Alternatives to
12 Best Evernote Alternatives in 2026
The best Evernote alternatives depend on whether you prioritize cost, control, or a different workflow.
- Reviewed
- Sep 2026
- Open source
- 4
- Self-hosted
- 3
What you are leaving
Evernote at a glance
- Pricing model
- Free tier plus Starter, Advanced and Enterprise subscriptions
- Deployment
- Web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android
- Licensing
- Proprietary; closed source
- Free tier
- Yes - but heavily limited
- Web clipper
- Browser extension for saving articles and pages
- File format
- Proprietary note format; exports ENEX and HTML
- Main gripe
- Free tier is heavily restricted; frequent pricing and plan changes since the Bending Spoons acquisition
- Best for
- Capture-first note taking with web clipping across devices
- Open source
- No - proprietary
- Self-host
- No
- Category
- Notes
- Web clipper
- Yes, a long-standing strength
- AI features
- Yes, transcription, meeting notes and rewrite
- Advanced search
- Yes, including OCR of images and PDFs
- Platforms
- Web, desktop and mobile
- Status
- Still running, but the free plan was cut back sharply
- Free note limit
- 50 notes
- Free device limit
- 1 device
- Free storage
- 1 GB
Compare at a glance
Evernote alternatives compared
Short facts side by side. Filter by what matters to your team, then open any row for the full decision brief.
| # | Product | Overlap | Substitutability | Free? | Starting price | Self-host | Open source | Migration | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Notion | Note-taking and knowledge storage | Partial replacement | Yes | — | No | No | Moderate | |
| 02 | Obsidian | Note-taking and knowledge storage | Mostly replaces | Yes | — | No | No | Moderate | |
| 03 | Microsoft OneNote | Note-taking and notebook organisation | Mostly replaces | Yes | — | No | No | Moderate | |
| 04 | Joplin | Note-taking, web clipping and syncing | Full replacement | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 05 | AppFlowy | Note-taking and knowledge storage | Partial replacement | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 05 | Logseq | Note-taking and knowledge storage | Partial replacement | Yes | — | No | Yes | Moderate | |
| 06 | Zoho Notebook | Note capture | Narrow overlap | Yes | — | No | No | Hard | |
| 07 | Goodnotes | Handwritten notes | Narrow overlap | Yes | $11.99/yr | No | No | Hard | |
| 08 | Bear | Note-taking and writing | Narrow overlap | Yes | — | No | No | Moderate | |
| 08 | Notesnook | Note-taking and syncing | Partial replacement | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Moderate | |
| 09 | Apple Notes | Note capture | Partial replacement | Yes | — | No | No | Hard | |
| 09 | Google Keep | Quick notes and lists | Narrow overlap | Yes | — | No | No | Easy |
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Frequently asked
Evernote alternatives FAQ
- Is Evernote free?
- Yes, but the free plan is heavily limited. Evernote Free allows 50 notes, 1 notebook, 20 tags, 200 attachments, 1 GB of storage and syncing on only 1 device. If you need more notes, more devices or more storage you have to move to Starter, Advanced or Enterprise.
- What changed with Evernote's free plan?
- Evernote cut its free plan back sharply. It now caps you at 50 notes, 1 notebook, 20 tags, 200 attachments, 1 GB of storage and a single device for syncing. Evernote also introduced Starter and Advanced tiers between Free and Enterprise, so features that used to be free now require a paid plan.
- What is the best Evernote alternative?
- Obsidian is the strongest alternative for people who want local files they own, with a free personal licence, no note limit and optional paid sync. Joplin is the closest free open source equivalent with direct ENEX import and syncing across all your devices. Notion is the better choice if you want notes, databases and projects in one workspace, and OneNote is the best free option for Microsoft 365 users.
- Can I self-host an Evernote alternative?
- Yes. Joplin, AppFlowy and Notesnook all offer self-hostable sync options, and Obsidian stores notes as plain Markdown files on your own device. Self-hosting removes subscription costs but means you manage backups, syncing and upgrades. Evernote itself is a managed cloud service and cannot be self-hosted.
- How do I move my notes out of Evernote?
- Export your notebooks from Evernote as ENEX or HTML files, then import them into your new app. Joplin and Notesnook can import ENEX directly, and Obsidian and Notion both support Evernote import. Test the import with one notebook first, because attachments and formatting do not always survive perfectly.
Switcher Reports
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Editorial method
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