11 Evernote Alternatives For Note-Taking

No product remains the gold standard forever. Once upon a time, Evernote was the preferred note-taking app. It could efficiently take notes and sync them across dozens of platforms, while offering robust search results and plenty of customization. It can still do all of those things, but Evernote’s ever-increasing price point, combined with a plethora of available note-taking apps, have many notetakers searching for an Evernote alternative.

Any list of the best note-taking apps will include a few great Evernote alternatives, but the list you’re about to read offers the best one-to-one Evernote substitute for most situations. Whether you’re looking for the most accurate voice-to-text or simply need a free note-taking app, you’ll likely find the best Evernote alternative for you.

1. VoiceHub

If voice-to-text is your preferred method of taking notes, Rev VoiceHub is the Evernote alternative for you. Rev’s industry-leading ASR accuracy has been detailed in the 2024 State of ASR Benchmark Report, which proved that Rev could take more accurate voice notes than competitors like Google, Otter, and Amazon, even in noisy settings or with multiple speakers.

Whereas most mobile apps on this list are great for helping you take notes, VoiceHub stands apart because it takes notes for you. VoiceHub’s built-in AI assistant will not only take accurate notes; it can sync with your calendar and attend meetings in your place. 

VoiceHub will capture every detail of your meeting or conversation, provide a comprehensive transcript, summarize the conversation, and even offer highlights and insights. It’s a perfect app for boosting your productivity in addition to being a great notetaker. 

Cost: Paid plans start at $9.99/month
‍How It Beats Evernote: Records voice notes with 99% accuracy
‍Potential Drawbacks: You can only get 45 minutes of AI transcription per month on the free plan

2. Obsidian

Obsidian is an Evernote free alternative that tries to mimic the way your mind works with seemingly unlimited flexibility. With more than 700 plug-ins, you can shape Obsidian to meet your specific note-taking needs, whether that means adding calendar functionality or the ability to embed YouTube videos into your notes.

Molding this note-taker app to meet your needs takes some time, but if you have the patience for some trial and error, the payoff is more than worth it. Another great reason to try Obsidian is its offline capabilities. All notes are saved directly to your device as plain text documents, meaning that they’ll always be available as well as readable by most other platforms.

‍Cost: Free for personal use, but pro plans start at $4/month
‍How It Beats Evernote: Offers more flexibility  than Evernote
‍Potential Drawbacks: There’s a steep learning curve

3. Microsoft OneNote

If you’ve ever used Microsoft Office products, Microsoft OneNote might be a no-brainer when choosing from all of the note-taking tools. That said, knowledge of Microsoft isn’t a prerequisite. In fact, OneNote’s free version rivals nearly everything on this list for flexibility, whether you’re a Windows diehard or a hardcore iOS fan.

OneNote offers everything you need, including voice-to-text, optical character recognition, and plenty of organization options. OneNote’s coolest option, however, is its integrated drawing feature, which lets you draw directly on your notes and even edit and write notes with your finger or stylus. It also turns your handwriting into text.

One place where OneNote falls down, however, is its lack of geotagging. Most of the apps on this list automatically record the time and place a note was taken, which is extremely handy when trying to conduct legal research or keep track of verbal agreements. We’re kind of surprised OneNote hasn’t added it yet.

‍Cost: Free
‍How It Beats Evernote: Live-editing with your finger or stylus
‍Potential Drawbacks: You’ll need a Microsoft account

‍4. Joplin

If you want an app strictly for jotting down notes, Joplin’s simplicity is refreshing and user-friendly. This free, open-source app lets you take and organize your notes without all the bells and whistles that can complicate the learning curve in other note-taking apps. You don’t even need to open an account to start using Joplin; just install and go!

Of course, that simplicity can feel limited if you’re looking for more functionality from your notes app. For instance, Joplin offers no handwriting recognition and can’t recognize text from a PDF or photo. And if you need cloud storage, you’re on your own unless you purchase space from Joplin. 

‍Cost: Free
‍How It Beats Evernote: Simplicity
‍Potential Drawbacks: The same simplicity that makes it great also limits what you can do

5. SimpleNote

SimpleNote is another free app for jotting down notes that thrives on being simple and straightforward. Whereas Joplin doesn’t offer free storage, SimpleNote offers unlimited storage for your notes. However, you won’t need to use much storage space because SimpleNote doesn’t allow you to attach files like photos or PDFs.

SimpleNote’s name says it all: Simple. Take text notes. Sync text notes across all of your devices. That’s all it does, but if that’s all you need, SimpleNote is simply perfect.

‍Cost: Free
‍How It Beats Evernote: Unlimited storage
‍Potential Drawbacks: No features whatsoever

6. Google Keep

If you have a Google account, you’re ready to start using Google Keep. The web-based notes app is perfect for those who want to take notes now. Just open the URL and take your notes; no fuss, no muss.

Google Keep is built more for quick-hit notes and reminders. Because of this, there aren’t many great editing features built into the app, which treats your thoughts more like sticky notes than long-form documents. However, its simple integration with GoogleDocs quickly adds all the functionality we’ve come to know and love from everyone’s favorite cloud-based writing and editing platform. 

‍Cost: Free
‍How It Beats Evernote: Easily integrates with Google apps
‍Potential Drawbacks: Extremely limited editing features

7. Dropbox Paper

For real-time collaboration in a note-taking app, Dropbox Paper is hard to beat. Multiple people can take notes simultaneously in Dropbox Paper, editing and formatting as they go. The simple, clean interface takes almost no time to learn, so you can take notes, organize them, and find what you need in an instant.

While the default note format in Dropbox Paper is a blank page, the app offers a variety of note templates that your team can work in; which is handy for sharing specific types of information. You can also create your own templates or use templates others have made. It’s great for keeping your team (literally) on the same page. 

Compared to more robust apps like Evernote or Obsidian, Dropbox Paper lacks features. But if you need to make sure everyone on your team can quickly jump in, it’s worth a look.

‍Cost: Free, but you need a DropBox account
‍How It Beats Evernote: Easy to collaborate
‍Potential Drawbacks: Lack of features like image scanning

8. Fireflies.AI

Fireflies.ai is an AI voice assistant that can take notes, transcribe meetings, and summarize everything it records. Like VoiceHub and Otter.ai, its closest competitors, Fireflies takes notes for you, freeing you up to be more attentive and productive.

Some users have noted that Fireflies.ai’s accuracy leaves something to be desired. Its ASR is up to 90% accurate according to Fireflies, so if you need your notes to be recorded perfectly, you might want to go with VoiceHub. But if you just need an AI assistant to automate the note-taking process, Fireflies could work.

‍Cost: Paid plans start at $10/month, with a limited free plan available
‍How It Beats Evernote: AI assistant takes notes for you
‍Potential Drawbacks: ASR accuracy isn’t great

9. Otter.ai

Similar to Fireflies.ai, Otter.ai is an AI assistant that’s geared for meeting productivity. It’ll attend meetings in your place, take notes, record, and transcribe everything. And like VoiceHub and Fireflies, Otter will provide summaries and highlights, which can make your note-taking experience incredibly productive.

Where Otter.AI falls down is in the accuracy of its ASR, which can be less than 90% unless the recording environment is perfect. There’s no doubt that having an AI assistant is a step up from a simple note-taking app, but if you don’t want to spend time editing notes and transcripts for accuracy, you might consider VoiceHub as an Otter.ai alternative.

‍Cost: Paid plans start at $16.99/month, with a limited free plan available
‍How It Beats Evernote: An AI assistant streamlines your work more than manual notes
‍Potential Drawbacks: AI accuracy is less than reliable, and there’s no human transcription option

10. Bear

With all the cross-platforming of note-taking apps today, finding exclusively Apple note apps can be, well, a bear. But if you’re Mac and iOS-only, Bear is the beast you’re looking for. 

While it doesn’t offer a robust slate of features, Bear does offer Apple note-takers more than the bare necessities. The first thing we’ll note, because it’s certainly an outlier among note-taking apps, is how nice Bear is to look at. Its pleasant interface just feels nice to use, which is in stark contrast to the text-only looks of many similar note-takers. 

But don’t let the pleasing visuals distract you from the fact that Bear offers optical character recognition that works just as well as your more comprehensive apps, and plenty of import and export features for your notes.

‍Cost: Paid plans start at $2.99/month
‍How It Beats Evernote: Pleasant to look at
‍Potential Drawbacks: Only available on Apple products

11. UpNote

UpNote is the most affordable of the paid Evernote alternatives. If you find yourself never using most of the features in Evernote, UpNote is more than worth a try. 

Like Bear, UpNote has a nice-looking interface and falls somewhere between simple and advanced when it comes to features. For instance, UpNote offers rich text formatting and plenty of visual organization options, as well as the ability to embed files, but can’t use OCR to scan images. There’s no option for team collaboration, either. 

But if you want a lovely, streamlined, interface with which to take and edit notes, UpNote is a low-cost alternative to the rest.

‍Cost: Paid plans start at $0.99/month, with a limited free plan available
‍How It Beats Evernote: Very low cost
‍Potential Drawbacks: No web application

Is There a Better Program Than Evernote?

Yes, VoiceHub is a better program than Evernote when it comes to taking accurate, useful notes that enhance productivity. VoiceHub’s AI assistant streamlines your entire job, as opposed to Evernote’s focus on just notes. 

Where most note-taking apps exist for manual note-taking, VoiceHub can take accurate notes for you, eliminating the entire task of note-taking. That way, you can stay attentive and engaged in the conversation.

What To Look For in Your Note-Taking Tech

Everyone’s note-taking needs are different; an app that’s perfect for your job might not even be considered for someone else. So when you’re looking for a new note-taking app, first consider your individual or business needs. You can narrow your search quite a bit by knowing what you need out of your app. 

Ask yourself  these questions to start:

• Do you need collaboration?
• Do you prize accuracy?
• Do you have time to spend learning a complex app?
• Are you looking for an overall productivity increase?
• Do you have a large or small budget?
• Will you need to attach many files?
• Is cloud storage a concern?
• Do you want real-time editing features?

After answering these questions about finding the best Evernote alternative for you or your team, the next step is to try one. Most of the apps listed here have a free trial, if they’re not completely free.

VoiceHub Makes Notetaking Productive

The best AI notetakers go above and beyond the simple task of taking notes; they enhance your overall productivity. VoiceHub’s AI notetaker is a full AI assistant that can streamline your day-to-day tasks and help you get the most out of meetings and meeting notes. If you’re ready to go beyond notetaking, VoiceHub is the Evernote alternative for you.

GET VOICEHUB FOR PRODUCTIVE NOTES