Sourced buyer statistics · published scoring · prices quoted from vendors
KeenVerdict

Sharp verdicts on the tools you’re choosing

Topic

Productivity

Projects, notes, meetings and focus.

Verdicts

  • Best Note-Taking Apps

    Notion is our top pick for notes that grow into docs and databases, with a free plan for individuals and paid plans from $10 per member per month billed annually. Obsidian is the best alternative for private, local notes, free to use with Sync from $4 per user per month billed annually. Goodnotes Essential and Notability Lite are the cheapest paid plans at $11.99 per year, about $1 a month, and Bear Pro costs $2.99 per month.

    1. 1. Notion8.7
    2. 2. Obsidian8.6
    3. 3. Microsoft OneNote8.5
  • Best Project Management Software

    Asana is our top pick for most teams, from $10.99 per user per month billed annually. ClickUp is the best alternative if you want more features per dollar at $9 per user per month billed yearly, and Trello is the cheapest paid option at $5 per user per month billed annually.

    1. 1. Asana8.6
    2. 2. ClickUp8.5
    3. 3. Trello8.5

Statistics

  • Project Management Statistics

    monday.com grew revenue 22% to $364.6 million in Q2 2026 with 109% net dollar retention, while Asana grew 10% with retention of 97%, per their earnings releases. Smartsheet's 2025 survey found 97% of project and portfolio managers experiment with AI but only 46% trust it to act unsupervised, and Wellingtone's latest survey (2023) found only 36% of organizations usually finish projects on time. The BLS counts about 1.1 million US project management specialists earning a median $102,320.

  • Knowledge Worker Productivity Statistics

    US nonfarm labor productivity rose 2.2% in the year to the second quarter of 2026, according to the BLS, and St. Louis Fed researchers estimate generative AI saved time equal to 1.6% of all US work hours in 2025. Gallup's February 2026 survey found 13% of US employees use AI daily and 65% of those in AI-adopting organizations say it improved their productivity, while Microsoft's telemetry shows workers interrupted every 2 minutes during core hours.

  • Meeting Statistics

    Microsoft telemetry from 2025 shows half of Teams meetings fall in prime focus hours and 57% are ad hoc calls with no invite. Owl Labs found 38% of US workers experience meeting fatigue in 2026, and Atlassian's 2024 survey of 5,000 workers rated meetings ineffective 72% of the time. AI note-takers are spreading fast: 82% of US workers use or are trying AI at work, per Owl Labs.