Alternatives
Best Free Alternatives to Evernote
Evernote's free plan has become much more limited over the years. If you want somewhere to capture notes, clippings and ideas without paying, these alternatives are free or have generous free plans.
Short answer
The best free alternatives to Evernote are Obsidian, Joplin and Notion. Of the 12 alternatives here, 5 are completely free and 7 have a free plan.
Updated
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12 free Evernote alternatives
Every pick is free or has a usable free plan. Pricing and features change, so check each tool's own site before you switch.
- 1
Local-first markdown notes with a powerful link graph.
Why it stands out: Your notes stay yours as plain files
Compared with Evernote: Focus: markdown, local-first and zettelkasten. Also in Note-Taking and Knowledge Management, like Evernote. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds Linux. Rated 4.8 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Writers, Students, Developers · Desktop App
- 2
Free, open-source notes and to-dos with end-to-end encrypted sync and Evernote import.
Why it stands out: Free and open source (AGPL-3.0)
Compared with Evernote: Focus: markdown, open source and encryption. Shares notes with Evernote. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Evernote: Freemium). Adds Linux. Rated 4.5 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Personal Use, Students, Developers · Desktop App
- 3
One workspace for notes, docs, projects and wikis.
Why it stands out: Extremely flexible
Compared with Evernote: Focus: second brain, wiki and docs. Also in Note-Taking and Knowledge Management, like Evernote. Rated 4.7 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Students, Creators, Teams · Web App
- 4
Private, end-to-end encrypted, open-source notes with a free plan.
Why it stands out: End-to-end encrypted by default, even on the free plan
Compared with Evernote: Focus: encryption, privacy and open source. Shares notes with Evernote. Adds Linux. Rated 4.4 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Personal Use, Professionals, Students · Web App
- 5
A privacy-first, open-source knowledge base that works on local files.
Why it stands out: Excellent for building a personal knowledge graph with bidirectional links
Compared with Evernote: Focus: Open Source, PKM and Note-Taking. Also in Note-Taking and Knowledge Management, like Evernote. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Evernote: Freemium). Adds Linux. Rated 4.6 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Students · Desktop App
- 6
The local-first, privacy-focused alternative to Notion.
Why it stands out: Truly local-first approach ensures data ownership and privacy
Compared with Evernote: Focus: privacy, local-first and tasks. Shares notes with Evernote. A desktop app, not a web app. Free (Evernote: Freemium). Adds Linux. Rated 4.4 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Developers, Professionals, Personal Use · Desktop App
- 7
Completely free, fast notes that sync everywhere, from the makers of WordPress.com.
Why it stands out: Everything is free, including sync and backups
Compared with Evernote: Focus: markdown, sync and minimal. Shares notes with Evernote. Free (Evernote: Freemium). Adds Linux. Rated 4.4 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Personal Use, Writers, Students · Web App
- 8
The open-source alternative to Notion, with docs, databases and AI you control.
Why it stands out: Open source (AGPLv3) with a self-hosting option
Compared with Evernote: Focus: notion alternative, open source and self-hosted. Also in Note-Taking and Knowledge Management, like Evernote. A desktop app, not a web app. Adds Linux. Rated 4.4 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Personal Use, Teams, Developers · Desktop App
- 9
Fast, elegant markdown notes for Apple devices.
Why it stands out: Beautiful and fast
Compared with Evernote: Focus: markdown, apple and tags. Also in Note-Taking and Organization, like Evernote. An iOS app, not a web app. Rated 4.6 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Writers, Students, Personal Use · iOS App
- 10
A new tool for your thoughts and creative work.
Why it stands out: Unique object-based approach makes organizing diverse information intuitive and powerful
Compared with Evernote: Focus: PKM, objects and linking. Shares notes with Evernote. Rated 4.2 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Creators, Writers, Students · Web App
- 11
A bookmark manager that finally makes saved links useful.
Why it stands out: Genuinely fast search
Compared with Evernote: Focus: bookmarks, read later and collections. Shares search with Evernote. Adds Firefox and Safari. Rated 4.6 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Students, Writers, Creators · Web App
- 12
Highlight the web and keep everything you learned.
Why it stands out: Free and quick to start
Compared with Evernote: Focus: highlights, annotations and read later. Also in Research and Knowledge Management, like Evernote. A browser extension, not a web app. Free (Evernote: Freemium). Adds Safari. Rated 4.4 (Evernote: 4.0).
Best for Students, Writers, Creators · Browser Extension
Frequently asked questions
- Is Evernote free?
- Evernote has a free plan, with paid plans that unlock more features or usage.
- What is the best free alternative to Evernote?
- Obsidian is our first pick. Local-first markdown notes with a powerful link graph. Obsidian has a free plan, with paid plans that unlock more features or usage.
- Which Evernote alternatives are completely free?
- Joplin, Logseq, Anytype, Simplenote and Glasp are completely free. The rest have a free plan with paid upgrades.
- Which alternatives work on the same platforms as Evernote?
- Evernote lists Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome and Cross-Platform. Obsidian, Joplin, Notion, Notesnook and Logseq and 7 others share at least one of those platforms.
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