It’s common knowledge by now that Evernote is perhaps the best note taking app out there for mobile devices and tablets, no matter what platform you’re using. In fact, the cross platform capabilities of Evernote are what sets it up as the most accessible and also the most powerful app of its kind currently available from the App Store.
But what of the contenders to this apparent throne? What of the developers that have perhaps perceived a chink in the armor and are looking to make a small segment of this market share their own?
As you can imagine, given the success of Evernote, there are plenty of these apps out there at present, but which are the best Evernote alternatives?
While Evernote is indeed the best of the best, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement, and many of the alternatives we’ve picked out here with a specific focus on the iPad in particular are those that do certain things better.
Most of us will already have a stack of notes stored across devices at this point, so is there an app that is worth ditching Evernote for and migrating all these notes?
8. FetchNotes (Free)
Fetchnotes is a simple text-only note taking app and works as an excellent stripped down alternative to Evernote on the iPad. Many of these Evernote alternatives that we’ve come up with here do a great job coming up with features that aren’t apparent in Evernote, and one of the neat touches on display in Fetchnotes is their built in browser app.
This allows you to access your notes online, then of course to share them with other users. The reminders feature here is very similar to the one found in Evernote, but the interface is a lot cleaner and simpler – that said, not quite as clean and concise as the one found in Letterspace, to give one example.
Evernote is obviously a feature rich note taking app, but can become somewhat cluttered with all it has to offer. If I were to switch from Evernote, even for a brief period, it would probably be to something that offers a more open, cleaner, and generally more organic working space. – Download from iTunes
7. Vesper ($9.99)
Vesper represents one of the more expensive Evernote alternatives to make the list, but it is a neatly made and very elegant tool for collecting notes, ideas, and of course to do lists – just about anything you want to remember. The tag function is decent enough, and the gestures support means that archiving notes can be done in a simple swipe. The app also keeps your notes synced and out of sight if they are not those you need immediate access to, which is a nice touch. – Download from iTunes
6. Google Keep (Free)
Google is not one to miss out on the action, especially when it comes to productivity apps and of course the note taking app world is no different. Google Keep represents their own foray into this area, and acts as a direct competitor to Evernote. You can add things like notes, photos, and even audio clips to your Google Keep account, but they are stored as a note that can be labeled. There is none of the notebook organization upon which the entire functionality of Evernote is built which is of course something of a let down. – Download from iTunes
5. Quip (Free)
Quip is another productivity app and can be classed as a competitor to evernote. Rather than stripping down some of the functionality found in Evernote, Quip instead goes in the other direction and looks to provide you with a full suite of tools, including access to documents, spreadsheets, task management, as well as chat and messaging options. – Download from iTunes
4. Drafts 4 ($9.99)
Drafts 4 is another expensive option, but I love its simple inbox-like approach to organizing your notes, and it is very easy to pick up and use. There is also a great amount of functionality when it comes to arranging your various notes here, with the ability to reorder lines using drag and drop which is something that may seem unneccessary when first hearing of it but becomes almost like second nature when you’re actually using the app. It represents one of the quickest ways to capture and share notes currently on the market! – Download from iTunes
3. OneNote (Free)
No list of Evernote alternatives for any platform would be complete without at least a passing mention of Microsoft’s own entry into the world of note taking. That being of course OneNote, which is available for iOS and Mac, as well as Android and Windows phone users. OneNote is perhaps the single app to make this particular list that can match most of the features on display when using Evernote, but its entire approach to organizing your notes is entirely different.
Also, while you have a web clipping option available with OneNote, it isn’t quite as robust nor as comprehensive as the one you get with Evernote. Perhaps the main reason however for choosing OneNote over Evernote is how well it plays with the Microsoft Office suite. If you are therefore a regular Office user and Office 365 subscriber, then this is something to keep in mind! – Download from iTunes
2. Simplenote (Free)
As mentioned earlier on, the main reason for switching away from Evernote at least in my mind would be to seek out a note taking environment and work space that is less cluttered, more stripped down. This appears to be the goal of many developers who are looking to create alternatives to Evernote, and one of those is Simplenote. As you can probably imagine, Simplenote is indeed the most minimal option to make this list and has free apps available for both the Mac and iOS devices – though, it should be noted, this are ad supported.
The focus in Simplenote lies almost exclusively with creating notes and lists, so it doesn’t really play with things like images and audio files. If you’re willing to switch to something more minimal in order to find a workspace with less clutter, then you’re going to have to live with such disadvantages when compared to the feature heavy Evernote. – Download from iTunes
1. Letterspace ($4.99)
It might not be the same for many note takers who use their iPad as such, but personally I am a voracious reader and will usually be found reading on my tablet – either articles clipped and saved for later reading through Pocket, or working through my own personalized magazines in Flipboard, or of course reading the books I’ve downloaded.
Often, I like to share the content I find either through social media or simply to save it for later use. This is of particular use since, as a writer, it’s great to be able to grab text from anywhere and save it, and Letterspace is one of the most useful apps when it comes to doing this. Between the iOS and Mac versions of Letterspace, it’s also one of the best Evernote alternatives when it comes to keeping your notes organized. It’s not like Evernote does a particularly bad job in this area, but I do love the whole hashtag system here. – Download from iTunes