Ioannus de Verani

Probably some of my readers are getting tired of my Zoho vs. Google reviews, but I think that they are good, if someone is looking for unbiased advice in online solutions.

So, like I always do, I will start with an overview of the point of these programs, then move on to a comparison in aesthetics, and finally a comparison in functionality.

Zoho Planner and Google Notebook do basically the same thing, that being, organise bits of information. BTW: WordPress has crapped up my lists and layout, so it does’t look right, but it should still have the info. Hopefully you can see the screenshots. If not, just click the links.

Aesthetics:

If you look at the pictures, you should automatically see the easy win that Zoho has in comparison with Google, in aesthetics. This situation is rather on its back, because usually Google is known for its unbeatable simple design. If looked at alone, Google Notebook might seem simple and uncluttered, but when compared to Zoho’s alternative, it looks like trash.

Zoho Planner’s appearence is appealing, attractive, cool, and a ton of other synonyms to the same effect. Notable are the round edges that have become standard with Zoho (except for Zoho Sheet….. :-[ ). The soft bluish background is very nice also.

Google’s design fits into the rest of Google, but it is simple not as nice.

WINNER: Zoho Planner

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Functionality:Features present in Zoho Planner:

• Multiple pages
• Dragging notes (must press reorder notes first)
• Notes
• To Do’s
  • To Do overview
• Appointments
• Reminders
• Attachments
• Publishing
  • Public pages
    • Comments
  • Share
• Email
  • Email in

Features present in Google Notebook:

• Multiple notebooks
  • Multiple sections in notebook (not nesting)
• Trash
• Easy note dragging
• Rich Text Editor(somewhat lame though)
• Notes
  • Expand/Collapse
    • Exp. All/Cllsp All
• Publishing
  • Public pages
• Email
  • Send link to view public notebook
• Browser extension (allows you to easily clip info from the web)
• Search integration

Winner in Numbers: Zoho Planner
Winner in how much I like (i.e. use): Google Notebook

The reason I differentiated in the two winners is that Zoho Planner appears to have more features (it does), but out of the ones that I actually use, Google wins. Don’t get me wrong, I love both, and I am trying not to be biased, but Google has some features which are essential (e.g. rich text editing, easy dragging….) that Zoho lacks. Zoho has some unessential features that Google lacks, but aside from being nice, they are not all that useful. If in the future, Zoho adds a Rich Text Editor like their Zoho Writer, and changes their dragging system, I will be inclined to have Zoho win the whole way.