Evernote alternatives: where to take your notes and how to leave without losing any
Six destinations in detail, one per reason for leaving, and a seven-step migration plan.
The short answer: Obsidian if you want notes you own, as plain files, with no required subscription; Notion if your notes feed a team or projects; Apple Notes if you live on a Mac and an iPhone; OneNote if you already have a Microsoft account; Joplin for the closest open-source match to Evernote; UpNote if you'd rather pay once and be done. One thing to know before you pick: Evernote only exports from its Mac or Windows app, 100 notes per selection or one whole notebook at a time, and your tag hierarchy doesn't survive the trip. We compared these six destinations and checked their 2026 prices and limits.
The ranking is editorial: a sponsored spot is always labeled on its card, and no affiliate link ever changes a rating.
Why so many people are leaving Evernote
For years Evernote was the default note app, and plenty of people still have a soft spot for it. The exits come from elsewhere: a free plan that barely exists anymore, prices that went up, and a company that changed a lot after its acquisition. Six reasons, all checked in 2026.
Free now means 50 notes
Since late 2023 the Free plan caps you at 50 notes and one notebook, on one synced device, with 1 GB of storage. If you have ten years of notes, that isn't a free plan, it's a demo. The silver lining: if you already have more than 50 notes, you can still read and edit them. You just can't create new ones past the limit.
The price roughly doubled for heavy users
The lineup is now Free, Starter and Advanced. In the US, Starter runs around $99 a year and Advanced around $250 a year. The old Personal and Professional plans were retired at the end of 2025. One long-time user with over 12,000 notes put it bluntly on a Mac forum: "They're doubling my price to let me keep what I already have."
Starter is still capped
Starter doesn't really lift the ceiling: 1,000 notes, 20 notebooks, 1,000 attachments and 3 synced devices. Only Advanced gives you unlimited notes. Once your archive passes 1,000 notes, which happens fast after a few years, the entry plan is out and you jump straight to the top tier.
Plan switches that felt sneaky
During the move to the new plans, some users found they'd been bumped from a legacy plan to a pricier one, with nothing but a "Welcome to Evernote Personal" email as notice. Tech press picked it up from Reddit threads. Even if it never happened to you, it's the kind of story that makes people want their notes back under their own control.
A very different company
Since Bending Spoons bought Evernote, it has laid off 129 employees and moved operations to Europe. The app is still being updated, but many long-time users no longer know what to expect and would rather get their archive somewhere safe.
Lukewarm reviews
On Trustpilot, Evernote sits at 3.6 out of 5 across more than 3,700 reviews, about a quarter of them one star. The complaints keep landing in the same places: price, crashes and updates that reshuffle the interface. The score isn't terrible, but if those are exactly your three gripes, leaving makes sense.
You're leaving because… go to…
The right Evernote alternative depends on what's pushing you out. Usually only one row applies to you. Each card jumps to the full write-up below.
Markdown files on your own drive, free, readable in any text editor.
Your notes run a team or projectsNotionBuilt-in Evernote import, notebooks become pages, notes become a database.
You're all-in on Mac and iPhoneApple NotesAlready installed, direct ENEX import on Mac, tags carried over.
You already work in Microsoft toolsOneNoteFree with a Microsoft account, notebooks and sections you'll recognize.
You want Evernote's logic, open sourceJoplinNotebooks, tags, ENEX import, sync wherever you like.
You're done with subscriptionsUpNote$39.99 lifetime license, Evernote import built in.
Evernote alternatives, app by app
For each app: why switch to it, who it's for, its catch, how to move there from Evernote, and what it costs. Prices are the ones listed in 2026, in the currency the vendor shows.
Obsidian: your notes as files you own, for good
You own the filesWhy switch to Obsidian. Evernote keeps your notes in its own format on its own servers. Obsidian flips that: every note is a plain Markdown file in a folder on your computer. If Obsidian vanished tomorrow, you'd still open your notes in any text editor. It's the reason that comes up most on forums among people who left after the price hike: never again held hostage by a subscription.
Who it's for. People who write a lot, link ideas together (links between notes are the whole point) and want to keep control of their files.
Who it's not for. Anyone who wants to open the app and have everything just work: Obsidian takes some setup, and team sharing isn't its strength.
The catch. Syncing across devices isn't free if you use the official service: Obsidian Sync is $4 a month billed yearly ($5 monthly). You can skip it by putting your vault in a cloud drive you already pay for, but getting that right is on you. A commercial license ($50 a year) exists, and it's optional.
How to migrate. The official Importer plugin reads your ENEX files and turns them into Markdown. Two known traps: Evernote's export doesn't keep the tag hierarchy, and notebook stacks don't come through as-is. The tip from Obsidian's own docs: before exporting, rename each notebook as Stack@@@Notebook, and the import rebuilds the folder structure for you.
- Free
- no note limit
- Paid
- Sync $4/mo billed yearly
- Best for
- owning your notes
- Catch
- tag hierarchy lost
Notion: when your notes turn into projects
Teams and projectsWhy switch to Notion. If your Evernote notes track clients, projects or a team wiki, Notion goes further: each note becomes a database row you can filter, sort and share. It's also the only destination here that pulls straight from your Evernote account, no file juggling needed.
Who it's for. Teams and freelancers who want notes, tasks and docs in one place.
Who it's not for. Anyone who just wants to jot an idea in two seconds or store thousands of scanned PDFs: Notion isn't built as an archive box, and free-plan uploads stop at 5 MB.
The catch. The free plan limits each upload to 5 MB and page history to 7 days. Plus is €11.50 per member per month and Business €23.50. Once you work with others, the bill grows with every seat.
How to migrate. In Notion, go to Import, then Evernote, connect your account and pick notebooks. Each notebook becomes a page, each note a database row. Three traps: the import is reliable up to about 5,000 notes and can fail beyond that (go notebook by notebook), Evernote Teams and Business accounts aren't supported, and some images and creation dates need fixing by hand. Our Notion review covers the rest.
- Free
- 5 MB per upload
- Paid
- Plus €11.50/member/mo
- Best for
- team notes and projects
- Catch
- import reliable to ~5,000 notes
Apple Notes: the zero-effort pick on Mac and iPhone
Free on AppleWhy switch to Apple Notes. You already have it. If every device you own is a Mac, iPhone or iPad, Apple Notes syncs through iCloud with no extra subscription and imports an Evernote export directly. On Mac forums, several long-time subscribers who refused to pay roughly $250 a year for Advanced went this way.
Who it's for. Apple users who keep fairly simple notes: lists, ideas, scanned documents, meeting notes.
Who it's not for. You, if there's a Windows PC or an Android phone in your life: Apple Notes is built for Apple devices, and your notes stay locked in there.
The catch. Organization is simpler than Evernote, and the import has gaps: attachments Apple Notes doesn't support are left out. Your free iCloud storage is also shared with photos and backups.
How to migrate. On a Mac, open Notes, choose File, then Import to Notes, and pick your ENEX files (Evernote XML Export). Since macOS 13, your Evernote tags come along. Import one test notebook first and compare the note count before doing the rest.
- Price
- included on Apple devices
- Import
- ENEX on Mac
- Best for
- all-Apple, simple notes
- Catch
- unsupported attachments dropped
OneNote: the free notebook for Microsoft users
Free with MicrosoftWhy switch to OneNote. OneNote is free with a Microsoft account, which comes with 5 GB of storage. Its notebooks, sections and pages feel familiar right away if you're coming from Evernote, and if you already live in Word, Outlook or Teams, it slots right in.
Who it's for. Students, employees whose company already runs Microsoft 365, and anyone who likes the binder-style layout.
Who it's not for. You, if you have thousands of notes to move in one go: it's the destination with the least-marked path.
The catch. Microsoft no longer offers an official tool to move from Evernote to OneNote. You'll need a third-party converter or Evernote's HTML export. Past 5 GB, you'll need a paid Microsoft 365 plan.
How to migrate. Export one small notebook as HTML first to see how it looks. If you use a converter, check what it keeps (tags, dates, attachments) on that test notebook before trusting it with the rest, and always keep your ENEX files as a backup.
- Free
- with a Microsoft account (5 GB)
- Paid
- Microsoft 365 past 5 GB
- Best for
- Microsoft shops
- Catch
- no official Evernote import
Joplin: the closest thing to Evernote, open source
Open sourceWhy switch to Joplin. Joplin keeps Evernote's logic (notebooks, tags, notes with attachments) in free, open-source software. When the 50-note free plan was announced, its forum braced for a wave of Evernote refugees, and plenty of them did switch. You decide where your notes sync: your own storage or the vendor's paid service.
Who it's for. People who want their Evernote habits back without depending on a vendor, and slightly technical users who like tuning their tools.
Who it's not for. Anyone after a polished interface: Joplin is effective, not pretty.
The catch. Do-it-yourself sync takes setup. Joplin Cloud makes it easy but costs money: Basic at €2.99 a month (2 GB), Pro at €5.99 (30 GB), Teams at €7.99 per user with a two-user minimum. One developer who moved from Evernote hit a 100 MB PDF that refused to sync.
How to migrate. Joplin imports ENEX files, one notebook at a time. The same developer says the whole move took him less than a couple of hours. Find your biggest attachments before importing: they're what stalls sync.
- Free
- open source, your own sync
- Paid
- Joplin Cloud from €2.99/mo
- Best for
- Evernote habits, no lock-in
- Catch
- watch huge PDFs
UpNote: pay once and stop thinking about it
No subscriptionWhy switch to UpNote. It's the straight answer to subscription fatigue: $1.99 a month, or a one-time $39.99 for a lifetime license. That's well under one year of Evernote Starter, and the question is settled for good. The interface is clean and Evernote import is built in.
Who it's for. Individuals and freelancers who want a simple, good-looking, synced notes app without a bill that comes back every year.
Who it's not for. Teams, and anyone who wants open files like Obsidian's.
The catch. The free tier stops at 50 notes, just like Evernote's: it's for trying, not staying. UpNote is a small vendor with fewer advanced features than Evernote.
How to migrate. Use UpNote's Evernote import with your ENEX files. Try it on the free tier with a small notebook, check the result, then buy the license before importing the rest, since free stops at 50 notes.
- Free
- 50 notes
- Paid
- $1.99/mo or $39.99 lifetime
- Best for
- escaping subscriptions
- Catch
- small vendor, fewer power features
The 6 alternatives side by side
Our default pick: Obsidian if you want your notes to last, Apple Notes if you're all-Apple and want zero effort. For a sense of scale, take someone with 3,000 notes on two devices: at Evernote, Starter no longer fits (1,000 notes), so it's Advanced at around $250 a year. The same archive lives for free in Obsidian, Joplin, Apple Notes or OneNote, or for a single $39.99 UpNote license. One row per app: the free tier on the left, the first paid price and how to migrate on the right.
| What's free | First paid tier and migration | |
|---|---|---|
| EvernoteWhere you're coming from | 50 notes, 1 notebook, 1 device, 1 GB | Starter around $99 a year (1,000 notes, 3 devices), Advanced around $250 a year |
| ObsidianNotes as files | Everything, no note limit | Sync $4 a month billed yearly ($5 monthly); official ENEX importer |
| NotionTeams and projects | Personal use, 5 MB uploads, 7-day history | Plus €11.50 per member per month; imports from your Evernote account |
| Apple NotesAll-Apple | Included, shared iCloud storage | Nothing to pay for the app; ENEX import on Mac |
| OneNoteMicrosoft shops | Microsoft account, 5 GB | Microsoft 365 past 5 GB; no official import anymore |
| JoplinOpen source | Everything, sync on your storage | Joplin Cloud Basic €2.99 a month (2 GB); ENEX import |
| UpNoteNo subscription | 50 notes | $1.99 a month or $39.99 lifetime; Evernote import |
Entry prices before tax where the vendor lists them that way, subject to change. Evernote's US prices are approximate.
Leaving Evernote in seven steps
Order matters. Each step protects something: your notes, how they're organized, your attachments, your way back if something breaks.
Count what you have before touching anything
Day 1Write down the note count for each notebook, your stacks, your tags and how they nest, and your biggest attachments. A screenshot of your tag tree is enough.
Why? It's your only way to check nothing went missing on arrival. And since the export flattens nested tags, without that screenshot you'll be rebuilding the hierarchy from memory.
- Time
- half an hour
- Risk if rushed
- missing notes go unnoticed
Install the Evernote desktop app
Exports only work from the Mac or Windows app. Neither the phone nor the web version can do it. Let it sync fully before exporting: a note that hasn't downloaded won't leave.
- Required
- Mac or Windows
Rename notebooks first if you're heading to Obsidian
TipNotebook stacks don't survive the export. If Obsidian is your destination, rename each notebook as Stack@@@Notebook before exporting: Obsidian's importer then rebuilds one folder per stack. For other destinations, keep your screenshot from step 1 and recreate stacks by hand.
- Payoff
- folder structure rebuilt
Export notebook by notebook as ENEX
CriticalRight-click a notebook, Export, ENEX format: that's what Obsidian, Apple Notes, Joplin and UpNote read. A selection of notes caps at 100; a whole notebook goes in one shot. Only pick HTML if your destination can't read ENEX (OneNote's case).
Put every file in one dated folder outside Evernote, and keep it after the move: it's your backup.
- Limit
- 100 notes per selection
- Format
- ENEX, or HTML
Import one test notebook and compare
Before importing ten years of notes, import one notebook, ideally one with PDFs, images and tags. Compare the note count, open three notes with attachments, check the dates. Apple Notes drops attachments it doesn't support; Notion can lose images and dates.
- Time
- fifteen minutes
- Risk if rushed
- attachments lost unnoticed
Import the rest in small batches
Go notebook by notebook rather than all at once. In Notion, imports past roughly 5,000 notes can fail, so split them. In Joplin, keep an eye on very large PDFs that can stall sync. Then rebuild parent tags and stacks from your screenshot.
- Notion
- reliable to ~5,000 notes
Keep Evernote open, read-only, for a while
Don't delete your account right away. Downgraded to Free, Evernote still lets you read and edit your existing notes, even past 50: that's your safety net while you check everything arrived. Cancel the subscription before it renews, not the account.
- Suggested
- a few weeks
- Cost
- $0 on Free
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What makes an Evernote exit go wrong
The same mistakes come up migration after migration, on forums and in vendors' own import guides. None of them is really technical: they're oversights, and each costs more than the time it would have taken to avoid it.
Hunting for export on your phone
Plenty of people lose an evening looking for the button in the mobile or web app. It only exists on desktop. Install the Mac or Windows app from the start.
Exporting note by note
A selection stops at 100 notes. With a few thousand notes, that's dozens of exports. Export notebook by notebook instead: a whole notebook goes at once.
Finding out too late that tags came out flat
The export keeps your tags, not their hierarchy. If you relied on nesting to stay organized, screenshot your tag tree before you go and plan to rebuild the parents on arrival.
Not checking attachments
Text notes almost always come through fine. PDFs, scans and heavy files are the trouble: unsupported attachments dropped by Apple Notes, sync stalled by a huge PDF in Joplin. Check your heaviest notebook first.
Deleting your account on day one
A deleted account doesn't come back. Keep Evernote on Free while you check: your notes stay readable and editable there. And keep your ENEX files somewhere safe, even afterward.
Switching tools without switching habits
If you move to Notion only to dump loose notes in it, you're paying more for less. Pick your destination based on how you actually take notes, not on the longest feature list. Our ranking of the best note-taking apps goes further, and if Notion is on your shortlist, also look at Notion alternatives and our Todoist vs Notion comparison.
- Note count per notebook written down, tag tree screenshotted
- Evernote Mac or Windows app installed and fully synced
- Notebooks renamed Stack@@@Notebook if heading to Obsidian
- ENEX export notebook by notebook, stored outside Evernote
- Test notebook imported and checked (count, attachments, dates)
- Rest imported in small batches, parent tags rebuilt
- Subscription canceled before renewal, account kept on Free for a few weeks
Evernote alternatives: frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to Evernote?
Obsidian if you want no note limit and files you own; Joplin if you want Evernote's logic in open source; Apple Notes if you're all-Apple; OneNote if you have a Microsoft account. All four hold thousands of notes without paying. Watch out for UpNote: its free tier stops at 50 notes, same as Evernote's.
Is there an open-source alternative to Evernote?
Yes: Joplin, free and open source, with notebooks, tags and ENEX import. Obsidian isn't open source, but its notes are open Markdown files, which gives you the same freedom to leave whenever you want.
How do I export all my Evernote notes at once?
There's no "export everything" button. From the Mac or Windows app, export notebook by notebook in ENEX format; a selection of notes caps at 100. With 30 notebooks, plan on about 30 exports, and drop them into one folder as you go.
Is Evernote still worth paying for in 2026?
Only if you rely on features you can't get elsewhere and your archive fits the plan you'd pay for. Starter stops at 1,000 notes, so most long-time users land on Advanced at around $250 a year. If that's you, pricing it against a one-time UpNote license or a free Obsidian vault usually settles it.
Is there an Evernote alternative with a one-time purchase?
UpNote: $39.99 for a lifetime license. Obsidian, Joplin, Apple Notes and OneNote are free; only their optional sync or extra storage costs money.
Will I lose my tags when I leave Evernote?
You keep the tags, not their hierarchy: child tags arrive flat. Apple Notes imports them since macOS 13, and Obsidian does too. Screenshot your tag tree before exporting so you can rebuild it.
Can Notion import all my Evernote notes?
Up to about 5,000 notes, yes, straight from your account. Past that, the import can fail, so go notebook by notebook. Evernote Teams and Business accounts aren't supported, and some images and dates need fixing.
How long does it take to move off Evernote?
A few hours for most accounts: one developer who moved to Joplin says it took him less than a couple of hours. The slow part is tidying up afterward: parent tags, stacks and attachments to check.
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