The Best Pens for Note-Taking

Though we live in a digital age, taking notes by hand is still worthwhile. Handwriting encourages slowing down and rephrasing information, which leads to deeper understanding of a subject.¹ However, with the wrong pen, this crucial process can feel like a chore. Read on or watch the video below for some pen selections that make note-taking effortless.

Watch our video for a quick rundown of the best pens for note-taking.

Table of Contents

Note-Taking Pen Considerations

Ink Color

An ultra-dark gel ink like the Uni-ball One makes notes easy to read.

You’re going to review your notes, so the ink in your note-taking pen should be dark and clearly readable. We like crisp, classic black or subtly unique off blacks. Though we don’t recommend writing a full page in bright pink,² it’s nice to have other ink colors available too for color-coding content and emphasizing important sections.

Ink Flow

Rollerball pens like the Pilot Precise V5 write with a silky-smooth flow.

If your lecture runs long or your teacher talks quickly, you’ll be in need of a pen that won’t require you to press hard into the page—otherwise you're at risk for nasty hand strain. A smooth ink flow is key. Wet rollerballs and fountain pens excel here, but all of our selections have smooth-writing ink.

Quick Drying

Comparison of smeared and non-smeared ink

Quick-dry ink like that of Zebra Sarasa Dry Gel Pens keeps ink where you want it to be.

Smeared notes are annoying to reread, and an inky hand isn’t everyone’s favorite fashion statement. Quick-drying pens prevent these issues. They’re especially helpful for left-handed writers.

Tip Size

Fine Zebra bLen Ballpoint Pens and bolder TWSBI GO Fountain Pens—selecting tip size is just a matter of taste.

Choosing a pen tip size means balancing detail and readability as well as ink flow and dry time. You may want a bolder tip to use with a wide-ruled notebook or a fine tip to pack information into tiny graph paper. We’ve leaned towards finer tips in this guide, in large part because a fine tip helps ink dry faster, but there are options here for everyone.

Highlighter Compatible

Comparison of unaffected and smudged pen under highlighter

Ballpoint pens are generally well-behaved under highlighter.

You might highlight as you take notes or later when reviewing them. Either way, this brings up the problem of smearing all over again. Most gel pens, fountain pens, and rollerballs don’t behave their best when highlighted—crisp lines can become a mushy mess. Highlighter formula also makes a big difference. We tested all of our recommendations and picked out a few highlighter options that work with almost anything.

Grip and Weight

A Uni Jetstream Alpha Gel Grip pen is like a pillow for your fingers.

A comfy grip is gentle on the hand. If you’re prone to hand pain, look for a padded grip or an especially wide pen so your fingers can’t clench down and tire themselves out. Heavy pens may also fatigue you, so steer away from weighty metal construction.

Note-Taking Pen Recommendations

The Best Gel Pens for Note-Taking

Zebra Sarasa Dry Gel Pens

Zebra Sarasa Dry Gel Pens dry in a flash.

The instantly-drying ink of the Zebra Sarasa Dry banishes smudging. Paired with dark lines and reliable wet-but-not-too-wet ink flow even at smaller tip sizes, this pen truly won us over. Two caveats: its color range is limited and it smears under highlighters. The former can be mitigated by picking up more colors of Zebra Sarasa R Gel Pens, which write with bright dye-based ink. The latter is solved by Zebra Sarasa Mark On Gel Pens, which shrug off highlighters with ease. The Sarasa family covers all the bases!

Uni-ball One Gel Pens

Uni-ball One Gel Pens are a joy to use.

From its silky rubber grip to its sturdy metal clip, we were charmed by the construction quality of the Uni-ball One. Its design is matched with an innovative ink. Large pigment particles sit on top of a page without soaking in, leaving more vivid and visible lines than other gel inks. Increased contrast against the page aids readability. It also dries immediately. It does write drier than our other selection and, in the traditional weakness of gel pens, smears under highlighter just a little.

The Best Ballpoint Pens for Note-Taking

Uni-ball Jetstream Ballpoint Pens

Uni-ball Jetstream Ballpoint Pens come in all shapes and sizes.

Jetstream ink flows easily with no skipping, dries quickly, and doesn’t smudge under highlighter one bit. It’s one of our all-time favorites for a reason. It’s also available in an almost bewilderingly wide array of pen bodies. For frequent long-haul note-taking sessions, you might want to invest in a soft grip. If you prize detail, pick up a Jetstream Edge with a 0.28 mm tip. If you feel indecisive faced with all these options, try out a multi pen. Whatever you pick, a Jetstream will serve you well.

Zebra bLen Ballpoint Pens

Zebra bLen Ballpoint Pens are silent and effective.

The silent design of the Zebra bLen helps you concentrate on your notes. Its name is drawn from the Japanese word burenai, which means "non-vibrating.” Its sleek, rattle-free form follows through on that promise, letting you focus your attention where it matters. The bLen writes smoothly and utterly skip-free in dark low-viscosity ink. We liked its finer tip size for delicate handwriting.

The Best Multi Pens for Note-Taking

Pilot Acroball Spotliter 3 Color Ballpoint Multi Pen + Highlighter

Switching ink colors with the Pilot Acroball Spotliter is fast and intuitive.

The Pilot Acroball Spotliter combines three colors of ballpoint ink with a highlighter tip on its end. Easily switch between ink colors by twisting the pen body. To highlight, twirl the pen just like you’ve practiced with pencils since elementary school. Its smooth ballpoint ink is, of course, highlighter-resistant. As a bonus, the light weight and chunky diameter of the Spotliter work together to keep hand strain at a minimum.

Uni Style Fit Multi Pen

With some effort put into customizing it, the Uni Style Fit Multi Pen will be the pen of your dreams.

The customizable Uni Style Fit Multi Pen lets you pack as many as five different pens into one. Select gel, ballpoint, and even pencil refills. Gel refills come in a rainbow of colors, while ballpoint refills contain smooth Jetstream ink. Gel refills also run out of ink more quickly than ballpoint. Since multi pen refills are already easy to use up due to their compact size, we recommend reserving gel ink for colorful annotations and not full pages of notes.

If you want to get creative with your pen customization, the Style Fit system is also compatible with refills from many other brands. For even more detail on this infinitely unique pen, read our comprehensive guide to the Uni Style Fit

The Best Rollerball Pens for Note-Taking

Pilot Multi Ball Rollerball Pens

Pilot Multi Ball Rollerball Pens don't just write notes, but can be used to label almost any surface.

The Pilot Multi Ball is more than its first impression, and its first impression is already great. It writes dark and legible notes that dry near-instantly and don’t smear under highlighter. However, if your line wanders off the page, you’ll discover it writes clearly and permanently on all sorts of surfaces. Don’t stress about desks—it’s only fully permanent after six hours of setting. Beyond notes, it’s perfect for labeling your binders or even doodling on your shoes.

Pilot Precise V5 Pens

Pilot Precise V5 Pens write smooth as silk.

The Pilot Precise V5 is a lightweight, zippy pen. The easy glide of its rollerball tip, free of any scratching or feedback, means very little pressure is necessary to make a mark. It needs a few seconds to dry, which we find reasonable given its wet ink flow. It also smeared significantly in highlighter tests, which was true of every non-Multi Ball rollerball we tested. It’s a fair price for such dreamy lines.

The Best Fountain Pens for Note-Taking

Platinum Preppy Fountain Pens

Platinum Preppy Fountain Pens are a great introduction for fountain pen newbies.

Platinum Preppy Fountain Pens pack a shocking level of quality into their affordable little bodies. Cheerful color-coding matches each Preppy to its included ink cartridge, and their springy steel nibs write remarkably smoothly. We found only the Extra Fine nib to be faintly scratchy, but it dries almost immediately and works on regular paper. Even thicker ink lines didn’t budge under highlighter. For more Preppy details, read our comprehensive guide.

TWSBI GO Fountain Pens

TWSBI GO Fountain Pens open up a world of bottled inks.

Unlike most entry-level fountain pens, the TWSBI GO uses bottled ink. This makes it easy to select for your preferred ink qualities, like a fast drying time, highlighter resistance, or permanence. The GO’s generous piston-fill reservoir will keep your pen inked for reams of notes. We also liked its construction quality, which is lightweight yet sturdy enough to get banged around in a pencil case. However, fountain pens can be finicky; remember to take the cap off gently with the pen pointing up to prevent ink drips or minor explosions.

The Best Highlighters For Note-Taking

Zebra Justfit Mojini Line Highlighters

Zebra Justfit Mojini Line Highlighters work well with a wide variety of pens.

Zebra Justfit Mojini Line Highlighters highlight without smearing over most pens. In our tests, only gel pens experienced the slightest smudge, and it was cosmetic with no effect on legibility. Justfit Mojini Line Highlighters are available in traditional neons, and their flexible chisel tip is the perfect width for narrow-rule notebooks.

Iconic 2 Way Marker Pens

Iconic 2 Way Marker Pens come in a wide variety of colors.

Double-ended Iconic 2 Way Marker Pens come in cute retro or pastel colors. Their chisel tips work as highlighters, the fine bullet tips are suited to underlining, and together they can create eye-catching title lettering. They’re much less smeary than a conventional highlighter, though they do move some pigment on heavy lines from the riskier types of pens. These markers are only available in sets of five colors, so pick some up if you’re serious about beautifying your notes.

Test Results

We tested smudging by running a finger over the ink immediately after writing. We also tested highlighting with our two highlighter picks over dry writing samples. Tests were done on Rhodia DotPad paper, which is smooth and non-absorbent. Toothier or more absorbent pages may experience less smearing.

Name	Writing Sample	Immediate Smudge	Highlighting with Zebra Justfit MojiniLine	Highlighting with Iconic 2 Way Marker
Zebra Sarasa Dry Gel Pens
Uni-ball One Gel Pens
Uni Jetstream Ballpoint Pens
Zebra bLen Ballpoint Pens
Pilot Multi Ball Rollerball Pens
Pilot Precise V5 Rollerball Pens
Pilot Acroball Spotliter Multi Pen
Uni Style Fit Multi Pen
Platinum Preppy Fountain Pens
TWSBI GO Fountain Pens

Other Resources

How We Approach Research and Testing

Our writers draw on their personal expertise, consult our in-house subject matter experts, and do extensive research to make our guides as accurate and comprehensive as possible. We then test every finding that makes it through the research stage. Only the techniques and tools whose performance we personally confirm make it into our guides as recommendations.

Conclusion

The right pen will help you fly through long sessions of note-taking. Let us know what your favorite note-taking pen is in the comments below, and for more pen picks, subscribe to our newsletter.

Name	Pen Type	Tip Size	Ink Colors	Special Features
Zebra Sarasa Dry	Gel Pen	0.4 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm	Black, Red, Blue	Quick-Dry Ink
Uni-Ball One	Gel Pen	0.38 mm, 0.5 mm	Black, Pink, Red, Brown, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple	Ultra-Pigmented Ink, Sturdy Construction
Uni Jetstream	Ballpoint	0.28 mm, 0.38 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, 1.0 mm	Black, Pink, Red, Brown, Orange, Green, Blue, Purple	Low-Viscosity Ink, Pen Body Variety
Zebra bLen	Ballpoint	0.5 mm, 0.7 mm	Black, Red, Blue	Rattle-Free Construction
Pilot Multi Ball Rollerball	Rollerball	Fine, Medium	Black	Multisurface, Permanent
Pilot Precise V5	Rollerball	0.5 mm	Black, Pink, Red, Green, Turquoise, Blue, Purple	Smooth Writing
Pilot Acroball Spotliter	Multi Pen	0.7 mm	Black, Red and Blue Inks, Pink or Yellow Highlighters	Highlighter Multi Pen
Uni Style Fit	Multi Pen	0.28 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.38 mm, 0.4 mm, 0.5 mm, 0.7 mm, 1.0 mm	Black, Pink, Red, Brown, Orange, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, Blue, Purple, Gold, Silver	Customizable Multi Pen
Platinum Preppy	Fountain Pen	Extra Fine, Fine, Medium	Black, Pink, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple	Affordable, Springy Nib
TWSBI GO	Fountain Pen	Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, Broad, 1.1 mm Italic	Any	Generous Ink Resevoir
Zebra Justfit Mojini Line	Highlighter	Chisel	Pink, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue	Compatible with Most Pens
Iconic 2 Way Marker	Highlighter	Chisel and Bullet	Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, Gray	Double-Ended, Bold and Pastel Colors