For me as a business owner, documenting my plans & actions & brainstorming in a detailed, flexible, and organized fashion is critical to my business's succes. For a first-time user, I would suggest going with Notion as its approach is modern and note styling looks better than Evernote. While for those thinking to switch from Evernote, I would advise to. Google Keep is much simpler on the surface than Evernote. It has a much simpler user interface than Evernote, which can sometimes appear cluttered. It has a simple grid view that lets you keep track of your tasks. Like Evernote, Google Keep lets you store voice notes as well as pictures. Microsoft OneNote is a note-taking and personal information management application that makes collecting, organizing and sharing digital information easier and faster. It’s a perfect Evernote alternative as it lets you store text notes, photos, audio, and video snippets in an organized manner.
Note-taking is one of the most important skills that the managers or any other working professional should have. It helps you to note down all of the different tasks and activities that you have to do in your work and personal life.
As with project management, software plays a major role in the note-taking world as well. While we talk about nTask as the best project management application in the market, in this article, we will talk about the two big software in the note-taking world. Evernote and OneNote.
The comparison is named Evernote vs OneNote but when we talk about note-taking apps, nTask has a dominant place in that genre as well.
Here is a side by side comparison of Evernote vs OneNote vs nTask, so that you can get an idea of what these apps have in common, and how they are unique to each other.
Evernote vs nTask vs OneNote
Systems
Evernote
nTask
OneNote
Pricing
Starting at $3.99
Starting at $2.99
Free with an Office 365 subscription
Integrations
Gmail
Outlook Mail
Salesforce
Google Drive
Slack
Microsoft Teams
Slack
Asana
Jira
Google calendar
Dropbox
Harvest
Brother Web Connection
CloudHQ
Doxie
EPSON
Chegg
CloudMagic
EDUonGO
Available Devices
Windows
Android
iPhone/iPad
Mac
Windows
Android
iPhone/iPad
Mac
Web-Based
Windows
Android
iPhone/iPad
Mac
Web-Based
Windows Mobile
Company Sizes
Small Businesses
Large Businesses
Medium Businesses
Freelancers
Small Businesses
Large Businesses
Medium Businesses
Freelancers
Small Businesses
Large Businesses
Medium Businesses
Freelancers
Available Support
Email
Live Support
Training
Email
Live Support
Training
Email
Let’s take a look at Evernote and OneNote in detail.
Evernote – An Amazing Web-clipping Tool
One of the best note-taking applications in the market right now, Evernote is an incredible software that lets you note down all of your different thoughts and processes in its incredible database.
But the amazing thing about this software is that it doesn’t feel like it was designed as a note-editor to create notes from scratch.
It looks like it was designed to clip different types of content from the web.
This feature really sets apart the software from OneNote, as all of the other major functionalities between the two software are the same.
Key Features
Web clipping support
Mobile and Web interface
Store notes, web clips, files, and images
Web clipper browser extensions
Share notes and collaborate on files
Store all itineraries, confirmations, travel documents
Other products include Skitch and Penultimate
Annotation and markup
Give feedback and share ideas
Edit rich text and sketches
Geolocation
Content available on any device
Save online resources in one place
Snap photos, record audio, save documents
Save favorite webpages
Evernote Food for collecting food moments
Evernote Clearly for clearing web content
Shapes, arrows, and quick sketches
Pricing
The basic version of the application is free to use
The premium version of the application starts for $7.99/month
The business version of the application starts for $14.99/month
Pros
Offline access
Syncing across multiple platforms and devices
Quick to capture notes and thoughts
Sharing capabilities
Syncing to multiple devices
Easy to use layout
Cons
When the user is using images, most of the times it is extremely hard to input text from the bottom panel
Sometimes the clipper feature of the application inputs the notes into random places
Cannot turn notes into notebooks after published
Looking for apps like Evernote? Check this out:
OneNote – An Amazing Organizational Tool
Microsoft OneNote is an amazing organizational tool that enables you to create different types of notes from scratch, different browsable notebooks, organize all of the different notes into a searchable format, and can sync all of that data among a large variety of platforms.
One of the features in which Evernote excels and OneNote falls short of is Web clipping.
The software has a web-clipper extension for different browsers like Chrome, Edge IE, and Firefox, but that extension still lacks many capabilities of Evernote’s web-clipping.
Key Features
Page Templates
Custom Tags
Internal Links
Version History
Integration with Outlook
Integration with Other Apps
Quick Notes
Quick Access Toolbar
Docked Note Taking
Real-time Collaboration
Audio/Video Recording
Pricing
The application is Free with the Office 365 subscription that you purchase.
Pros
Cloud syncing to save all of the information that you input into the application
Outlook Integration to hook up your email with your note-taking application
Flexibility to use the software however it suits you
You can use the cloud-based version and link it to things like MS Teams and SharePoint
Cons
The iPhone app doesn’t allow drawing
No Task Management
robust tools available in the desktop version as the cloud version
Issues-Wise Comparison
Anything Better Than Evernote
Before we head off to the conclusion, it’s best that we highlight some of the issues.
If tags are one of your key takeaway features in any note management software, then OneNote will do you solid. The program facilitates users with the ability to apply tags to a range of organizational elements.
Meanwhile, Evernote seems to struggle a bit in the tags department. With OneNote, tags can not only be applied to the conventional Notebooks, Sections, and Pages elements, but they can also be applied to multiple elements of the same page.
Moving on, Evernote tends to be a bit sluggish when a certain number of notes is reached. You cannot organize quick notes. They can become messy after a while and keeping track of all those quick notes is another story to share.
Better Than Evernote
Evernote’s storage capacity is fair. Seriously, you could create thousands of notes. However, when you compare it with OneNote, the former app sets limits at 60MB upload capacity. This is… a bit… tedious at best.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Can I use OneNote without a Microsoft account?
No, you cannot use OneNote if you don’t have a Microsoft Office 365 subscription. Chatzilla app.
2. What is the cost of Evernote?
Here are the pricing plans for Evernote:
The basic version of the application is free to use
The premium version of the application starts for $7.99/month
The business version of the application starts at $14.99/month
3. What’s the difference between OneNote and OneDrive?
Both of these applications are from Microsoft. The difference between the applications is that OneNote is a powerful note-taking application that enables you to store all of your different thoughts and ideas into a digital database, and OneDrive is that cloud storage where that data is stored.
4. Is OneNote in the cloud?
OneNote is an incredible cloud-based note-taking application. So yes, it is connected to the cloud.
5. How do I make Evernote more secure?
Here are some of the steps that you can follow to make your Evernote application more secure.
The first step is to purchase the paid subscription to unlock the security features
Keep your devices up to date and synchronized
Manage the access to your Evernote account
Encrypt text in a note
Add two-step verification
Store your data locally
Log in with your email address and a unique password
Create a local notebook
6. Which software is better for long term users?
Well, if you are thinking about long term usage, we’d advise OneNote. It’s comparatively better than Evernote. Especially, if you are looking to expand your business without paying for new software tool licenses in near future, you should invest in OneNote.
That being said, Evernote has its advantages over OneNote, but the latter seems to be a much better option for thriving businesses at the verge of expansion.
7. Which version of Evernote/ OneNote is recommended to cross-platform users?
It depends on the version of the program that you are currently using.
Top it off with a need for cross-platform compatibility, we’d recommend OneNote once again. It takes multi-client compatibility to the next level. Of course, OneNote is Windows-centric, so you cannot switch from Windows to Linux or Mac.
But, if you are running a business with a sizeable employee count, OneNote will do the job. Don’t forget to use the Desktop version of both applications because you cannot manage everything on a smartphone.
Conclusion
So there you have it. This was our Evernote vs OneNote comparison. There isn’t much of a difference between the two applications apart from some features and pricing plans.
Both of these tools are champs when it comes to note-taking. But then again, it depends on your personal preference and requirements. To that end, if you have a favorite application other than the two, we talked about, feel free to holler in the comments section below.
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Notion and Evernote are two very different tools with very similar goals.
The biggest difference between the two products is that, as an all-in-one workspace tool, Notion helps users keep all their work in one place. As an organizational note-taking tool, Evernote helps users keep their files in one place.
Of the two tools, Evernote is the older product. Evernote has enjoyed its status as one of the most popular note-taking apps for a decade. But after faltering in recent years, Evernote’s dominance has waned, leaving it vulnerable to competition.
Notion is the relative newcomer. Notion 1.0 first launched in 2016. But the product has undergone a significant overhaul since its initial release. Unlike Evernote, Notion aims to be more than just a simple note-taking app. It’s an all-in-one workspace that happens to do a lot of the same things as Evernote.
But which tool is better? Should you pay for Evernote or Notion?
That all depends on how you work.
Below, we’ve examined both tools to see how they compare. We’ve broken our analysis down into several subsections before making our recommendation at the end.
Let’s see how Notion and Evernote stack up.
Notion vs. Evernote: Generalization vs. Specialization
Before deciding whether to purchase a subscription to either Notion or Evernote, you have to ask yourself whether you need a generalized tool that can do lots of different things or a specialized tool with fewer features but greater depth.
Most of us rely on multiple tools and software programs to get our work done. Document tools, email clients, instant messaging platforms, spreadsheets and databases, code repositories, cloud-based storage services – the list goes on. Notion aims to solve the problem of using dozens of tools to get work done by consolidating the most common features of these tools into a single, minimal workspace. Notion doesn’t replace every tool of course, but it can replace lots of them. And many of the tools we rely upon every day can be integrated with Notion to minimize disruption.
Similarly, just as most of us rely on several tools to get stuff done, many of us rely on almost as many ways to help us remember things. Calendar events for invitations and meetings; contact information of important people; hand-written notes for random thoughts; bookmarks for webpages – that’s a lot of stuff to remember. The more tools you use to keep track of your life, the more likely things are to slip through the cracks. Evernote lets you save and organize all your stuff into digital notebooks that can be synched across all your devices.
Although there are a few factors to consider, the choice between Notion and Evernote ultimately boils down to generalization versus specialization. Notion’s note-taking tools are fine, but they can’t hope to compete with those of Evernote because that’s Evernote’s entire value proposition. Likewise, Evernote can’t possibly go up against Notion as a workspace tool because that’s not what Evernote is.
The question of Notion versus Evernote is really a question of breadth versus depth.
Of course, there’s a little more to it than that. First, let’s see how Notion and Evernote stack up in terms of price.
Pricing: Winner = Notion
When it comes to price, Notion beats Evernote hands-down.
Notion’s free plan is a little restrictive, but it’s designed to introduce new users to Notion in a no-risk way. Notion’s Personal plan is ideal for newcomers to Notion. At just $4 per month, it’s also very inexpensive. Even Notion’s Team and Enterprise tiers are reasonably priced.
Evernote’s pricing is a sore spot for many users. Until a few years ago, Evernote had a very generous freemium version. That changed in 2016 when Evernote shook up its executive team and restructured its pricing. Many long-time Evernote users were understandably upset.
Like Notion, Evernote also has a free plan. Like Notion’s free plan, Evernote Basic has a pretty restrictive upload limit. But it gives users a taste of what to expect from its other plans.
Evernote’s biggest weakness when it comes to pricing is the lack of a truly mid-range plan. Sure, $7.99 per month might not seem like a lot of money. But when you consider that Notion does virtually everything Evernote can do at almost half the price, it’s a little more difficult to justify. Similarly, Evernote’s Business plan is cheaper than Notion’s Enterprise plan, but its two-user minimum might feel a little deceptive to some users.
Overall User Satisfaction: Winner = Notion
In terms of overall user satisfaction, Notion and Evernote are pretty evenly matched.
Notion has an average user rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 at G2.com, a site dedicated to reviewing software products.
Evernote also has an average user rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 at G2.
It’s worth noting that Notion’s average score was calculated across 40 user reviews (at the time of this writing). Evernote’s score was calculated across 1,381 user reviews. This disparity can be explained in part by the fact that Evernote has been around for fifteen years, whereas Notion has only been around for four years. Despite its smaller sample size, Notion generally has a greater proportion of positive reviews than Evernote does.
Although Notion and Evernote score similarly in terms of average ratings, perceptions of the two products differ quite widely. Between 2011 and 2015, the Evernote brand took a serious hit after the company released a series of largely irrelevant products that strayed pretty far from Evernote’s core value proposition.
Evernote also has somewhat of a deserved reputation for being buggy and unstable. Both of these factors have harmed perceptions of Evernote as a product in recent years.
Notion, on the other hand, doesn’t have the same branding issues as Evernote. It does, however, have something of a reputation for doing lots of things quite well, but not specializing or excelling in any one area.
Apps Like Evernote
Overall, we have to name Notion as the winner in this round.
Note-Taking: Winner = Evernote
As a dedicated note-taking app that’s been around for fifteen years, it’s hardly surprising that Evernote is the clear winner when it comes to taking notes.
The main reason why Notion fails to beat Evernote as a note-taking app is that Notion’s note-taking feature can be pretty intimidating to use. With so many templates to choose from, making a simple note in Notion can feel like anything but. Notion can also feel pretty sluggish if you have lots of notes stored, particularly on mobile.
Evernote’s note-taking features are far from perfect, however. One of the most common complaints about Evernote’s notes is that it doesn’t categorize or label newly created notes by default. You have to manually rename and categorize each note yourself. If you don’t, it won’t take long before your sidebar is almost entirely populated with Untitled Notes with little to indicate their contents. This might not sound like a huge pain, but can quickly get out of hand if you’re in the habit of taking lots of quick notes on the fly.
Organization: Winner = Draw
Notion and Evernote both offer strong organizational options. Notion offers more flexibility when it comes to organization and lets you create custom workspaces using templates as a starting point.
Evernote’s organizational structure is a bit more defined but still offers users a good deal of freedom to customize how they keep their stuff organized.
Notion doesn’t really have a default organizational schema. How you choose to organize your stuff depends entirely on how you like things organized and the kinds of things you’ll be organizing.
For example, Notion allows you to combine multiple “Block” types – everything in Notion is a Block – on a single “page” or workspace. You could create daily, weekly, and monthly workspaces, each of which might contain different types of Blocks. You could add a personal to-do list to your Daily view, a Trello-style Kanban board to track your week’s work to your Weekly view, and Calendar events in your Monthly view. It’s totally up to you. This flexibility is what makes Notion so powerful.
Evernote’s organizational structure is a little more defined. Individual files, clippings, and other items are stored in Notes, which in turn are organized into Notebooks. Users can then combine multiple Notebooks into Notebook Stacks. It’s a familiar convention that doesn’t take a lot of getting used to.
One pretty big drawback of Evernote’s organizational tools is that newly created Notes aren’t categorized by default. So if you end up using Evernote to create a lot of quick notes, you will soon find your Evernote will be full of Untitled Notes.
Evernote Or Onenote
Notion’s flexibility is a major asset when it comes to organization. Notion was built with teams in mind. As such, managing and organizing shared assets and collaborative projects is much easier and more intuitive in Notion than Evernote. If you need to keep your team’s assets and projects organized, Notion is the clear choice. If you’re more interested in getting your personal digital life in order, Evernote has a lot to offer.
Overall, both tools offer strong organizational features. It all comes down to which system works best for you and how you prefer to keep your stuff organized.
Search: Winner = Evernote
Both Notion and Evernote rely on the premise of being able to find any saved item quickly. Neither Notion’s workspaces or Evernote’s Notebooks would be much use if you couldn’t find anything within them.
Notion and Evernote both offer strong search functionality. But Evernote just edges out in front of Notion. Evernote’s search functionality is deceptively powerful. You can use a range of advanced search modifiers and operands to create custom search parameters. If you’ve ever used Google’s advanced modifiers, Evernote’s search features will feel very familiar. Evernote’s optical character recognition technology also allows you to search handwritten notes digitally.
Notion’s search features are also powerful. But they’re not quite as intuitive as Evernote’s search operands. Notion favors a series of keyboard shortcuts that rely on Quick Find, Notion’s real-time indexing of users’ files. This feels similar to OS X’s Spotlight feature. In addition to results based on strings entered by the user, Notion’s search function also returns recently viewed items, which feels quick and responsive.
Apps Better Than Evernote
Evernote’s search isn’t perfect. It can be a little slow, especially if you have lots of Notebooks. That said, it’s the strongest search feature of the two tools, which makes it the winner in this round.
Our Recommendation for Notion vs. Evernote
Now that we’ve taken a look at how Notion and Evernote compare, it’s time to look at everything in context and make our recommendation.
Based on the above criteria, we have to recommend Notion over Evernote.
The fact that Notion can do virtually everything that Evernote can do at a significantly lower price makes Notion the clear choice for most users. It’s more flexible, appeals to a broader range of use cases, and offers users more integrations with the tools they’re already using.
Evernote certainly outperforms Notion in some areas such as note-taking. But generally, Notion offers virtually all the same functionality, plus a bit more besides.
As a relatively newer tool, Notion is far from perfect. But Notion’s developers are listening carefully to the product’s community. The same cannot be said for Evernote. Although both tools have their bugs, many of Evernote’s most persistent technical problems have been around for years.
The one exception to our general recommendation of Notion is if you’re looking primarily for a note-taking tool. If this is the case, Evernote will probably serve you much better than Notion will.