It can be hard to make a good reusable notebook. Over the years, various brands of smart notebooks have come and gone, gaining and losing their following as they prove to be too complicated. Finally, a handful of brands have got it right. They’ve crafted reusable notebooks that are convenient for everyday use and eco-friendly.
If you’re wondering “what is a reusable notebook?”, you wouldn’t be the only one. Imagine a notebook that never runs out of paper. It connects to your digital files or planner for painless transitioning from what you’ve written in the notebook to your digital files. It comes with a pen and synthetic material that erases clean after being wiped by a damp cloth. With a notebook this smart, you’ll never use a piece of paper for note-taking or planner ever again. We’ve compiled a list of the best reusable notebooks. If you’re in the market to purchase your own or even just curious to learn more, keep reading.
Our Top Picks
Without further ado, here are our favorite picks:
Best Overall: Rocketbook Wave Smart Notebook. The overall top pick is from a leading reusable notebook brand, Rocketbook. The Wave is affordable and comes with specialized AI technology. | |
Best Runner-Up: Moleskine Evernote Smart Notebook. Moleskine is a well-known notebook brand, and now they’ve joined with Evernote to create an excellent reusable smart notebook. | |
Best Budget: HOMESTEC Reusable Smart Notebook. The best budget-friendly option is one with pages that can be used up to 500 times. It’s one of the most significant values for the listing price when compared with other similar brands. | |
Best Styles: Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebook. With improved technology, the Smart notebook from Rocketbook comes in various shades. You can reuse its pages countless times. | |
Best Planner: Rocketbook Panda Planner. As the best reusable notebook for getting organized, this coupling of Panda and Rocketbook makes for the ideal reusable planner for better time management. |
Best for Education: Boogie Board Blackboard. There is a reusable notebook that is an excellent option for students and teachers. It’s the Boogie Board that makes drawing diagrams and taking notes a breeze. | |
Best Ambidextrous: Rocketbook Flip. If you’re left-handed and avoid spiral notebooks, here is a notebook for you. With the spirals on the top of the notebook, there are no awkward angles when writing. | |
Best Time Management: NEWYES Reusable Planner. NEWYES is on the more affordable side of the spectrum but with all the same trappings. This reusable planner is a contender for one of the best on the market. | |
Best Work & Play: Rocketbook Fusion Smart Notebook. With places to write out goals, plans, and take notes, the Fusion Smart Notebook from Rocketbook is prime for combining time management in work and play. |
A Closer Look: Best Reusable Notebooks
If you want more information on our picks, here’s some details about each notebook including review specs straight from consumers!
1. Rocketbook Wave Smart Notebook
The best reusable notebook overall
Brand: Rocketbook | Pages: 80 | Dimensions: 6″ x 8.8″ / 8.5″ x 9.5″ | Accessories: Frixion Pen / Price: 💰💰💰
Rocketbook is hands-down, one of the finest brands for reusable notebooks out there. Reviewers consistently rave about the easy usage and features that accompany these products. The Rocketbook Wave comes with a frixion pen that is designed specifically for the Rocketbook’s synthetic pages. Specialized AI technology makes it possible to quickly name and search for your notes once they’ve been made digital. Please note that the pen needs around 15 seconds to bond to the notebook’s surface before being scanned.
Reviewers Like
- More durable than paper spiral notebooks
- Revive accidentally erased notes by placing the notebook in the freezer
- Excellent functionality, like a spiral notebook that can have its contents scanned into designated digital files
Reviewers Dislike
- Use each page up to five times
- Rocketbook Wave says writing can be removed by microwaving the book, but this is not as effective of a method
2. Moleskine Evernote Smart Notebook
The best reusable notebook runner-up
Brand: Moleskine | Pages: 192 | Dimensions: 3.5″ x 5.5″ | Accessories: Smart Stickers / Price: 💰💰
Moleskines are already a favorite traditional notebook with paper, but now they’ve entered the digital space with a smart notebook. What sets Evernote apart is its Ncoded technology. It permits the notebook pages to recognize when there are notes on the page and transfers them to the screen in real-time. It completely bypasses the scanning and uploading process that most other reusable notebooks require. However, some reviewers report having trouble with this feature. In this case, scanning and uploading the page into Evernote is a good backup plan. As a bonus, you get three months of Evernote Premium free with every purchase of a Moleskine smart notebook.
Reviewers Like
- Small notebook transports easily
- Compatible with different types of pens
- Very useful for capturing ideas, lists, and random thoughts
Reviewers Dislike
- Only links with Evernote app
- Small size prevents pages from laying flat if you must take a picture
3. HOMESTEC Reusable Smart Notebook
The best reusable notebook on a budget
Brand: HOMESTEC | Pages: 40 | Dimensions: 4.2″ x 6.7″ / 8.7″ x 11.2″ | Accessories: Pens & Stickers / Price: 💰
For an affordable reusable notebook option that doesn’t sacrifice the features of a more expensive model, HOMESTEC offers a smart notebook worth exploring. It connects with all the major cloud services and takes only 15 seconds for the pen’s ink to dry before the page’s contents can easily be made digital. To upload page contents, you must use the “CamScanner.” Now, you can transfer all your notes as PDF or JPG files. It’s a reliable option that has the same functionality as other brands without the high price point.
Reviewers Like
- Reuse pages about 500 times
- Not a single mark is left behind after erasure
- Frixion pens write better on these pages than most other brands on the market
Reviewers Dislike
- If exposed to prolonged heat, the writing will disappear
- Cannot be used in a microwave to erase like other similar products
4. Rocketbook Smart Reusable Notebooks
The best reusable notebook w/ plenty of style options
Brand: Rocketbook | Pages: 36 / 32 | Dimensions: 6″ x 8.8″ / 8.5″ x 11″ | Accessories: Frixion Pen & Cloth / Price: 💰💰💰💰
With each product they’ve released, Rocketbook has slowly been improving their technology. Their Smart notebook comes with a frixion pan and microfiber towel that to erase pages when dampened. Two notebook sizes, executive and letter, are available along with eight different color variations. Compared to earlier versions from this brand, the number of times you can reuse pages has skyrocketed to unlimited. With this notebook, you will truly never need to use a paper spiral notebook again.
Reviewers Like
- Makes note taking a breeze with easy organization and digitization
- Ideal combination for those who enjoy use technology and writing by hand
- Pens and highlighters come in different colors for easy color-coding of notes
Reviewers Dislike
- Somewhat flimsy spiral binding holding the pages together
- The ink must be dry before closing the notebook; otherwise it will spread between pages
5. Rocketbook Panda Planner
The best reusable planner
Brand: Rocketbook | Pages: 36 / 32 | Dimensions: 6″ x 8.8″ / 8.5″ x 11″ | Accessories: Frixion Pen & Cloth / Price: 💰💰💰💰
We know how a reusable notebook can be useful for taking notes, but now imagine how this same technology can help a planner. Rocketbook partnered with Panda Planner with this in mind. You can organize your life by day, week, month, and year. You can set goals and create roadmaps on the grid, lined or blank pages inside the notebook. It comes with pre-existing planner templates that ensure this will be the last planner you ever need. It comes with one frixion pen and one microfiber cloth for easy writing erasing.
Reviewers Like
- Sleek, thin, and easy to carry
- App works fast to send to email or digital files
- You can document exercise, affirmations, habits, goals, along with daily planning
Reviewers Dislike
- Planner pages don’t transcribe well
- Not integrated with Panda Planner app, only contains Panda Planner designs
6. Boogie Board Blackboard
The best reusable notebook for students & teachers
Brand: Boogie Board | Pages: 1 | Dimensions: 5.5″ x 7.25″ / 8.5″ x 11″ | Accessories: Stylus & Page Templates / Price: 💰💰💰💰
Blackboard offers a slightly different design with the same basic technology that other smart notebooks use. It comes with four individually designed inserts that provide different templates when using the device. It’s lightweight and adjustable to multiple kinds of needs. The process of digitizing your notes is the same: capture and scan the material, and upload it to the Blackboard app. It doesn’t require any charging or refills. Simply write and use the erase function when writing is complete.
Reviewers Like
- Comes with an excellent writing pen
- Powered by easily replaceable batteries
- A lock button prevents notes from being wiped away
Reviewers Dislike
- Thick ink size makes taking longer notes difficult
- There can be glares on the scan because the writing surface doesn’t always lay flat
7. Rocketbook Flip
The best reusable notebook for lefties
Brand: Rocketbook | Pages: 18 | Dimensions: 6″ x 8.8″ / 8.5″ x 11″ | Accessories: Frixion Pen & Cloth / Price: 💰💰💰
Spiral notebooks are a challenge if you’re left-handed. Curling your wrist over the spiral to write is uncomfortable and annoying. An easy fix is choosing a reusable notebook with the spiral at the top of the product. Now, you can write from either side without running into the spiral barrier. Additionally, Rocketbook’s Flip notebook comes in six different shades, allowing you to choose a color that best matches your style. The same satisfaction guarantee applies to the frixion pen and microfiber towel.
Reviewers Like
- Ability to use the whole page margin to margin
- Clean and easy to sketch up graphs, charts, and notes
- Encourages reviewers to do more writing and take better notes
Reviewers Dislike
- Notebook smells bad when removed from packaging
- Fails to be completely environmentally friendly because pen needs replacing
8. NEWYES Reusable Planner
The best reusable notebook for time management
Brand: NEWYES | Pages: 136 | Dimensions: 5.7″ x 8.5″ | Accessories: Pen & Stickers / Price: 💰💰
Time management is critical when living a busy lifestyle. From personal events to work milestones, it’s important to keep track of everything. To do so sustainably and reliably. The NEWYES planner comes with the same pen and microfiber towel setup that allows easy writing and erasing. As a bonus, it comes with a set of sticky notes to help you mark important pages or make additional notes to supplement your planning. Daily, weekly, and monthly layouts are available, making it an excellent option for those seeking to improve their time management.
Reviewers Like
- Perfectly portable planner
- Excellent quality cover and pages for the price point
- Plenty of pages for weekly and monthly planning making it great for students
Reviewers Dislike
- One reviewer received a dry pen
- No blank pages for general writing or doodling
9. Rocketbook Fusion Smart Notebook
The best reusable notebook for work & play
Brand: Rocketbook | Pages: 42 | Dimensions: 6″ x 8.8″ / 8.5″ x 11″ | Accessories: Frixion Pen & Cloth / Price: 💰💰💰💰
Fusion is a combination of all page layouts you’d need for organizing your work and personal life. There are page layouts for goals and lists, as well as blank pages that are ideal for note-taking. It’s truly a fusion of uses. Like all Rocketbook products, allow 15 seconds after using the pen for the ink to dry before scanning or moving to another page. Unlike the Rocketbook notebooks prior, Fusion comes with colors ranging from red to blue so that you can get creative with the design.
Reviewers Like
- Can unbind and reorder pages to meet preferences
- Scannable to many platforms so it suits many lifestyles
- Everything comes perfectly organized, keeping all notes in one place digitally
Reviewers Dislike
- Uneven edges of the paper
- Can take longer than 15 seconds for the ink to dry
How Does a Reusable Notebook Work?
Reusable notebooks can be a sustainable option to accomplish more significant organization and time management. They are intuitive, making them easy to work with for almost every user. Here is what you should expect from working with a reusable notebook.
Using a reusable notebook simply begins by writing on a specially designed surface with a frixion pen. You can erase the pen when coupled with the material used to create the pages of reusable notebooks. Once you’re done writing, scan the page with your smartphone. Make sure to have already downloaded the app associated with the notebook you’re using, but keep in mind that not all reusable notebook brands have an app. However, they all have a method of scanning and uploading pages from the notebook. Read the product specs to make sure you’re choosing a notebook that meets your expectations.
You can connect and organize different cloud services through most reusable notebook brand apps to upload your written notes. After you update your notes, simply wipe or apply heat to clean the notebook and start from a fresh surface.
Incorporating a reusable notebook into your routine can be the next step in achieving smooth notetaking and planning. Their intuitive design helps make them practical for everyday life.
Our Process
For this guide on reusable notebooks, our team spent 5 hours researching the most popular options from over 10 brands and manufacturers big and small. We then read about two hundred user reviews (both positive and negative) to discover what shoppers thought about each notebook. After comparing this data, we narrowed our list down to the top 8 reusable notebooks on the market. You can count on this research to guide you to a mindful purchasing decision.
If you enjoyed this read, sign up for our newsletter below and get special online shopping deals delivered straight to your inbox.
Further Reading