5 Evernote Alternatives: Is Evernote Better than Its Competitors?

The Evernote software suite, as the name might suggest, is mainly designed to let you write and store notes. So how is Evernote different from a regular text editor? After all, you can use the Notepad application on your PC or the Notes application on your iPhone to do the same thing right? Do you really need to bother downloading an app to store your notes?

While Evernote does let you store regular text notes, just like the Notepad, its function isn’t limited to that. A “note” in Evernote can be different things: regular text, a photograph, a voice note, a handwritten note or even parts of a webpage.

Learning to use Evernote can really boost your productivity at work (here’s a hands-on training on Evernote to give you a jump start). It can also help you study and research better if you’re a student – you can use it to take notes and even save parts of an important lecture on it. Evernote can also be used as to-do list software- you can keep your grocery list on it and handle your monthly budget. Regardless of what you use it for, it will save a lot of your precious time. If you’re looking for other ways to boost your productivity, so you can do better at work and improve your personal life, you should sign up for this productivity life hack course. We help you find ways to save time, so you have some for yourself.

Evernote can be downloaded free of cost. While the application is free to use, there is a monthly usage limit on the data that you can store in the Evernote archive. If you need to store more data, you can sign up for the paid version. Alternatively, if you represent a business and you want to use it as a business productivity tool, you can purchase the special Evernote Business suite. This course can help the busy professional get started with Evernote quickly and easy.

Evernote is available on Windows, Windows phones, Android, Blackberry and the Apple OS. Evernote has a nifty auto synchronization feature that lets you access your stored archives from each and every device that you use. You can access the same material, as long as you have a working internet connection at your disposal. This means that you can access Evernote on your smartphone at work and go home and go over your material on your laptop. You can also share your notes on the app with your friends and colleagues.

Evernote makes for a good research application. You can collect information from several sources and gather them in one place. You can intersperse regular text info with voice notes and photos too! Evernote can also be used as a diary, organizer, journal, or even as a travel planner. You can also see how Evernote can help Marketers in this course.

Is Evernote Better than its Alternatives?

At the moment, most people consider Evernote to be much, much better than its competitors, and this is reflected by its huge user base. According to the CEO Phil Libin, the application has about 80 million users worldwide (including the free and paid version) and that number is growing daily. There are several other software applications out there that come close to doing what Evernote can do, but they can’t match these numbers. However, there might be reasons why one of the alternatives is a better option for you. Evernote isn’t the best choice in every single situation.

Let’s take a look at five top alternatives to Evernote:

Springpad

Springpad lets you create and save notes and tasks. You can create to-do lists, food recipes, grocery lists and keep track of your most important appointments and work commitments. You can use it to boost your productivity at work and home, just like Evernote. The application has a feature that lets you share your content with multiple users and work on a project collaboratively. You can even access “public notebooks” shared by other users, or create and share your own public notebook. The application gives you an option to share only certain parts of your data- you can hide some private tasks, for example, and share the rest. The application is free to download and it can be used on both your computer and your smartphone device. It is available for Android as well on iTunes.

One of the best features of this application is the auto update feature. It will keep adding useful information to any note that you may have stored on your device over time. For example, if you have stored a location on Springpad, it will add maps and other information you need to know about that location. You will also get to read reviews if it’s a restaurant, for example.

Simplenote

Simplenote is an app without the unnecessary bells and whistles. As the name suggests, the application is designed to be as simple and easy to use as possible. The application is available for free on the iPhone, Mac, Android and Windows. You can use Simplenote on all your devices because of its synchronization ability, just like Evernote. Your data can be accessed from anywhere. Simplenote gives you a lot of storage space, and you don’t need much storage to store text-based notes. Chances are you won’t ever run out of storage space with this app. Simplenote has an automatic backup feature- every note you store gets automatically backed up, ready to be accessed from your other devices. Simplenote also has a search tool that lets you locate any note you’re looking for very quickly.

You can tag your important notes so that you can find them faster later. You can pin any important notes or urgent tasks at the start of your list. If you make changes to your notes or lists and regret them later, Simplenote has a cool versioning feature that you can use to undo them. Your notes are saved as versions – every edit assigns a new version to your note. Just go back to an earlier version without the changes.

Google Keep

Google recently introduced an Evernote clone called Google Keep. It has many features similar to Evernote, and it’s looking set to become one of its biggest competitors. One of the greatest advantages that Google Keep enjoys is that it is compatible with Google Drive, which is used by practically everyone on the planet nowadays. Also, it has a handy Google Chrome extension, which makes it even more useful.  Because it uses Google Drive for storing your notes, it has more space on to offer you compared to most other applications. You can also rent more storage space by paying a certain amount every month.

Google Keep is much simpler on the surface than Evernote. It has a much simpler user interface than Evernote, which can sometimes appear cluttered. It has a simple grid view that lets you keep track of your tasks. Like Evernote, Google Keep lets you store voice notes as well as pictures. Google Keep is available for only the Android platform at the moment (and, of course Windows), which is one major drawback of this app. However, there are some third party applications that let you access your Google notes, but, going by customer reviews, they don’t work as well as the official application. Until Google introduces a version for iTunes, however, it can’t truly compete with Evernote.

Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote is, perhaps, the closest that any application has come to being a true Evernote alternative. OneNote comes officially as a part of the Microsoft Office Suite, which hugely improves its usefulness and functionality. It is available as a part of Office 365 and is available on all the major platforms, including Windows, iOS and Android. You can download and use OneNote for free. You can learn more about OneNote with this hands on training course.

Like Evernote, OneNote lets you create lists, take notes and store audio clips and photographs. You can create notes and lists with voice commands if you’re pressed for time. You can even dictate notes with your voice and the application will store it as a text. Your lists will have checkboxes that you can tick when you accomplish a task. The mobile widget access makes OneNote easy to use and much less complicated than some of the other Evernote alternatives out there. However, OneNote does not have all the features that Evernote does. And so while the application is very good and worth taking a look at (especially if you use Microsoft Office a lot), it can’t really replace Evernote – at least at the moment.  Microsoft keeps updating the application every once in the while, so expect to see a better application in the future.

The NoteSync Application

NoteSync is designed to let you take notes quickly. This application is good if you just want to take notes and store them to access later. NoteSync lets you sync with Google Docs- which is where the name comes from in the first place. Any note(s) that you are typing get synced automatically with the Google server every 60 seconds. You can also choose to sync your notes manually, if necessary. Your notes will be available on all supported devices as long as you’re connected to the internet.

A big advantage that NoteSync has to offer is that your data is protected through the secure HTTPS protocol. You don’t have to worry about a hacker getting his hands on your data. NoteSync is an ideal application if you need to take notes for work. Using the application is easy because of its simple, attractive interface. There are several shortcuts that you can use for often repeated tasks. You can search for notes through a handy search tool- even notes that you took a month back.

NoteSync is available for free for your PC and Mac, but you have to pay $.99 for the Android application. NoteSync isn’t available for the other major platforms at the moment, which limits its usefulness quite a bit. However it is still a very good application- it can replace Evernote you’re looking for something that’s easy to use, safe and effective.

The only other application worth mention is Catch Notes – a while back, it was touted as the biggest competitor to Evernote. However, the application was taken off the market recently, leaving the way clear for Evernote to net even more users.

If you’re still on the edge about Evernote, this non-geeks guide to Evernote course can help you close it. The longer you use Evernote, the more useful it’s designed to be. At the moment, it seems like Evernote will be around for a long time to come. To learn more about how you, a busy professional, can further increase your productivity, take this course.