Guides

Sermon notes apps compared: six ways to keep what you hear on Sunday

November 2, 2026

A good sermon is easy to forget by Wednesday. Sermon notes apps try to fix that in different ways: some record and transcribe the whole message, some fill in Bible verses as you type, and some keep your notes next to the verses so you find them again when you next read the passage. This guide compares six common choices, including our own app, Carrell, so you can pick the one that fits how you listen.

We took each app’s details from its own website or App Store page on November 2, 2026. Prices and features change, so check before you subscribe. If something here is out of date, email hello@carrell.ai and we will correct it.

The short answer

• You want a transcript and summary without typing: Sunday Notes AI or Sermon Keeper, both on iPhone.
• You like to type during the sermon and want verses filled in: Spirit Notes, which supports translations such as the ESV and NIV.
• You only want free notes attached to verses: YouVersion.
• You want nothing new to learn: Apple Notes with Voice Memos.
• You want your sermons, notes and Bible in one library across iPhone, Mac and Linux: Carrell.

What to look for

Before comparing apps, decide what you actually need. Four questions settle most choices.

• Record, type or both? Recording lets you listen fully. Typing makes you decide what matters while you hear it, which helps many people remember. Most of the apps below let you do both, with your typed notes marked at their moment in the recording.
• Which Bible translation? If your church preaches from the NIV or ESV, an app that only has the KJV will still open the right verse, but not in the words you heard.
• Where does it run? Several apps are iPhone only. If you study at a computer, check before you build a library.
• Where do your recordings live? Some apps keep audio on your phone, some sync it through iCloud or their own servers. Think about what happens when you change phones.

The apps

Sermon Keeper

An iPhone app built for recording a sermon while you take timestamped notes. Afterward it transcribes the audio and writes a summary with key points. Typing a reference such as John 3:16 shows the verse text. It has seven built-in translations that work offline: KJV, NASB 1995, ESV, NKJV, NIV 1984, WEB and Reina-Valera 1909. It works in English and Spanish and needs no account. Recordings stay on your device and notes sync through your own iCloud. It costs $6.99 a month or $64.99 a year, with a three-day free trial on the yearly plan.

Good for: people who want a recording, their notes and a summary in one flow, in a common modern translation.

Sunday Notes AI

An iPhone app built around not typing at all. You press record, put the phone away, and it transcribes the sermon, adds each Bible reference the pastor names as a tappable link, and writes a summary with numbered takeaways. It can also turn a YouTube sermon into notes from its link. Its built-in Bible is the King James Version. It stores the archive on your phone with no account or cloud library. It starts with a free trial, and the app shows the price before you subscribe. Android is listed as coming soon.

Good for: people who want to listen without writing and read a short summary afterward.

Spirit Notes

A note-taking app for church and Bible study on iPhone and iPad. Typing a reference inserts the full verse, with many translations including the ESV, NKJV, NIV, CSB, NLT and KJV. You can record audio in the same note, and each point you type is stamped with its moment in the recording so you can tap back to it. It has its own Bible reader that shows every note mentioning a verse, and you can share a note, with its recording, as a link. churchnotes.com points to the same App Store listing. Its website describes recording and verse insertion rather than automatic transcription.

Good for: people who like to write their own notes during the sermon and want verses filled in from the translation their church uses.

YouVersion

The free Bible app many people already have, on iPhone, Android and the web. Its notes attach to a verse, and it has a very large translation library and reading plans. It does not record or transcribe sermons, and a note belongs to one verse rather than to a whole message.

Good for: free, simple notes on the verses the sermon covered.

Apple Notes and Voice Memos

Already on every iPhone, iPad and Mac, free and synced through iCloud. Voice Memos records, and on iOS 18 and later Apple Notes can record audio inside a note and show a transcript. Neither knows anything about the Bible: references stay plain text, and nothing links a note to the verses it mentions.

Good for: anyone who wants to start this Sunday with nothing to install.

Carrell

Carrell is our app, so weigh this section with that in mind. It is a Bible reader with a library for what you study, and sermons are one part of that library.

• Recording: on iPhone, or on Apple Watch so the phone stays in your pocket. The Mac and Linux apps can record the room through the microphone, or whatever the computer is playing, which suits a livestreamed service.
• Transcription: Pro transcribes each sermon, finds the passages the preacher read and writes an outline. The free plan includes one hour of transcription to try.
• Verse links: each sermon is linked to the verses it mentions, so it shows up beside that chapter the next time you read it, along with your notes, highlights and photos of your paper notes.
• Asking: Ask answers questions from the Bible and your own sermons and notes, and cites each source so you can open it and check.
• Translations: seven public-domain translations are built in (KJV, WEB, BSB, ASV, YLT, Darby and Webster), and you can import translations you own. The NIV and ESV are not available today.
• Platforms and price: iPhone and iPad (in public beta), Apple Watch, Mac and Linux, with one account syncing your library. Free to use; Pro is $5 a month or $54 a year. Everything exports to Markdown or JSON.

Good for: people who want years of sermons, notes and reading in one place they can search, on a phone and a computer.

At a glance

• Records audio: Sermon Keeper, Sunday Notes AI, Spirit Notes, Voice Memos and Apple Notes, Carrell.
• Transcribes: Sermon Keeper, Sunday Notes AI, Apple Notes (iOS 18 and later), Carrell (Pro, one free hour).
• Summary or outline: Sermon Keeper, Sunday Notes AI, Carrell.
• NIV or ESV text: Sermon Keeper (NIV 1984, ESV), Spirit Notes, YouVersion.
• Runs on a computer: YouVersion (web), Apple Notes (Mac), Carrell (Mac and Linux).
• Free to use: YouVersion, Apple Notes, Carrell (with limits). The others start with a trial or a free download.

Whatever you choose

The app matters less than what you do in the ten minutes after the sermon: restate the main point in one sentence, read the passages again, and write down one thing to do this week. Our guide on how to take sermon notes you will actually use walks through that method, and it works with a pen and paper too.

If you would like to try Carrell, it is free to download. See what is free and what is in Pro.