Evernote
Evernote is a versatile note-taking and task management software that helps you capture ideas, organize your daily life, and sync information across all your devices for easy access.
Obsidian
Obsidian is a powerful private knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files to help you build a personal digital garden.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Evernote | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Website | evernote.com | obsidian.md |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| FREE Trial | ✓ 14 days free trial | ✓ 14 days free trial |
| Free Plan | ✓ Has free plan | ✓ Has free plan |
| Product Demo | ✘ No product demo | ✘ No product demo |
| Deployment | ||
| Integrations | ||
| Target Users | ||
| Target Industries | ||
| Customer Count | 0 | 0 |
| Founded Year | 2008 | 2020 |
| Headquarters | Milan, Italy | Toronto, Canada |
Overview
Evernote
Evernote helps you capture and prioritize ideas, projects, and to-do lists so nothing falls through the cracks. You can create notes in various formats including text, sketches, photos, audio, and web clippings. The platform acts as a digital filing cabinet where you can organize your professional and personal life in one searchable place.
You can manage your schedule by connecting your Google Calendar and creating tasks directly within your notes. Whether you are a student tracking lecture notes or a professional managing complex projects, the software keeps your information synced across your phone, tablet, and computer. It simplifies your workflow by allowing you to search for text inside images and handwritten documents, ensuring you find what you need instantly.
Obsidian
Obsidian is a flexible note-taking and knowledge management application that lives on your local device rather than in the cloud. You can create a complex web of interconnected ideas using plain text Markdown files, ensuring your data remains portable and future-proof. Because it stores everything locally, you maintain full ownership of your information and can access your notes even without an internet connection.
You can transform your notes into a visual knowledge graph to see how different concepts relate to one another. The software adapts to your specific needs through a massive library of community plugins and themes, allowing you to build anything from a simple daily journal to a comprehensive research database. It is free for personal use, making it an accessible starting point for students, researchers, and knowledge workers.
Overview
Evernote Features
- Web Clipper Save web pages, articles, and PDFs directly to your account so you can read or reference them later without the ads.
- Document Scanning Go paperless by scanning receipts, whiteboards, and handwritten notes with your phone camera to keep them digitally organized.
- Calendar Integration Connect your Google Calendar to see your schedule alongside relevant notes and prepare for meetings more effectively.
- Task Management Create to-do lists inside your notes and set due dates or reminders so you never miss a deadline.
- Character Recognition Search for specific words within your uploaded images and handwritten notes to find exactly what you need fast.
- Note Templates Save time by using pre-made templates for meeting minutes, project plans, and daily journals to jumpstart your productivity.
Obsidian Features
- Backlinks and Outgoing Links. Create a web of knowledge by linking notes together and seeing exactly which pages reference your current thought.
- Graph View. Visualize your entire knowledge base in an interactive map to identify clusters of related ideas and hidden connections.
- Canvas. Organize your ideas visually on an infinite whiteboard where you can lay out notes, images, and PDF documents.
- Local-First Storage. Keep your data private and secure by storing all your notes as plain text files directly on your hard drive.
- Community Plugins. Extend your workspace with over 1,000 community-made plugins that add calendars, task boards, and advanced formatting tools.
- Markdown Support. Write in a standardized format that ensures you can open and read your notes in any text editor forever.
Pricing Comparison
Evernote Pricing
- Sync up to 2 devices
- 60 MB monthly uploads
- 25 MB maximum note size
- Home dashboard with 3 widgets
- Search and tags
- Task management basics
- Everything in Free, plus:
- Sync unlimited devices
- 10 GB monthly uploads
- 200 MB maximum note size
- Connect Google Calendar
- Offline access on mobile
- Search inside PDFs and images
Obsidian Pricing
- 100% free for personal use
- No account or registration required
- Full access to plugins and API
- Community support access
- Local file storage
- Everything in Personal, plus:
- Commercial use license
- Priority support access
- Required for work-related use
- Annual billing only
Pros & Cons
Evernote
Pros
- Excellent search functionality including handwriting recognition
- Versatile web clipper for saving online content
- Syncs reliably across multiple platforms and devices
- Clean and intuitive user interface for note-taking
- Strong organizational structure using notebooks and tags
Cons
- Free version is very limited on devices
- Subscription prices have increased significantly recently
- Can feel bloated with unnecessary extra features
- Occasional performance lag with very large notes
Obsidian
Pros
- Complete ownership of your data via local files
- Extremely fast performance even with thousands of notes
- Highly customizable through themes and community plugins
- Free for personal use with no feature gates
- Strong privacy as data stays off third-party servers
Cons
- Steep learning curve for non-technical users
- Mobile sync requires a paid subscription or workaround
- No built-in collaboration features for teams
- Requires manual backup management for your files