Mac sticky notes apps compared
Quick answer: Oh My Notes is the pick if you want today’s few things permanently visible — floating above fullscreen apps and across Spaces (Pro) — while your notes stay as plain Markdown files in a folder on your Mac, with no account. Apple Stickies is the free default that hides in fullscreen; Raycast Notes is the hotkey scratchpad with a five-note free tier; Flotnote and Stik cover the plain-.md crowd; Noticky is the fullest floating-features package. The details are below, including where each app beats the others.
How we chose the criteria
- Price — what it costs to use daily, in USD, from each vendor’s own site or store listing.
- Fullscreen float — does a note stay visible when an app goes fullscreen?
- Global hotkey — can you capture a thought from inside any app?
- Plain .md — are notes regular Markdown files you can open anywhere, not rows in a database?
- Obsidian vault — can the app point at a folder you already use?
- Reminders — time-based nudges, including any sync with Apple Reminders.
- Stand-out extras — what makes an app distinctive.
The comparison
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| Oh My Notes | Apple Stickies | Raycast Notes | Flotnote | Noticky | Stik | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free + Pro $9.99 one-timeearly bird $7.99 | Freebuilt into macOS | Free for 5 notesunlimited needs a Raycast Pro subscription | $4.99 one-timelaunch price until 31 Oct (regular $9.99); 7-day trial | $9.99Mac App Store; also on Setapp | Freeopen source (MIT) |
| Floats above fullscreen apps | ✓pin any note; fades when unfocused | ✕hidden in fullscreen | — | — | ✓ | — |
| Global hotkey to capture | ✓ | ✕1 | ✓ | ✓⌘. | ✓ | ✓⌘⇧S |
| Notes saved as plain .md files | ✓ | ✕ | ✕Markdown supported, not .md files | ✓ | — | ✓~/Documents/Stik |
| Point at your Obsidian vault | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✓ | — | — |
| Reminders | ✓daily / weekly repeat; Apple Reminders sync | — | — | — | ✓with Apple Reminders sync | — |
| Stand-out extras | Unfocused opacity; EN / 简 / 繁 UI; pinyin search | Zero setup; export to Notes | ⌘P search; cloud sync with Pro | ⌘P fuzzy full-text search, [[wikilinks]], tags, multiple windows | Per-app notes, edge docking, auto-hide when screen sharing, Touch ID lock, iCloud | On-device semantic search; git sharing |
✓ yes · ✕ no · — not confirmed in our research (it may well exist).
1 Per a review on Noticky’s blog (a competitor, so possibly biased). Apple Notes’ separate Quick Note (Fn+Q) is a different feature.
Each app, best if…
- Oh My Notes — best if you want a Today layer of floating notes that survives fullscreen (Pro), stays local as plain .md, and speaks English / 简体中文 / 繁體中文.
- Apple Stickies — best if you want free and zero-setup, and never work in fullscreen.
- Raycast Notes — best if you already live in Raycast and only keep a few notes; unlimited notes need a Raycast Pro subscription.
- Flotnote — best if you want a fast ⌘. scratchpad with .md files and an Obsidian vault, at a $4.99 one-time launch price.
- Noticky — best if you want the fullest set of floating-note features: above fullscreen, per-app notes, edge docking, Touch ID lock, Apple Reminders sync.
- Stik — best if you want free and open source, .md files and on-device semantic search.
A note on Oh My Notes’ Free vs Pro split
In the table’s Oh My Notes column: the Today panel, quick capture, search, plain Markdown notes, the edge dock / ordinary always-on-top float and one-shot reminders are free. Floating above fullscreen & across Spaces, recurring reminders, a custom notes folder & multiple vaults (including an Obsidian vault), Apple Reminders & Calendar sync and themes are part of Pro — $9.99 one-time, early bird $7.99, no subscription.
Try Oh My Notes next to your current pick
Free to try. Pro is a one-time purchase — early bird $7.99 (regular $9.99). macOS 13+. No subscription.
Researched October 2026 from each product’s public website, App Store listing or docs. Prices in USD. Competitor details change often, so please check their sites for current information. Oh My Notes pricing is current.