{
    "title": "Evernote Alternatives 2027: 10 Paid, Free & Open-Source",
    "url": "https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/evernote/",
    "summary": "The best Evernote alternatives in 2027 are Notion (best overall, $10/member/mo), Obsidian (best free plan: No limits on the app) and Joplin (best open source, AGPL-3.0-or-later). Evernote itself starts at $8.25/mo billed yearly. Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 14 Nov 2026; 7 more are compared below, including 3 with a free plan and 4 open source.",
    "tool": {
        "name": "Evernote",
        "starting_price": "$8.25/mo billed yearly",
        "free_plan": "50 notes, 1 notebook, 1 device, 1 GB monthly uploads",
        "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
        "pricing_url": "https://evernote.com/compare-plans"
    },
    "task": "AI notes and docs workspace",
    "prices_checked": "2026-11-14",
    "date_modified": "2026-11-14",
    "alternatives": [
        {
            "name": "Notion",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$10/member/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "Unlimited pages solo, 5 MB uploads, 7-day history, 10 guests",
            "best_for": "Notes plus databases and team wikis",
            "difference": "Notion's Free plan includes databases with subtasks and dependencies and 10 guests, while Notion Agent and AI Meeting Notes start on the $20 Business plan; Evernote Free stops at 50 notes.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.notion.com/pricing",
            "website": "https://www.notion.com",
            "zekai_score": 9.2,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/notion/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Craft",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$4.80/mo billed yearly",
            "free_plan_limit": "1,500 blocks, 1 personal space, 1 GB storage",
            "best_for": "Polished notes on Apple devices",
            "difference": "Craft Plus costs $4.80 a month on yearly billing with unlimited blocks, and its Free plan caps content at 1,500 blocks with Core, Fast and Max AI models listed.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://www.craft.do/pricing",
            "website": "https://craft.do",
            "zekai_score": 9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/craft/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Obsidian",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$4/mo billed yearly (Sync)",
            "free_plan_limit": "App is free without limits; Sync and Publish are optional paid add-ons",
            "best_for": "Private local Markdown note vaults",
            "difference": "Obsidian's app has no note, notebook or device caps and stores notes locally; paid Sync is $4 a month with end-to-end encryption, and the pricing page lists no AI add-on.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://obsidian.md/pricing",
            "website": "https://obsidian.md",
            "zekai_score": 9,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/obsidian/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Mem",
            "type": "Free plan + paid",
            "starting_price": "$9/mo",
            "free_plan_limit": "25 messages to Mem, 25 new notes a month, 3 hours Voice Mode",
            "best_for": "Agent-style note capture and follow-up",
            "difference": "Mem's Free plan allows 25 new notes a month and 25 messages to its agent, and Pro at $29 adds proactive task tracking across your notes.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://get.mem.ai/pricing",
            "website": "https://mem.ai",
            "zekai_score": 3.4,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/mem/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Reflect",
            "type": "Free",
            "starting_price": "Free plan; paid price not published",
            "free_plan_limit": "Free on Mac; iPhone and iPad need a paid subscription",
            "best_for": "Backlinked daily notes in Markdown",
            "difference": "Reflect's current site describes an open-source Mac app with local Markdown files, iCloud Drive or Git sync, and optional AI using your own API key; iOS needs a paid subscription.",
            "website": "https://reflect.app",
            "zekai_score": 8.4,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/reflect/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Joplin",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0-or-later",
            "best_for": "Encrypted Markdown notes with Evernote import",
            "difference": "Joplin's README says Evernote exports can be imported with formatting converted to Markdown, and apps exist for Windows, Linux, macOS, Android and iOS, with a Web Clipper for Firefox and Chrome.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://joplinapp.org/plans/",
            "website": "https://joplinapp.org",
            "repository": "https://github.com/laurent22/joplin",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/joplin/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes (AGPL-3.0-or-later); sharing changes is required if you run a modified version as a service.",
            "runs_on": "Desktop apps for Windows, macOS, Linux; Android and iOS apps.",
            "setup": "easy: Install the app, then pick a sync target.",
            "github_stars": 57200,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-14",
            "last_release": "2026-10-28",
            "zekai_score": 8.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/joplin/"
        },
        {
            "name": "Logseq",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Outliner notes with linked pages",
            "difference": "Logseq's README calls itself a privacy-first knowledge platform and says its Database version is in beta with data loss possible, while Evernote is a mature hosted service with support.",
            "website": "https://logseq.com",
            "repository": "https://github.com/logseq/logseq",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/logseq/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes (AGPL-3.0); sharing changes is required if you run a modified version as a service.",
            "runs_on": "Desktop app for major operating systems; web version available.",
            "setup": "easy: Download the installer; DB version is still beta.",
            "github_stars": 45600,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-12",
            "last_release": "2026-10-25",
            "zekai_score": 8.4,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/logseq/"
        },
        {
            "name": "AFFiNE",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "$6.75/mo (hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "MIT (some directories under separate licences)",
            "best_for": "Docs and whiteboard in one local-first app",
            "difference": "AFFiNE merges docs and an edgeless whiteboard; its free tier gives unlimited local workspaces plus 10 GB cloud storage for up to 3 members, with a $499.99 lifetime Believer plan.",
            "price_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "pricing_url": "https://affine.pro/pricing",
            "website": "https://affine.pro",
            "repository": "https://github.com/toeverything/AFFiNE",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/affine/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes for MIT-licensed parts; the backend server folder has its own licence, so read it first.",
            "runs_on": "Desktop and web clients; Docker server if you self-host.",
            "setup": "moderate: Docker deployment plus storage and backups if self-hosted.",
            "github_stars": 74500,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-12",
            "last_release": "2026-11-13",
            "zekai_score": 8.6,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/affine/"
        },
        {
            "name": "SiYuan",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "AGPL-3.0",
            "best_for": "Block-level linked notes with Docker hosting",
            "difference": "SiYuan supports block-level references and two-way links plus a Markdown WYSIWYG editor, and its README documents Docker, Kubernetes, Unraid and TrueNAS hosting.",
            "website": "https://b3log.org/siyuan",
            "repository": "https://github.com/siyuan-note/siyuan",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/siyuan/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes (AGPL-3.0); sharing changes is required if you run a modified version as a service.",
            "runs_on": "Desktop app, or a Docker container on a home server.",
            "setup": "moderate: Docker volume and permissions settings for server use.",
            "github_stars": 47200,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-10",
            "last_release": "2026-11-13",
            "zekai_score": 8.7,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/siyuan/"
        },
        {
            "name": "QOwnNotes",
            "type": "Open source",
            "starting_price": "Free (self-hosted)",
            "free_plan_limit": "No limit (self-hosted)",
            "licence": "GPL-2.0",
            "best_for": "Plain-text Markdown notes with Nextcloud sync",
            "difference": "QOwnNotes keeps notes as plain Markdown files on Linux, macOS and Windows and syncs through Nextcloud or ownCloud Notes; it has no hosted account, unlike Evernote's cloud sync.",
            "website": "https://www.qownnotes.org",
            "repository": "https://github.com/pbek/QOwnNotes",
            "zekai_open_source_page": "https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/qownnotes/",
            "commercial_use": "Yes (GPL-2.0); changes you distribute must stay under GPL-2.0.",
            "runs_on": "Desktop for Linux, macOS and Windows; Android app separate.",
            "setup": "easy: Install the desktop app, then point sync at your files.",
            "github_stars": 6000,
            "stars_checked": "2026-11-14",
            "last_commit": "2026-11-13",
            "last_release": "2026-11-13",
            "zekai_score": 7.5,
            "zekai_review": "https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/qownnotes/"
        }
    ],
    "faq": [
        {
            "q": "What is the best alternative to Evernote in 2027?",
            "a": "Notion is the best overall Evernote alternative on this page ($10/member/mo). For no cost, Obsidian has a free plan (App is free without limits; Sync and Publish are optional paid add-ons). To self-host, Joplin is open source (AGPL-3.0-or-later)."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a free version of Evernote?",
            "a": "Yes. Evernote has a free plan: 50 notes, 1 notebook, 1 device, 1 GB monthly uploads. Paid plans start at $8.25/mo billed yearly, checked on 14 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "Is there a 100% free alternative to Evernote?",
            "a": "Yes. Joplin, Logseq, AFFiNE, SiYuan, QOwnNotes are open source and free to self-host. Notion, Craft, Obsidian, Mem, Reflect have a free plan with limits, shown in the table."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is cheaper than Evernote?",
            "a": "Craft starts at $4.80/mo billed yearly, against $8.25/mo billed yearly for Evernote, as listed on each vendor's pricing page on 14 Nov 2026."
        },
        {
            "q": "How much do Evernote alternatives cost for a team of 5?",
            "a": "If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 14 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Obsidian $20/mo, Craft $24/mo, AFFiNE $33.75/mo, against Evernote $41.25/mo for Evernote. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size."
        },
        {
            "q": "Which is better, Notion or Evernote?",
            "a": "Notion's Free plan includes databases with subtasks and dependencies and 10 guests, while Notion Agent and AI Meeting Notes start on the $20 Business plan; Evernote Free stops at 50 notes. Choose Notion if you want notes, databases and shared team pages in one workspace and will outgrow 1,000 notes. Stay with Evernote if you mostly clip web pages and scan documents into one searchable notebook without building databases."
        },
        {
            "q": "Why are people leaving Evernote?",
            "a": "The documented reasons are: Evernote limited Free accounts, new and existing, to fifty notes and one notebook starting December 4; users above the limit keep access but cannot add beyond it (29 Nov 2023); Evernote's help centre says the older Personal and Professional plans were retired in favour of Starter ($14.99 monthly or $99 yearly) and Advanced ($24.99 monthly or $249.99 yearly); the FAQ page prints no date (14 Nov 2026). Each is sourced in the section above."
        },
        {
            "q": "What is the best Evernote alternative?",
            "a": "For databases and teams Notion is the usual choice, for local Markdown Obsidian, and for importing an Evernote archive Joplin. Craft is the cheaper polished editor if you mainly write documents."
        }
    ],
    "publisher": "Zekai (zekaiwork.com) — independently reviewed; prices read on vendor pages on the dates shown.",
    "licence": "Free to quote with a link to https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/evernote/. Bulk copying or republishing the dataset is not permitted."
}