One thing I have been bad about on this site is following up on my notebook reviews to see how notebooks perform and hold up after being used daily til they are complete. My “everyday carry” notebook habits are pretty consistent and skew heavily towards the older Moleskines I’ve stockpiled over the years, but I have used some other brands. All of these Moleskine alternatives are more or less the same format as a pocket Moleskine: 3.5 x 5.5″, hardcover, most with a ribbon marker and elastic closure and back pocket. Some are thinner paper appropriate for just writing, and some have heavier sketchbook paper. Some were used almost entirely for writing, some have a mix of writing and doodles and sketches, and some were sketchbooks dedicated solely to drawing and watercolors.

Daily Journals

Bindewerk

I really loved the Bindewerk Linen notebook when I first bought it, and didn’t love it any less when I turned the final page. This is an exception in that it has no ribbon marker or elastic or back pocket. It also has a wider cover overhang than I like, but I was able to live with it. I love the cloth cover, and the high quality dot grid paper inside allowed me to use my various fountain pens with no issues. It came with me on a cross-country driving trip, during which it was stamped at quite a few national parks. Total usage period was a little over 3 months. It held up very well other than a little wear at the corners and top and bottom of the spine. I have a bunch more of these that will be used from time to time. Some have plain pages, so I’ll try using them more for drawing. I’ve been seeing the Bindewerk Linen notebook in some stationery shops and bookstores here and there, but they are at the high end of the price range for what most notebook buyers are willing to bear– about $20 usually.

Piccadilly

I was really excited about Piccadilly notebooks for a while– so Moleskine-like, so inexpensive! Borders bookstores (RIP) used to carry them at bargain prices, I think $3.99 or $4.99 for a pocket size notebook . The first couple I bought were pretty good quality, even though after use the spine corners started to break. Cover overhang was not consistent. I still have a few more spares but I ended up disenchanted, thinking they felt a little cheap. Nowadays the prices are higher, at least on Amazon, so I wonder if the quality is any different. This particular Piccadilly notebook was used for about 3 months. It accompanied me to a ranch in Arizona, where I made a note that someone named Jared had told me “you should be plumb tickled” about something. Perhaps that I had succeeded in not falling off a horse.

Pen & Ink

Though this notebook is technically a sketchbook, I used it mainly as a journal. The Pen & Ink sketchbook from Art Alternatives is a great alternative to the Moleskine Sketchbook if you like smooth, creamy heavyweight paper. (I also have some Pen & Ink notebooks with regular weight plain and squared paper.) It has a slightly more round spine, and there was no tearing whatsoever at the corners. Overhang was minimal and the paper was good for at least the two fountain pens I tested in it. I tried to buy more just in the last couple of years, but they’ve changed the design so the elastic closure wraps around the corner, which I really don’t care for. (On Amazon and elsewhere, you still see photos of the old version, but in my experience, what arrives is the new version, so beware.) I didn’t travel anywhere with this notebook, and it covers a 3-month period when I was stressed out at work and hearing a lot about a friend’s painful divorce, so it was a bit of a downer to flip through it, except for a few pages where I did doodle with watercolor, which still looks nice and vibrant.

Daily Sketchbooks

HandBook Artist Journal

I’ve used several HandBook journals from Global Art Materials, and they are great little sketchbooks. The cloth covers come in nice colors and give them a nice retro feel, other than the not-at-all-retro elastic closure. The paper holds up fairly well to watercolors and markers. The ones I bought several years ago are notable for the complete lack of cover overhang– I really love notebooks where the pages and cover edges are aligned. Unfortunately, more recent examples from this brand that I’ve seen in stores seem to have more cover overhang. And they don’t seem as well-priced as they used to be (at least on Amazon). I bought some of mine for as low as $8 or 9 at the much-mourned A.I. Friedman store in Manhattan, which closed a couple of years ago. I also got some at Blick, where this model is currently $10.59. This HandBook is full of animal sketches done during a two-week safari in Botswana– it held up beautifully despite rather dusty and dirty conditions, without even getting the slight fraying of the corners seen on the Bindewerk notebook.

Hahnemuhle

Another favorite Moleskine alternative: the Hahnemuhle Travel Journal. No cover overhang plus a thicker than usual shape made me fall in love with it at first sight. The traditional black cover is almost indistinguishable from a Moleskine, though if you look closely the texture is a little different. The paper inside is similar to the HandBook Journal, but I thought watercolors seemed a little less vibrant. This was another travel sketchbook, taken on a trip to the Galapagos and not much worse for wear even after some sketching in rainy and humid conditions. The Hahnemuhle journal wasn’t widely available in the US at the time– I ordered this first one from the UK. Later, I did manage to buy a couple more from Amazon (they do still seem to carry them, as do a few other places) but the new ones had more cover overhang– seems to be an epidemic these days!

Leda Art Supply

Another great sketchbook– smooth paper, a bit less creamy-colored than Moleskine. The Leda works really well with pretty much anything– great for fountain pens. They are inexpensive and easy to buy via Amazon. The exterior isn’t as pretty as some other brands, but it’s flexible and durable. This sketchbook went to France for a couple of weeks, even though I only used two pages of it while I was there! But for part of the sketchbook’s 6-month active life, I was doing a drawing in it every day. I can’t help wanting to buy another one, even though I’m trying to stop hoarding so many notebooks! If I could get Leda paper inside a cover more like some of the other brands I’ve mentioned here, I wouldn’t hesitate to stock up.

Is there a “Best Moleskine Alternative?”

Such a tough question. I haven’t really done any “top 5” or “best 10” type posts on this site, because when you love notebooks so much, it’s hard to pick favorites! And of course, different notebooks have different attributes that appeal to different people. But among these, the Bindewerk is probably the one I am craziest about. But I also really love the Hahnemuhle. And the HandBook feels so classic. And every time I take out a Pen & Ink, I feel like I’ve always under-appreciated them and wish I could buy more. And the paper in the Leda is so all-around good… see, I told you this was hard…

I’ve used some other brands over the last few years, but they were all for specific purposes: small stapled or stitched notebooks of the Field Notes/ Moleskine Cahier type, or sketchbooks with watercolor paper, or larger format notebooks for work. For a true comparison, I’ve limited this post to just the “Moleskine clones” that have actually been carried around in my bag all the time. I have several more notebooks in my stash that I do intend to try using as daily notebooks–TWSBI, Zequenz, Front, PaperBlanks, Black n’ Red, Pentalic, and others. I’ll report back in a few years and let you know how it goes!