to maintain context.
Amplenote pricing
Amplenote has a free plan called “Personal” that offers unlimited notes and tasks. Sounds good, but there are limitations: you can only upload 5MB per file, you don’t get calendar sync, no graph view, and it’s limited to one user. For many people, that’s enough to get started.
The paid plans are as follows. The Pro plan costs $ 9,49 per month, or $ 5,84 per month if you pay annually ($ 70,08 per year). Then you get calendar sync, 50MB file size, and the graph view. The Unlimited plan costs $ 14,49 per month, or $ 10 per month with an annual subscription ($ 120 per year). This gives you unlimited file size and more advanced features. The Founder plan is $ 24,99 per month, or $ 20 per month annually ($ 240 per year), and that’s mainly intended for people who want to support the project.
There’s also a 14-day trial for the paid plans, which is nice. So you can test everything before you pay.
Is it worth the price? That depends on what you’re comparing. Notion is free for personal use with many more features. Obsidian is also free and more powerful for knowledge management. But if you specifically want that combination of notes, tasks, and calendar without having to configure everything yourself, then $ 5,84 per month is reasonable. It’s cheaper than a Todoist Premium + Evernote combination.
For Dutch users: the prices are in dollars, so count on about € 5,50 per month for the Pro plan with annual payment. Not extremely expensive, but not dirt cheap either.
What should you watch out for?
Let’s be honest about the problems. The biggest point is the design. Amplenote looks like it was designed in 2010. The interface is functional, but not pretty. If you’re used to the polished look of Notion or Craft, then Amplenote feels outdated. Buttons are big and square, colors are dull, and the whole thing doesn’t breathe modern elegance.
The mobile apps are also a weak point. They work, but feel clunky. Editing notes on your phone is possible, but not pleasant. The interface is not optimized for small screens, so you get a lot of scrolling and tapping. If you work on the go a lot, this is frustrating.
Then there’s the learning curve. The concept of the Idea Execution Funnel sounds logical, but in practice you need to get used to how everything works. Where do you put a task? In which note? How does that Task Score work exactly? The first week feels confusing. There are tutorials, but they’re long and boring.
Another limitation: tasks must always be in a note. You can’t create a standalone task like in Todoist. This is a design choice – everything must have context – but it sometimes feels unnecessarily cumbersome. Want to quickly add “buy milk”? Then you first have to open or create a note.
The Web Clipper is also not great. Articles are often saved messily with strange formatting. You have to clean up manually, which takes time. Notion’s clipper is much better at neatly capturing content.
And finally: the free version is quite limited. No calendar sync means you’re missing a big part of the core functionality. The 5MB file limit is also quickly reached if you want to save screenshots or PDFs. So you’re forced to upgrade fairly quickly if you want to use the tool seriously.
What do others think?
The general sentiment about Amplenote is positive, but with reservations. People who use the tool are especially enthusiastic about the Task Score algorithm. It really saves time because you no longer have to think about priorities yourself. The workflow from idea to task is also often praised – it feels logical and natural once you get used to it.
The offline functionality also gets compliments. Users who spend a lot of time on planes or trains appreciate that everything just keeps working without internet. And the encryption of Vault Notes gives people confidence to store sensitive information.
But that criticism of the design keeps coming back. Multiple reviewers call it “ugly” or “outdated”. On YouTube, Keep Productive literally says the design is unattractive, even though he thinks the functionality is strong. Shu Omi is more positive, but also acknowledges that Amplenote is less well-known and therefore has a smaller community.
The mobile experience is another frequently heard complaint. Users find the apps slow and clunky. Creating tasks on your phone feels like a chore instead of a quick action. Many people therefore only use Amplenote on desktop and have a separate app for mobile tasks.
Interestingly, people coming from Notion or Evernote are often pleasantly surprised by the speed. Amplenote is much faster than Notion, especially with large notes. And the synchronization works more reliably than Evernote, where people regularly encounter conflicts.
Amplenote alternatives
Doesn’t this quite fit? These are the main alternatives:
- Obsidian – Obsidian is local-first, which means all your data is stored on your own computer. It has many more plugins and customization options, but no native task and calendar integration. Choose this if you want complete control over your data and want to build your own system with plugins and scripts.
- Todoist – Todoist has much better task management features with filters, labels and natural language input. But the note-taking capabilities are very limited – you can only add short descriptions. Choose this if your focus is purely on tasks and you don’t need extensive notes.
- Notion – Notion is much more flexible for databases and collaboration. You can build virtually anything you want. But it’s also slower and more complex to learn. Choose this if you’re looking for a collaboration platform for teams and want to create databases for projects, clients or content.
Frequently asked questions
Does Amplenote have a free plan?
Yes, the Personal plan is free and stays free. You get unlimited notes and tasks, which is enough for many people to get started. The limitations are mainly in file size (max 5MB) and the absence of calendar synchronization.
What are the storage limits?
There is no total storage limit for your notes. You can save unlimited text. But uploading files like images or PDFs is limited to 5MB per file on the free plan. On the Pro plan that’s 50MB, and on Unlimited it’s unlimited.
How does the Task Score work?
The Task Score automatically calculates which tasks have priority. The system looks at three things: how urgent is the task (when is it due?), how important is it (what is the impact?), and when can you start working on it (start date). Based on that, each task gets a score. The higher the score, the sooner you need to work on it. The nice thing is that the score automatically changes as deadlines approach.
Conclusion
Amplenote is an interesting tool for people who struggle with converting ideas into actions. That Idea Execution Funnel really works – it feels natural to create a note, extract tasks from it, and put them on your calendar. The Task Score algorithm is smart and saves you time when determining priorities.
But it’s not a perfect tool. The design is outdated and the mobile apps are mediocre. If you work a lot on the go or design is important to you, you’ll get frustrated. And the learning curve is steeper than you’d expect for what is essentially a note-taking app.
My advice? Try the free plan for a few weeks first. See if that workflow from notes to tasks to calendar fits you. If that clicks, the $ 5,84 per month for the Pro plan is a reasonable investment. But if after two weeks you’re still getting lost in the interface, then this is probably not your tool.
For me personally: I appreciate the functionality, but I miss the speed and ease of a dedicated task app like Todoist. Amplenote tries to be everything, and as a result it’s not really excellent at anything. It’s good enough for people who want one tool, but not the best choice if you’re willing to use multiple apps.
