Top Bamboo Paper Alternatives for Digital Note-Taking & Sketching

Bamboo Paper, a seriously fun new app from Wacom, provided users with the ability to create virtual notebooks for their tablet, letting them share ideas visually with handwritten notes, sketches, or doodles. Paired with the Bamboo Stylus, it turned devices into ultimate paperless communication tools. However, if you're looking for a powerful Bamboo Paper alternative, whether for different platforms, more features, or open-source options, you're in the right place.

Best Bamboo Paper Alternatives

Whether you need advanced PDF annotation, real-time collaboration, or a truly natural writing experience, these alternatives offer robust solutions for digital note-taking and creative expression.

xournal

Xournal is an excellent free and open-source Bamboo Paper alternative for Linux and Windows users. It's designed for notetaking, sketching, and journaling using a stylus, boasting features like Handwritten Notes, PDF annotation, PDF editing, and robust support for Wacom Tablets, making it a powerful tool for academic and creative use.

Milanote

Milanote is a highly versatile freemium web-based, iPhone, and iPad alternative, perfect for creative professionals. It functions as a digital workspace to collect thoughts, research, and plan projects, offering features like a vision board, freeform notes, mind map view, and real-time collaboration, going beyond simple note-taking to support complex creative workflows.

GoodNotes

GoodNotes is a commercial iOS (iPhone, iPad) application that offers a natural writing experience, making it a strong Bamboo Paper alternative for Apple Pencil users. Key features include Apple Pencil support, handwriting recognition, integrated search, PDF annotation, and seamless iCloud sync, transforming your device into a smart digital notebook.

Jarnal

Jarnal is another excellent free and open-source Bamboo Paper alternative available across Mac, Windows, and Linux. It excels at notetaking, sketching, journaling, making presentations, and annotating documents, including PDFs, offering robust features for diverse digital ink tasks.

Paper

Paper by FiftyThree is a freemium iPad app focused on creative expression. It's an intuitive Bamboo Paper alternative for capturing ideas as sketches, diagrams, illustrations, notes, or drawings, providing a beautiful and easy way to create directly on your iPad.

NoteLab

NoteLab is a free and open-source Bamboo Paper alternative that brings the power of digital note-taking to Mac, Windows, Linux, and Solaris. It simulates writing with a pen on real paper, offering features like Handwritten Notes, Journaling, Notetaking, and Sketching for a natural digital ink experience.

gournal

Gournal is a free and open-source note-taking application specifically designed for Linux Tablet-PCs, making it an excellent Bamboo Paper alternative for stylus-centric devices. It focuses on Journaling and Sketching, optimizing the experience for digital pen input rather than mouse or keyboard.

Windows Journal

Windows Journal is a free personal Bamboo Paper alternative, a classic application designed for Windows Tablet PCs. It allows users to handwrite notes, draw lines, and shapes, providing a straightforward tool for digital ink input, though it's recommended for stylus use.

Pen Journal

Pen Journal is a commercial Mac application for creating notes and scripts easily with a graphics tablet pen or stylus. It's a capable Bamboo Paper alternative that allows you to import PDFs and annotate them, making it ideal for digital document markup and freehand note-taking.

PaperColor

PaperColor is a freemium Android and Android Tablet application that excels as a painting and drawing app, mimicking real paintbrushes. It's an artistic Bamboo Paper alternative that makes it easy to doodle, graffiti, and learn to draw, providing a fun and accessible creative outlet.

With a wide array of options available, from robust open-source tools to commercial powerhouses, you're sure to find a Bamboo Paper alternative that perfectly matches your digital note-taking, sketching, and journaling needs across various platforms.