All rights reserved © 2025
All rights reserved © 2025
The time of notebooks and diaries is long gone, now the world is ruled by note taking apps that have become indispensable tools for us to organize our thoughts, ideas and information. Two of the most popular options are Evernote and Microsoft OneNote. If you are trying to choose between these leading note-taking apps, this review is for you. I will detail all the differences, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of these apps. Ready? Then let’s go!
Evernote easily organizes your notes into notebooks and stacks of notepads. Its interface is clean and minimalist, making it easy to navigate even for beginners. Each Evernote note can be easily categorized and tagged. A powerful search function allows you to quickly find individual note by keywords, tags, or even text in images.
Microsoft OneNote is similar to the paper notebook we are used to, with a similar structure: sections and pages in OneNote. This interface may seem more intuitive if you’re used to traditional note-taking methods. OneNote offers a canvas-like approach where you can place content anywhere on the page, much like a physical notebook.
Many users looking for an Evernote alternative often turn to OneNote because of this flexible canvas. Conversely, those seeking a OneNote alternative might prefer Evernote’s more structured approach.
Overall this is not my first comparison of products from McIrosoft vs other products, not too long ago I released a comparison of Microsoft Office 2024 VS Google Workspace and I highly recommend reading it!
Flexible and stuccoed Evernote is great for creating organized notes. You can easily add checkboxes, tables and attachments. Evernote Web Clipper allows you to save articles, screenshots and simplified versions of web pages directly to your notebook.
What’s worth noting about OneNote is its handwriting drawing and recognition capabilities, making it ideal for tablets and touchscreen devices. Writing handwritten notes is a handy and highly intuitive feature. You can easily insert different types of content into your notes, such as audio recordings, videos, and files. And the ability to place items anywhere on the page gives you a lot of creative freedom when creating notes.
When comparing Onenote vs Evernote for visual thinkers, OneNote often has the edge due to its freeform canvas. However, Evernote’s structured approach works better for those who prefer organization over creativity.
Evernote has cross-platform synchronization across multiple devices, although free accounts are limited to two devices. And what’s especially cool is your notes are available offline if you’ve synchronized them before going online.
Whereas OneNote has full synchronization across all devices with no limitations. OneNote Online allows you to access your notes from any web browser. It integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft Office suite applications and even Google Calendar via connectors, which is a significant advantage if you’re already in the Microsoft ecosystem.
For those considering Google’s services as a OneNote analog, it’s worth noting that Google Keep offers similar functionality, but with less advanced formatting options than Evernote and OneNote..
Evernote:
OneNote:
Price-conscious users looking for better alternatives to Evernote often consider OneNote because of its generous free plan, and the fact that if we buy a subscription to Microsoft products, we get the entire office suite at once. Similarly, those looking for alternatives to OneNote may consider Evernote if they want better web clipping functionality.
When looking at Evernote’s competitors, OneNote is the most notable, but there are other options as well. Apple Notes provides a robust experience for iOS and Mac users with their convenient cloud synchronization, and Zoho Notebook offers a visually appealing alternative. When considering Google Keep versus OneNote, Keep offers the simplicity and functionality of quick notes, but it lacks the power of OneNote or Evernote..
Your decision between Evernote and OneNote should depend on your specific needs:
Choose Evernote if you:
Choose OneNote if you:
Well, if you don’t like either option, there are several other good alternatives to Evernote and OneNote on the market, including Notion, Joplin, and Google Keep, each with their own unique benefits.
Both Evernote and OneNote are excellent note-taking applications with distinct strengths. Evernote offers superior organization and web clipping in a clean interface, while OneNote provides more creativity and flexibility along with better integration with Microsoft products.
The battle between Evernote vs OneNote ultimately depends on your needs and the nature of your work, the importance of what features are most important to you. Some people even manage to use both products for different purposes: Evernote for research and web content collection, and OneNote for more creative or collaborative projects.
When choosing the best note-taking app, consider how you’ll use it in your workflow. On one side of the scale are the robust features of Evernote Business on the other is Microsoft OneNote’s convenient integration with existing Microsoft Office products, both of which provide powerful options for collecting and organizing information.
Whichever app you choose, both will greatly improve your digital note taking and help you keep your information organized and accessible across all your devices. If you ask me, which one would I choose? My answer is simply none of the above, because I’m an Apple user and I like their integration between iOS and macOS. But I would be interested to know which of these software you chose, so I’m waiting for your answers in the comments!
