Commonplace Books
Guides to keeping a commonplace book: what one is, how to start, what to put in it, and how the apps compare.
Guides
What Is a Commonplace Book?
A commonplace book is one place for the ideas, quotes, and passages worth remembering. What it is, where it came from, and why it is having a quiet revival.
How to Start a Commonplace Book
Most people who want a commonplace book never start one. A practical, no rules guide to beginning, and to keeping the habit once you have.
Commonplace Book vs Journal: What Is the Difference?
A journal records your days. A commonplace book collects the ideas worth keeping. How the two differ, and why you might want both.
A Short History of the Commonplace Book
Older than the printing press, kept by Marcus Aurelius, Locke, Jefferson, and Auden. A short, sourced history of the commonplace book.
What to Put in a Commonplace Book
The blank page is the hardest part. A fuller list of what belongs in a commonplace book, with examples to help you start filling it.
The Digital Commonplace Book
Paper or screen? What each does well, what a good digital commonplace book needs, and the one rule it has to follow no matter where it lives.
How to Actually Reread Your Notes
Saving a passage is easy. Seeing it again is the hard part. Six simple ways to bring old notes back in front of you, and keep the habit.
How to Save Quotes From Physical Books
Ebook highlights save themselves. Paper books do not. Four ways to get the best lines out of a printed page and into a place you can find them.
Comparisons
The best digital commonplace book apps in 2026
Six apps for keeping a commonplace book, compared honestly: who each one fits, what each costs, and where each falls short.
xotes vs Capacities: a commonplace book or a knowledge base
Capacities links notes into a network. xotes keeps them in one calm book. How the two compare, and who each one fits.
xotes vs Day One: a diary of your life, or a book of your ideas
Day One records what happened. xotes keeps what you thought. How the two compare, and who each one fits.
xotes vs Readwise: two ways to keep what you read
Readwise brings back your reading highlights. xotes keeps everything worth keeping. How the two compare, and who each one fits.
xotes vs Notion for a commonplace book
Notion can be built into a commonplace book. xotes is one from the start. How they compare on setup, price, and AI.