The best second brain apps for thinking, planning, and staying organized in 2026

If you want a second brain that helps you think more clearly and stay organised, these are the best picks for 2026:

• Mem for an AI second brain that organises itself

• Obsidian for deep thinking and linked notes

• Supernormal for people in lots of meetings

• Notion for flexible, visual systems

• Tana for structured thinking that grows as you write

• Heptabase for those who think visually and plan with whiteboards

Why second brains became popular

Second brain tools didn't take off because people suddenly fell in love with productivity trends. They became popular because knowledge workers reached a breaking point. Too many tabs. Too many conversations. Too many ideas slipping away. Most people needed a reliable offload system so their minds could spend more time thinking and less time remembering.

Tiago Forte's CODE method (Capture, Organize, Distill, Express) gave people a simple process they could follow. It also made something obvious: your brain is for having ideas, not keeping all of them in active memory.

How we evaluated these tools

To compare second brain apps fairly, we looked at each one across five key criteria that matter most to people doing modern knowledge work.

Mem

Best for: people who want a second brain that organises itself in the background

Mem 2.0, announced in October 2025, is a complete rebuild designed to make the app faster and more reliable.

Obsidian

Best for: people who want total control, local storage, and deep connections

Obsidian is the tool people graduate into. It's powerful, extensible, and endlessly customizable.

Notion

Best for: people who want a flexible, visual workspace for notes, tasks, and knowledge

Notion is the tool most people stumble into long before they ever say the words "second brain."

Supernormal

Best for: people who want their meeting insights turned into summaries, actions, and drafts automatically

The Supernormal desktop app is for people whose workday revolves around meetings. Instead of starting with blank pages and frameworks, Supernormal captures your calls on your Mac, then uses that context to generate summaries, next steps, action items, and ready-to-use drafts.

Tana

Best for: people who think in webs of ideas and want structure to emerge automatically

Tana is one of the most ambitious second brain platforms out there.

Heptabase

Best for: visual thinkers who organise ideas through cards, clustering, and spatial layouts

Heptabase is a second brain for people who think best when they can see their ideas.

How to choose the right second brain app

The right tool isn't necessarily the one with the most features, but the one that quietly keeps your system usable even when you don't have the energy to maintain it.

Choose the tool that supports how your brain works on a normal Tuesday afternoon, not the tool you imagine you'll maintain after watching a productivity guru on YouTube.