There’s nothing quite like Evernote, and they know it

It’s fair to say that the last 18 months or so for Evernote, have been turbulent. An acquisition, price hike, continued sync issues, and less than satisfied noise from users and fans alike. Me included.

As an 11-year veteran user of Evernote, it’s fair to say I’m familiar with the product, and its ingrained into my work flow. I use it for general meeting notes (personal and professional), goal planning, blog writing, and as an information repository, but despite being a heavy user, the price increase, which seems to have occurred to offset the capital leveraged to acquire the company, really pissed me off.

We weren’t talking an inflationary increase, or double inflation, but a 31% increase. In 2022 I paid £79 for an annual Evernote Professional subscription and it’s now £105 — that’s assuming I’m willing to pay it in one go, otherwise it goes up to £165, which would equate to a 202% increase on what I paid last year. For practically the same product

Outrageous!!

Yes there have been some tweaks including efficiency bumps and a half baked attempt at AI, but for all intents and purposes, its the same product.

What’s the alternative?

This is the problem. When you’re familiar with, and use the features of a product, it becomes challenging to replace it. That’s not to say there aren’t alternative products available, but there’s nothing quite like Evernote.

There are a plethora of notetaking apps — short form like Google Keep, and long form like OneNote. There are those that offer additional features, like Notion or Obsidian, but they’re so different, that they can’t simply be referred to as an alternative. They’re a completely different product, requiring a different workflow from the user.

I spent a fair bit of time looking at alternatives, and what I found is that there isn’t really anything compelling enough to deliver continuity without friction. I would happily accept a bit of friction, in the same way I did when moving from Apple to Android, but a move to a product like Notion would take a lot of time. Therefore the trade off is a lot of my time vs an extra c£50 a year. And that’s why I think the Evernote team were comfortable enough to press forward with their increase.

What makes Evernote unique?

There are some features of Evernote that can be found in other apps. Such as a full text editing suite. That might sound obvious but when you compare the limited editing options found in Apple Notes and Google Keep, it’s worthing noting that this is not a given.

Then there’s features such as Audio Recording, Tables, Sketching, File embedding (more details to follow), calendar links, and an excellent Home interface.

What I particularly like about the PDF embedding, is that Evernote allows the document to be previewed with a page navigation button included. So you don’t have to open the pdf if you want to view it.

Evernote Home is attractive and something I find very helpful. I have for example pinned my packing list for a trip to Bordeaux (I’m writing from row 2 on the outbound British Airways flight at 33,000ft). It’ll be there for my return as well. In essence it’s like a pinned note in Apple Notes or Google Keep, but this somehow feels more elegant. Like a dashboard rather than list.

The scratch pad is also really handy, enabling me to take text notes on the computer or handwritten notes from my S23 Ultra or iPad Pro.

Lastly, Evernote offers operating system agnostic collaboration. It doesn’t matter what hardware you use, collaborator(s) have access to the product, and not just in a Facetime-for-Android type execution. The product is available in apps as well as web and desktop versions, so it’s very portable.

There is also an element of customisation available with Evernote. Whether it’s customising the Home Screen or customising the layout of the text in notes. But it’s customisation at the touch of a button — there’s no need to get the hood up to make it personal.

Notion

Notion may well be one of the most popular and feature rich applications available. I’ve dabbled with it, but never really spent a huge amount of time. And there’s a reason for that. Because to get the most out of Notion, one needs to invest time to set it up how you want it to work. That needs foresight into what the finished article will look like.

For me, I like a basic folder structure, which means I can navigate my way around notes with ease, and with Evernote’s built in powerful search, I am doubly safe and doubly efficient.

Nothing quite like it

I like the product. I’m familiar with the product. I’m embedded with the product. And there isn’t anything else quite like it, or similar enough to tick the boxes of features and continuity.

Bending Spoons acquired a good product, with a devoted fan base. They knew the market place when executing their acquisition which would have given them a reasonable amount of certainty around customer retention.

So for me, while I was perturbed by the pricing increase, and was intent on moving, I’ve stayed put. I originally downgraded the product to personal, but the reality is, I like and use the extra features Professional brings. I elevated features, continuity, and familiarity over cost, recognising those three elements delivered value for me.

Perhaps its like an Apple user stuck in a walled ecosystem.

What did you guys decided to do?