Squiggle vs OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is a powerful note-taking app with drawing capabilities. But it’s a general-purpose notebook, not a focused whiteboard. Here’s how Squiggle compares.

Quick comparison

Feature	Squiggle	OneNote
Price	$5 once (Pro)	Free
Primary focus	Whiteboard & drawing	Note-taking & organizing
Account required	No	Yes (Microsoft account)
Privacy	100% local, zero tracking	Cloud sync, Microsoft data policies
Screen overlay	Yes — draw on any app	No
Canvas type	Infinite canvas, zoom & pan	Page-based with sections
Drawing tools	Pen, shapes, connectors, sticky notes	Pen, shapes, highlighter
Templates	Teaching-specific (Cornell, T-Chart, KWL)	Note-taking templates
PDF import/export	Yes	Yes
Export options	PNG, PDF, .squiggle, clipboard	PDF, OneNote format
Blur/redact tool	Yes	No
Spotlight mode	Yes	No
Step markers	Yes	No
File size	~8 MB	~500+ MB

When to choose Squiggle

• You want a dedicated whiteboard — not a note-taking app with drawing bolted on
• You need screen overlay to annotate over other apps during presentations
• You don’t want to create a Microsoft account just to draw
• You care about privacy — no cloud sync, no data collection
• You want a tiny, fast app (8 MB vs OneNote’s 500+ MB)
• You need blur/redact, spotlight, step markers — tools OneNote doesn’t have
• You want to export to PNG with one click (OneNote makes this surprisingly hard)

When to choose OneNote

• You need a full note-taking system with sections, notebooks, and text search
• You want handwriting recognition and text search within ink
• You need cross-device sync across Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, and web
• You want to mix typed notes and drawings on the same page
• You need audio recording alongside notes
• You use Microsoft 365 and want integration with Outlook, Teams, etc.

Key differences

Whiteboard vs Notebook

Squiggle is a whiteboard — an infinite canvas where you draw, diagram, and think visually. OneNote is a notebook — structured pages with sections and folders, optimized for typed notes with occasional drawings.

Simplicity vs Features

Squiggle does one thing well: drawing and annotation. OneNote does many things: notes, drawings, audio, web clipping, OCR, collaboration. If you just want to draw, Squiggle is faster and simpler.

Export

Exporting a clean PNG from OneNote is surprisingly difficult. Squiggle gives you one-click PNG export, PDF export, clipboard copy, and .squiggle file sharing.

Bottom line

OneNote is a great note-taking app that happens to have drawing tools. Squiggle is a great drawing app built from the ground up for visual thinking. Choose based on your primary need.