For everyone who has ever used some sort of note-taking tool, you have undoubtedly heard of Evernote. It has become the staple of anyone who has a lot of tasks to take care of as a busy professional, or a myriad of assignments as a student.
Note taking can be very productive in our everyday life, especially for people who might forget things easily.
There are multiple good reasons why Evernote is the first thing that springs to mind for many, such as the simplicity of creating the notes and tasks to do, as well as the ability to synchronize with different devices, thus giving you your notes wherever you are. You can even add multimedia notes such as photos or online articles to your notes, which is great.
However, you will find that there are plenty of Evernote alternatives. It is certainly not the only tool you can use for this purpose, and some of the Evernote competitors offer more, some offer less, so you should do your research before committing to any one of them.
However, there are plenty of times where an Evernote replacement is necessary, such as:
- Your primary operating system being Linux – Evernote is still not available on Linux and this can be a major dealbreaker
- Evernote can be a pretty complex tool with a plethora of functions, but some people would rather opt for a simple solution that isn’t too complicated
- Many people would rather avoid large setup files – Evernote comes with one and this is a good reason to look for an Evernote replacement
- You might find that Evernote isn’t exactly what you’re looking for, or it maybe has multiple things that bother you
Dropbox Paper
This is another option that you can use both as a team notes taking app, or as a personal tool to boost your productivity. It is a collaboration app that rose from the ashes of Hackpad, a tool that Dropbox bought. It uses the shared space of Dropbox to keep everything together, from documents to ideas.
The entire app looks like a minimalist, stylized version of Google’s Docs, and a great tool for teams to share ideas using comments or stickers. It’s excellent as a collaboration tool, since you can create task lists, where the tasks you put are assigned to either yourself, or other team members.
It has a distraction-free user interface, which gives it a very simple look. You will find that the formatting toolbar is out of the way for an even simpler interface.
Don’t let that confuse you, though, it is extremely useful and powerful once you get the hang of it. This is reinforced by the fact that you can add Google, YouTube, Dropbox and SoundCloud content to it – which is excellent support for multimedia content.
There is revision control, for those times you need to take a look at your past edits, or the edits of someone else, which is excellent for a collaboration software.
You can organize everything into folders which are either available to you only, or the people you’d invite for collaboration as well. You can also export any documents you or your team create in multiple formats.
Microsoft OneNote
There are multiple reasons why you’d take OneNote as your Evernote alternative, but the main one is regarding how you use Evernote. If your main purpose is organizing your projects or using it as a multimedia pinboard, you will find that OneNote can be a very suitable replacement.
It also comes bundled with Windows 10, as a part of Office, and you can download it for older editions if Windows 10 isn’t your cup of tea. You will also find mobile apps for iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone, which is a rarity these days, as well as a web app.
The way OneNote works is by using your Microsoft account to sync your devices, and everything you save is stored on OneDrive. However, ever since Microsoft capped the standard OneDrive limit to 5 gigabytes, down from 15, this is something you should be careful about if you have plenty of multimedia files on your notes.
OneNote can give you everything that any decent Evernote alternative should provide – notebooks to organize everything such as text, images, links etc., but it also has a few things that, for some, might make it better than Evernote.
There’s the ability to record audio, import data from other apps within the Microsoft Office suite, and even e-mail content to a notebook, which is very useful if you’re working on a small smartphone screen.
You could install extensions such as Office Lens, which is a mobile app that lets you capture documents or whiteboards and turn it into a very clear, visible image of whatever you captured, or even an editable document, and save them in a notebook of your choosing.
There’s also OneNote Web Clipper, which lets you capture and save parts of web pages you visit, and it’s available as an extension.
Simplenote
This is another one in the list of apps like Evernote, and it prides on having a user interface that everyone can get used to in a matter of seconds. However, one major downside is that it only supports text-based notes, and no multimedia attachments.
You can, however, share notes, synchronize them with devices on a variety of platforms (albeit only through third-party software), back up your notes etc. It is also worth noting that the app that makes Simplenote is Automattic, which might sound familiar to some – it is the company that made WordPress.
The main reason why this is a viable alternative to Evernote is the fact that this is a very simple app, and, honestly, not everyone needs something as big and complex as Evernote.
Google Keep
Google Keep is Google’s in-house way of note taking, and it keeps the minimalism as its theme throughout the entire app. It comes with a grid-based arrangement you can get used to in a matter of seconds, and it has a lot of useful features.
Some of them include color-coding your notes, adding reminders within notes that can be read by Google Now, transcribed voice notes, list-based notes, OCR for images, and integration with Android Wear.
You will find plenty of reasons to choose Google Keep instead of Evernote, but the main ones are usually the sheer simplicity of using the app and the ability to integrate with other services from Google’s ecosystem, which makes sense, especially for those who are invested in this ecosystem.
LeaNote
This is a lightweight app that you can either get as free code on GitHub, or pay and get as an app from their website. It offers a lot of services and tools for note taking and blogging, and the concept is very simple.
Whatever you need, you use note to save it as a personal thing, and if you want to share it, simply publish it to the blog.
DEVONthink
This is another one in the long list of alternatives to Evernote, but it is more of a personal assistant than a simple note-taking tool.
It takes care of your bookmarks, notes, documents and other things, and it comes with different plans to suit your needs, such as DEVONthink To Go, or DEVONthink Pro Office etc.
There are some excellent features such as AI-based processes and advanced search, as well as synchronization abilities that let you get all notes and documents on all your Macs, either via a local network or the internet, it is your choice.
The key reason to opt for DEVONthink over Evernote is the amount of professional features that make it a better option for hardcore users. However, it is very limited with the fact that it doesn’t support many platforms.
Together
Another minimal tool in the list, Together is a note-taking app for Mac devices. “A place to store your documents, sounds, web pages, images and bookmarks and be able to access them in a convenient way” is the description you will find for Together, and it uses iCloud to sync everything to your other devices.
No matter what kind of content you need to save, you simply use drag and drop to place it in the window and you’re done. It has an incredible user interface and advanced features that make it a good alternative over Evernote, and even though it’s a paid solution, it is excellent if you’ve invested yourself in the Apple ecosystem.
Cintanotes
This one is for Windows only – sorry Mac users. It comes as a portable app, meaning you don’t have to install it, but there is no online version, which is a major downside.
A positive fact that is supposed to make up for this is the fact that you aren’t limited with the number of devices, just as long as you’re invested in the Microsoft ecosystem. You get three options, free, Pro and Lifetime Pro, which should cover the needs of users of various levels.
The free version should be enough for anyone that’s only looking for a way to boost their productivity, as it comes with a straightforward way of clipping text, backing up notes, a search function, hotkeys you can customize, as well as three sections you can use to store your notes.
The design is simple and well-made, which makes it feel like it was built into Windows, and not an app you need to install additionally.
The notes you create are actually being synchronized via Simplenote, which is mentioned above, so you might want to take a look at both and see which one suits your needs and requirements best.
Box Notes
This is an option that is often ignored, but it is taking away big chunks of the market from its competitors. It gives you more storage than Dropbox, offering 10GB for free, it adds document collaboration in real time, and it comes with a minimal text editor with options for formatting.
You can share notes with full editing privileges, or read-only access, and you can add comments and annotations. There’s also the real-time changes option, where multiple people work on Box Notes at the same time.
You will find support for revision control, as well as a number of tables and file types being supported by the app.
Yojimbo
Yojimbo is another one in the list of Macintosh alternatives for Evernote. It accepts all types of input, such as text, PDF files, web clippings, multimedia files such as images etc., and it keeps all your data in one centralized place.
What sets it apart from the others is the tab-based structure, which lets you select categories when you input your data, and the fact that you’re able to sync your Macs, as well as other iOS devices, via Wi-Fi.
When closely compared to Evernote, Yojimbo is obviously lacking in features, but the ones that it has are focused on the professional market, and it gives a simple user interface that you can easily get used to.
Google Docs
While Google Keep is simple and best used for note taking, Google Docs has a much wider use purpose. It is a general place where you can both create notes, and create advanced items such as presentations and spreadsheets, which you can later access from anywhere.
It is available on Windows, macOS, Android, iOS as an app, and you can also access it as a web application. It offers collaboration features, which is great if you’re working with a team, and it comes from Google, which guarantees reliability. All in all, it is a perfectly viable Evernote alternative.
Notezilla
Notezilla is a pretty feature-rich option, and it lets you take quick notes, similar to Sticky Notes, and then organize them in folders to avoid clutter. You can even stick the notes to documents, folders and website, and set reminders to each one.
The Notezilla.Net cloud service is used to sync everything with other devices, and you can choose from a plethora of platforms, such as iOS, Android, and even Windows Phone and Blackberry.
You will also find advanced features such as encryption, spell-check, linking folders and files, locking notes, etc., which are all things that might come in handy.
Nimbus Note
This tool is great for having your most valuable information wherever you are – it lets you create notes, save screenshots and web pages, and a plethora of other things, and share everything with people of your choosing. It makes sure you never lose or forget anything valuable again.
Memit
Memit is a one-click application that works as a social network, and its main purpose is to make people smarter. It uses the content they collect and publish to achieve this, and it’s a very easy way to collect and share things for yourself personally, or your team and/or business.
Conclusion
Even though there are plenty of options, you will find that the software or hardware is only a part of the equation – there’s a lot within the habits as well. This is why there are a lot of options, an all can accommodate different needs and different requirements.
Therefore, you will be hard-pressed to find one single app that is better than all others, since someone might not like it that much. And, you can always choose more than one tool for your different needs, why not?
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