An alternative to Circus Ponies Notebook

Posted by Paul Korm
Feb 15, 2016 at 01:44 PM

Curio is definitely #1 on my list. When CPN had serious problems with its iOS app a few years ago, I migrated my work to Curio—because Curio’s integration with Evernote was, at the time, the most reliable cross-platform solution I could find. I rely on note taking using a combination of graphical and text / outline / mind map elements and Curio fit the bill. I later found that the developer, George Browning, is highly involved with customers’ interests and takes suggestions very seriously.

Outline was a great product until it wasn’t—with the same kind of sync issues that CPN faced, lost data, etc. In fairness, it is really hard to sync an iOS app of any complexity with OS X. (DEVONtech has been trying for almost 5 years to rewrite its iOS app’s sync technology.) If you try Outline, I recommend not using its feature to edit OneNote notebooks because its not likely the developer can keep up with Microsoft’s sudden changes to its underlying technology. It’s worth giving Outline a trial.

Growly Notes is a solid alternative to CPN—and the price is right ($4.99 today on the Mac App Store). The iOS app is pretty good, too—if that matters. If you sync Growly Notes notebooks, turn off its notifications features—it is very verbose about telling you when anything changed.

I second Hugh’s question about desired features. I usually do a comparison evaluation by taking a project I created with the software I’m thinking of replacing, downloading demos of the software I’m considering, and trying to replicate that project. Recommendations are great—but it’s your real work that matters most.