Top 12 alternatives to Evernote for managing your notes

Evernote has long been THE note management software par excellence, the absolute benchmark, but the tool has disappointed many in recent years. Between failed updates, rising prices, aging interface, slowness and various bugs, many users are looking for alternatives to Evernote.

The good news is that there are plenty of good (even very good) alternatives. The offer has diversified. Some tools have a similar architecture to Evernote (such as UpNote or Joplin), while others explore more innovative approaches (more visual or “mind mapping” oriented). These include Obsidian and Milanote. Project management tools such as Notion, Monday or Click Up are also interesting alternatives to Evernote. Without further ado, here are the 12 best alternatives to Evernote.

Top 12 alternatives to Evernote – Comparison table

Why choose an alternative to Evernote?

Evernote is still the most popular note-taking and organization software on the market today. Its ease of use, intuitive interface and almost limitless storage capacities have made Evernote a success.

Until the mid-2010s, Evernote didn’t really have any serious competitors, except perhaps Microsoft’s OneNote. Then came increasingly credible alternative solutions, copying Evernote’s interface or using different approaches to organizing notes.

In fact, Evernote has been in decline for several years. This began with the arrival of version 10, designed to modernize an interface that was beginning to look a little dated, and which disappointed users for a number of reasons: synchronization problems, the disappearance of features dear to the hearts of early adopters, a change in philosophy with a new emphasis on task management that didn’t please everyone, various and sundry bugs, and so on.

To this must be added :

• The acquisition of Evernote in 2023, which led to an increase in the price of paid plans and a drastic limitation of the free offer (to 1 notebook and 50 notes).
• The absence of certain functionalities expected by users, notably the inability to collaborate in real time.
• An interface that looks a little dated today.

In short, a lot of frustration and disappointment, leading more and more users to look for alternatives to Evernote.

#1 Obsidian

An innovative alternative to Evernote that visualizes the relationships between your notes

Obsidian is a knowledge management software that sets itself apart from traditional note-taking applications such as Evernote. It’s based on a non-hierarchical structure, allowing you to create vaults where notes are stored in the form of linked files. This approach facilitates knowledge management by creating a network of interconnected information, rather than just a collection of isolated notes. Obsidian also offers a graphical visualization of the links between notes, which is very useful for navigating between notes and understanding the relationships between your notes, ideas and information.

It’s a highly recommended alternative to Evernote for those who want to move from simple note storage to more complex, interconnected knowledge management. Migration from Evernote can be carried out in Markdown format, which saves time.

Obsidian is free, but you’ll have to pay $4 per month per user if you want to synchronize your notes between your devices.

#2 UpNote

Almost the equivalent of Evernote, but with a much nicer interface

UpNote is an elegant, well-designed note-taking application, often compared to Evernote, which it resembles in many respects, starting with the familiar 3-pane interface. UpNote is distinguished by its elegant interface, and functions in a similar way to Evernote. UpNote can be used on all major platforms: iOS, Android, Windows and MacOS, and makes it easy to synchronize between devices.

UpNote, on the other hand, offers rather limited integration options and no API. This is the main limitation. Despite this, UpNote is a solid option for those looking for a note-taking application that’s simple and pleasant to use.

#3 Clickup

A comprehensive tool that focuses on collaboration and sharing

ClickUp is a powerful and intuitive note-taking and documentation software that is an excellent alternative to Evernote. It is also one of the highest rated project management and productivity applications. Many startups and large international companies have already adopted it.

ClickUp offers comprehensive note-taking and text formatting features (notepad, text editing features, PDF or HTML exports) and no download limit. The software also allows you to automatically create project tasks from your notes. It keeps your team informed about your ideas very quickly. The task management features are also very good (custom statuses, priorities, multiple attributes, etc).

You can use ClickUp as a database to store important project documents for easy access by the entire team. Anyone can add comments or edit documents and create detailed project plans very quickly. The software offers powerful integrations with tools like Outlook, Slack, etc and allows access to Google Docs, Google Sheets and other application files directly from ClickUp through the built-in view.

ClickUp offers a free version that provides 100mb of storage. The first paid plan costs about 4$ per member per month.

#4 Todoist

The to-do list application that makes note taking easy

Todoist is a good alternative to Evernote, available on Windows, Mac and Linux. It allows you to organize, prioritize and manage your projects while noting the important information you need to remember. The app also offers templates to help you get started quickly.

It’s a fairly comprehensive solution that has a number of features, including the ability to assign tasks, customize your workflow with labels and themes, and add voice notes. However, Todoist does not offer custom fields and does not allow for real-time discussions.

Todoist offers a free plan and a paid plan at 4$ per month per user.

#5 Microsoft One Note

The note-taking monster by Microsoft

Microsoft OneNote is a proposed note-taking application, quite similar to Evernote and Notion. It offers a classic Microsoft interface, which makes the program easy to learn for those who are familiar with the software. It is a particularly popular tool for researchers and users working with a wide range of sources.

OneNote uses a mixed system of notepad and tabs, and each section allows for multiple pages. This allows to have free workspaces, like on Notion. You can also add tags to certain items to keep track of your activity.

OneNote allows you to add many elements to a workspace (images, notes, checklists, multimedia files and attachments). The software also supports simultaneous editing by multiple users. OneNote allows you to cut out items and categorize, label and store them.

OneNote is free and does not offer a premium version.

#6 Notion

An all-in-one platform for note-taking, project management and collaboration

Notion is an all-in-one workspace solution designed for work teams. Designed from the start to be a work-sharing software, Notion offers very strong collaboration features. It is a complete and accessible software, which makes it one of the most important competitors of Evernote.

The software is built on the concept of blocks. You can add paragraphs of text, images, embedded spreadsheets or calendars, task lists and build multiple individual blocks on a single work page. This concept allows for a customizable workspace adapted to the needs of each user.

Notion also proposes to share all the added elements to the team members. Notifications can be set up to alert multiple users of ongoing meetings, deadlines or urgent tasks. You can also decide that changes made to a block are reflected in all workspaces. Notion is therefore closer to solutions like Airtable that use relational databases.

The flexibility offered is one of the main differences from Evernote, and can make Notion difficult to handle for the less experienced and those who just want to take quick notes.

Notion offers very reasonable prices and even a free version. It is limited to 1,000 blocks and 5 MB for download. The first paid version costs about 7$ per member per month.

#7 Joplin

The open-source alternative to Evernote, perfect for those looking for flexibility and simplicity.

Joplin is an open-source alternative to Evernote, ideal for those looking for a free, flexible solution. The advantage of Joplin is that you can easily import Evernote notebooks, reproducing the structure you’ve already set up. Like Evernote, Joplin uses a three-pane interface and allows notes to be organized into notebooks and subnotebooks. It supports synchronization with services such as Dropbox, Nextcloud and OneDrive, or offers the paid option of Joplin Cloud from 2.99$ per month.

It has to be said, though, that Joplin lacks some of Evernote’s advanced features, such as note creation via email, automatic file import and note merging. Added to this is the absence of collaborative and OCR functionality. Despite these limitations, Joplin is a good alternative for those looking for a simple, effective and free note-taking application.

#8 Zoho Notebook

The elegant, multi-device note-taking tool

Zoho Notebook is a free note-taking application developed by Zoho, an Indian company specializing in cloud applications for businesses. Although its appearance differs from Evernote, Zoho Notebook offers similar features, such as text note-taking, images, audio recordings, tags, reminders, handwriting and drawing. The app is available on all major platforms, including Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, Linux and the web.

Zoho Notebook is distinguished by its visual representation of notebooks, reminiscent of physical objects with book covers and differently colored pages. However, it lacks some of Evernote’s advanced features, such as email note transfer, OCR on images and list view of notebooks. Migrating from Evernote can be a challenge, especially given the lack of notebook stacks and the complexity of the post-migration organization. Despite this, Zoho Notebook remains a solid option for those looking for a free, comprehensive note-taking solution.

The free version is limited to 2GB of file storage. Beyond that, you can opt for the PRO package at 20$ per year.

#9 Apple Notes

The native, versatile note-taking application for Apple users

Apple Notes is a native note-taking application for iPhone, iPad and MacBook users, offering fast synchronization via iCloud. The application stands out for its simplicity and features: tag management, hashtags…Notes can include text, images, sketches, lists and attachments, making the tool quite versatile.

Apple Notes has certain limitations, starting with the fact that the application is only available to users of Apple devices. Integrations with third-party tools are fairly limited. Apple Notes is a good note-taking tool for those who are fully integrated into the Apple ecosystem and are looking for a simple, effective note-taking solution.

#10 Milanote

The visual note-taking application for creatives and designers

Milanote is a visual note-taking application. It captures ideas much more graphically than traditional note-taking applications. Milanote is all about images, videos and visual elements in general. You can organize your notes in boards, using a drag & drop editor.

Although Milanote isn’t a direct alternative to Evernote for classic text notes, it’s an excellent option for those who need advanced visual features that Evernote doesn’t offer. For users who appreciate graphic organization and real-time collaborative working, Milanote is an interesting choice.

#11 Monday

Project management software with excellent note-taking & sharing features

Monday is a solid team collaboration tool and task management software for work teams. It is a solid alternative to Evernote for project management and collaboration. Monday is easy to use and easily adapts to the needs of users.

The software allows teams to take notes in a collaborative manner. It offers advanced coworking features, such as critical task display and project task lists, product roadmap templates, marketing plans, workflow management features and more. You can also create charts and graphs with your data, such as timelines, calendars or maps.

Monday’s personal operating system (Work OS) makes it ideal for small and large teams working together on notes, images and documents. Another major difference compared to Evernote is the possibility to display information in several different ways (calendar, Kanban, timeline, status…).

Monday offers a free plan that is quite powerful and offers a large storage of 500mb. The first paid plan costs 24$/month for 3 users (8$/month per user).

#12 SimpleNote

A free note-taking solution, ideal for basic needs

SimpleNote, developed by Automattic (the creators of WordPress), is a free, fast and lightweight note-taking application. Unlike Evernote, Simplenote focuses solely on text notes, and does not support multimedia or rich content. Users can organize their notes using tags and Markdown. Simplenote is available on all major platforms, including Linux, as well as a web version. You can also collaborate on notes and publish them publicly.

Simplenote lacks some advanced features such as notebooks, notebook stacks, web clipper and OCR, all of which are present in Evernote. Simplenote is an interesting choice for users who need a simple application for taking text notes without the need for complex organization tools.