Google Keep is one of the easiest ways to write something down. Open it, type a note or a checklist, and it is saved and synced across your devices. For quick notes, shopping lists and short checklists, it is a solid choice.
Next Moves Lab is for the moment your work lives in those notes too, and you open them and do not know where to start. You write down everything on your mind, and it picks one task to do now, tells you why, and gives you a small first step.
The short version
- Google Keep is a solid pick if you want a fast place for quick notes, shopping lists and short checklists.
- Next Moves Lab is the better fit if you work for yourself, your notes have turned into a long scroll of tasks, and you want something to decide what comes first.
Side by side
Price
- Google Keep
- Free with a Google account
- Next Moves Lab
- $9.99 a month, 30-day money-back guarantee
Who decides the order
- Google Keep
- You
- Next Moves Lab
- It does, and shows you the reason
How the morning starts
- Google Keep
- You scroll your notes and choose
- Next Moves Lab
- The first task is already waiting
What you see
- Google Keep
- A board of notes and checklists
- Next Moves Lab
- One task and a small first step; the rest waits in Later
Rules for your day
- Google Keep
- You keep them in mind as you choose
- Next Moves Lab
- Set once, like "no calls before 10", and followed every time it plans
Follow-ups
- Google Keep
- You add them
- Next Moves Lab
- Suggested from what you finished; tap Yes or No
When Google Keep is a solid choice
- Capture is instant. For a quick thought, a phone number or a grocery list, it is hard to beat.
- It is already on your phone. Open it and write; there is nothing to learn.
- You share lists at home. You can share a note with the people you live with.
Where Next Moves Lab wins
- It decides, not just stores. Next Moves Lab ranks your tasks and hands you one, with the reason it won and a first step of a couple of minutes. If it does not fit, you can swap the pick.
- Your week has a point. Set one goal for the week, and tasks that move it rank first.
- Your working rules are kept. Tell it "no calls before 10" or "admin on Fridays" once, and it follows them every time it plans.
- A day sized to you. It sizes today to the time and energy you tell it you have. At most three tasks are in play; the rest wait in Later, with no limit, and only you remove a task.
- Nothing piles up in red. No overdue counts and no streaks.
- Follow-ups come to you. Finish an invoice or a quote and it suggests the follow-up. You tap Yes or No. It never sends anything for you.
Using both
This is a good pair. Keep Google Keep for groceries, quick notes and anything you share at home. Use Next Moves Lab for your work. When a Keep note fills up with work tasks, copy it and paste it in. It turns the lines into tasks and gives you a first pick. A photo of a paper list works too.
Common questions
Why pay when Google Keep is free?
If your list is short and you know what to do next, Keep may be all you need. If you open your notes and do not know where to start, that choice is what Next Moves Lab is for.