Noughtpad vs Evernote
Evernote was many people's first notes app. It's still a capable one, with web clipping, scanning and apps everywhere. But its free plan is now small, and your notes live on Evernote's servers. Noughtpad takes the opposite approach: unlimited notes, kept as files on your own computer.
The short version
- Choose Evernote if you rely on clipping web pages, scanning documents, searching text in images and PDFs, or having notes on your phone.
- Choose Noughtpad if you mostly write, want as many notes as you like for free, and want them as plain files that no service can lock away.
What Evernote does better
- Capture from everywhere. A web clipper, document scanning, and search inside images and PDFs.
- Every device. Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android.
- Tasks and calendar built in, plus team plans.
- AI on every plan. An AI assistant and search by meaning, including on the free plan.
- Years of history and polish.
What Noughtpad does differently
- No limits. Write as many notes as you like. Evernote's free plan stops at 50 notes and one notebook.
- Files you own. Markdown files in a folder on your computer, readable by any app, with no account needed.
- Private by default. Search by meaning, related notes and ideas over time run on your computer.
- See how ideas connect and change with related notes and ideas over time.
Side by side
| Noughtpad | Evernote | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, unlimited notes | Free (50 notes, 1 notebook); Starter (1,000 notes, 20 notebooks) and Advanced plans are paid |
| Where notes live | Markdown files on your computer | Evernote's cloud |
| Account needed | No | Yes |
| Devices | Mac (Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux | Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android |
| Web clipper, scanning | No (paste from the web works well) | Yes |
| Search by meaning, related notes | Yes, on your computer | Yes, with Evernote's AI features |
| Ideas over time | Yes | No |
Moving from Evernote
Noughtpad doesn't import Evernote's export format (.enex) yet. You can convert an export to Markdown files with a free tool such as Obsidian's Importer plugin, then choose that folder in Noughtpad.
Prices and features of Evernote as listed on evernote.com, November 2026.
Try Noughtpad
It's free, it works without an account, and your notes stay plain Markdown files. If it isn't for you, the files open in any other Markdown app.
For Mac (Apple Silicon), Windows and Linux. No account needed.
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