Best Mem Alternatives in 2025

Mem has a super start in the AI note taking market, as one of the hot new apps.

Popular for the AI chat features and first to market nature, now many hundreds of tools have been popping up to help people solve note taking together with AI. The market remains very competitive, more than ever, giving you more options and tools that can help you replicate what you had with Mem.

Why you might move or be looking away from Mem?

Here's why people could be considering competitors to Mem:

• Lack of Development - It hasn't released many features or updates in the last few years.

• Lack of AI Customization - Changing out your AI provider might be something you'd like to have.

• More Note-Taking Abilities - Mem doesn't ooze as many note taking features as others, you might be craving that.

Let's explore some of the better Mem alternatives on the market, the objective is to find something similar that improves the criteria above:

1. Kortex

Best for Second Brain

Looking for something like Mem with more AI capabilities?

What is Kortex?

Kortex is a popular AI note taking app for second brain lovers.

Compared to Mem, these are similar in nature. Both have a way to chat with an AI model and use former notes as context. Kortex allows you to take and form notes that are connected, much like how bi-directional links work and is a popular way do develop your own personal digital garden. This is a very similar tool to Mem, but feels more focused towards those deep thinking note takers. The only thing missing with Kortex is the lack of iOS and Android apps to take notes on the go, but that could be coming.

Kortex is fantastic for content creators. It has a feature called components for creating routine templates and developing a system around all your notes.

Pros

• Easy to use and to get started with.

• Components for building objects & templates.

• Great AI models to choose from - from Gemini to Llama.

• Nice dark modes and themes.

Cons

• Not available on mobile (iOS and Android)

• Early days for the app, but good all-round abilities.

Best For?

• Content creators that want to use AI in their writing process.

• Those who are using and adopted the Second Brain concept.

Verdict

• Highly recommended for those who are desktop orientated and content creating.

• One of the team Dan Koe shares his set-up on Kortex routinely and how he uses to create fresh content with the help of AI.

2. Evernote

Best for Cross Platform

Looking for something that uses AI and on all devices?

What is Evernote?

Evernote is a note-taking app with tasks, calendar and some AI features.

The app is now focused towards being a strong, reliable and good base for your AI. With abilities to help tidy up your grammar, to now the ability to transcribe notes using AI, they are constantly developing new ways to use and manage Evernote as an AI note taking app. This is a good example of a company that is eager for development and boosting the app. Evernote isn't exactly cheap, at around $14.99 per month, but they are seemingly building a much more stable, stronger app that people can use as a Mem replacement.

Pros

• Good for note taking, calendar and tasks.

• Helps you bring in calendar items from Google Calendar & more.

• AI focused note taking and editing of your notes.

• Toying with an AI chat feature.

Cons

• Free plan limits you to only 50 notes and 1 notebook.

• Expensive for note-taking (around $7.99 per month starting from).

• AI features are still developing with no AI Chat (now).

Verdict

• Easy to use for a more traditional note-taking app.

• Suitable for cross-platform needs and a well-developed note-taking app.

• Those who want to manage tasks and calendar too.

3. Tana

Best for AI Workspaces

Looking for a more powerful AI option, something helps create a workflow for capturing notes.

What is Tana?

Tana is an AI note-taking app and one that millions are looking at.

It allows you to take notes, capture things fast, turn your notes into AI summarizes, voice capture and even use as an AI meeting note taker to collect important notes in your next meeting. This app has had a wild journey and beginning to become one of the tools in the note taking space that has been a blend between PKM and traditional notes app. People who look at it compared to say Mem will like how it is structured, how deep you can go connecting up notes & how deeply embedded AI is into the workflows.

Tana resembles Mem a lot but focuses more on how you bring the note into the system and the AI meeting tools go beyond what Mem currently offers.

Pros

• Fast and reliable tool developed by a growing company.

• Powerful AI workflows like voice capture and AI meeting note-taking.

• More focused and designed for those who note-take.

• Notes automatically tag like Mem to help store in the right place.

Cons

• Comes with a learning curve.

• Lacks AI Chat abilities for communicating with notes.

Best For

• Those who note-take and want to use workflows better for capturing and managing notes.

• Upgrading from apps like Evernote, Capacities or Mem.

4. Capacities

Best for AI Chats

Looking for something to chat with each of your notes with the help of AI?

What is Capacities

Capacities is new to the scene and has a strong and reliable AI chat feature.

It allows you to take notes, but unlike other note taking apps like Mem, organizes your notes in an object based note-taking structure. Think templates for each of your notes. This is perfect for those who want a more organized structure to all their notes, eg. person/meeting/book - so that each time you create a note structure appears. So you'll love this as a Mem alternative, if you felt that Mem lacked the ability of organizing your notes for you in an effective way. Beyond that, Capacities does AI chats allowing you to add your own API key or even using the limits they provide as part of Capacities premium, but these AI Chats can be saved and knowledge contextualized using past notes, like Mem has.

Pros

• Good for capturing notes and chatting with them.

• You can turn notes into AI chat notes and save them for later.

• You can provide context to notes like you do in Mem.

Cons

• Takes time to learn and embrace.

• The AI chat is limited by a usage bar.

• If you want more you can connect API (difficult for newbies).

Verdict

• Better for the more advanced note-taker.

• Good for if you know how to use the Open AI API key and apply to Capacities settings.

Which Tool to Choose?

Looking for something to replace Mem forever, here's our narrowed picks for you:

What is the best Mem alternative overall?

• The best like-for-like Mem alternative is Capacities.

• It is most similar with the AI chat feature but lacks auto-note organization.

What is the best Mem alternative for iPhone or iPad?

• The best Mem alternative for iPhone is Tana or Evernote. Both are designed well and can help you use AI to voice capture your notes.

• Tana goes further for capturing and organizing those notes which made Mem famous.

Are there any apps that help you chat to your notes with AI?

• ChatGPT can help you talk with past notes or memories you've saved.

• Kortex and Capacities both offer AI chat to communicate with a said note.

• This is helpful for reflecting on notes or ideas you have with the context of your note-taker.

More Notable Mentions

These apps are similar to Mem and are worth mentioning as you explore: