Key findings
- Obsidian offers free, robust features and customization options to replicate Evernote with additional note-taking functionality.
- Notion offers a modern alternative to Evernote with real-time collaboration and a variety of templates for different use cases.
- OneNote, a classic rival to Evernote, offers user-friendly organization, integration with Microsoft services, and math and drawing tools.
Evernote, once a darling of digital notebooks, has fallen on hard times due to growing criticism from the community. The company replaced its native apps with subpar Electron solutions, raised subscription prices, and trimmed the free plan with a number of limitations, the last of which allows connection to only a single device. If you’ve had enough of Evernote’s subpar experience and want to jump ship, you’ve come to the right place.
In this article, we explore some of the best Evernote alternatives and highlight their unique features and benefits to help you find the ideal digital tool for your notes, ideas, and projects.
5 Obsidian
Obsidian’s popularity has skyrocketed in recent years. The Markdown-based solution can replicate your Evernote setup and even unlock more features for your ultimate digital cabinet. Obsidian lets you create connections between relevant notes and display their relationships in a special diagram view.
Obsidian also supports Canvas to allow brainstorming thoughts and ideas on an infinite board with numerous tools. When it comes to customization, Obsidian really beats its competitors. A dedicated theme menu lets you change the look and feel of the app, while a separate plugin store lets you find relevant add-ons to enhance its functionality.
You can even use Obsidian to create a Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) system. The best part is the pricing model. All Obsidian features are free. To sync your notes across different devices, you just need to purchase the Sync add-on. Alternatively, you can avoid these costs by keeping your Obsidian vaults in Google Drive or OneDrive.
4 Performance
Notion is a modern alternative to Evernote that helps you capture and organize your thoughts and notes. It uses an intuitive block editor, columns, and the “/” command to create ideal pages in a snap. But Notion is more than just a note-taking app.
You can use Notion to manage projects, keep a list of your favorite books, create a habit tracker, manage your calendar events, or even plan your college semester like a pro. The possibilities are endless here. And thanks to an extensive Notion library, you don’t even have to start from scratch. There’s a template for virtually every use case.
Notion also scores highly for real-time collaboration. You can invite anyone to your page to manage projects and brainstorm ideas. The company offers an optional AI add-on ($10 per month) that lets you write a summary or table, ask a question about a specific page, and create a flowchart based on your text inputs.
Unlike Evernote, Notion offers a solid free plan with a 7-day page history, page analytics, and more. The Plus plan starts at $10 per month.
3 OneNote
When we talk about the best alternatives to Evernote, how can we leave OneNote out of the list? The rivalry between Evernote and OneNote has been going on for decades, and Microsoft’s solution can be an ideal choice for several reasons.
OneNote is a feature-rich note-taking app that gets the basics right. Unlike Notion, Craft, and others, it’s not confusing for new users and has a standard note organization (Notebooks > Sections > Pages) as well as an easy-to-use toolbar that helps you capture ideas effectively.
OneNote easily beats its competitors thanks to some unique add-ons. First, it is tightly integrated with other Microsoft services like Outlook, Sticky Notes, OneDrive, and Loop. Second, it supports mathematical calculations and drawing tools so you can jot down your class notes like a pro.
OneNote offers native applications for all platforms and is free to download and use. You only have to pay for OneDrive storage after you use up the 5GB of free storage.
2 Joplin
If you prefer to manage your notes and tasks through a single interface like Evernote, look no further than Joplin. It’s a versatile, free, open-source solution with a user-friendly interface, end-to-end encryption, and other goodies to replace your outdated Evernote setup.
The list of features includes Markdown support, an offline-first approach for privacy-conscious folks, reminders with a to-do list, a web clipper, and more. You also have the flexibility to use the cloud storage of your choice to store and sync data. Joplin also offers a number of import options to import your Evernote (ENEX) files with a single click.
Although Joplin offers a paid plan for $5.20 per month, most users will be perfectly happy with the free plan. The paid version unlocks niche features like real-time collaboration and custom note publishing to the web.
1 Notice
UpNote is clearly the best alternative to Evernote. Unlike other note-taking apps, it doesn’t feel bloated with unnecessary AI add-ons, block editors, web publishing, or other features. UpNote is fully focused on note-taking and does the job effortlessly.
In many ways, it’s very similar to Evernote. You can create multiple notebooks with eye-catching banners, pin your favorites for easy access, use tags to intelligently organize your notes, and protect personal notes from prying eyes with a password.
UpNote lets you link related notes, it offers a sticky window for taking notes during online conferences, a focus mode to avoid distractions, and a web clipper for popular desktop browsers. You can create different spaces to separate your personal notes from your work notes. There’s also support for templates and the ability to share your notes on the web.
UpNote offers native apps for all platforms, including Linux. The company’s pricing is impressive: just $2 per month or a lifetime plan for $40. Compared to Evernote and other expensive productivity tools, it seems like a bargain.
Create a seamless organization
While there is no shortage of alternatives to Evernote, you can’t go wrong with any of our picks here. Obsidian and OneNote offer robust, free features, while Joplin offers an open-source alternative. Notion meets several needs for building an optimal personal knowledge management system, and UpNote stands out for its reliable and pleasant note-taking experience.
If you want to learn more about the differences between OneNote and Notion, check out our separate comparison guide.
