Comparison
Evernote vs OneNote: which note app should you actually use in 2026?
Two of the oldest names in note-taking, still going, still very different. Evernote is the polished, search-first notebook that's been through a rocky few years and a steep price hike. OneNote is Microsoft's free, freeform canvas that has quietly become the better deal for most people. Here's an honest, side-by-side comparison — plus a note on what to reach for if you're really trying to organize documents, not notes.
The short version
OneNote is the better pick for most people in 2026, mostly because it's free and genuinely good — a freeform canvas, the best handwriting in the category, and deep Microsoft 365 integration. Evernote is the better pick if search and tagging are how you think, and you want a structured, platform-neutral notebook that doesn't lean on the Microsoft ecosystem — but you'll pay $129.99 to $169.99 a year for the version that isn't crippled. Both are strong note apps; this isn't a case of one being broken. The choice usually comes down to two questions: do you already pay for Microsoft 365, and do you write by hand? If yes to either, OneNote. If you want a polished, cross-platform notebook with best-in-class search and don't mind paying for it, Evernote.
Evernote vs OneNote, feature by feature
| Feature | Evernote | OneNote |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Search-first, structured notebooks | Freeform pages and handwriting |
| Cost to use it fully | $129.99–$169.99/yr — the free tier is very tight | Free; extra storage via Microsoft 365 from $99.99/yr |
| Free plan | 50 notes, 1 notebook, 1 device, 1 GB | Full app, ink included, 5 GB OneDrive shared |
| Handwriting & ink | Partialsupported, but secondary | Yesbest-in-class on Surface / iPad |
| Web clipper | Yeslong the category leader | PartialWeb Clipper exists, weaker |
| Search inside notes & images (OCR) | YesEvernote's sharpest edge | Yessearches typed text and ink |
| Freeform canvas (place anything anywhere) | Nostructured pages | Yesinfinite canvas |
| Works across platforms | YesWindows, Mac, iOS, Android, web | Yessame, plus tight Windows integration |
| Offline access | Partialpaid tiers | Yesfree, on every platform |
| Microsoft 365 integration (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams) | No | Yesnative to the ecosystem |
| Reads & extracts fields from documents you drop in | Noattaches files; doesn't read them | Noattaches files; doesn't read them |
| Encryption of stored content | Partialselected text inside a note only | PartialOneDrive disk-level; password-protect sections |
What each one costs in 2026
Evernote
- Free$050 notes, 1 notebook, 1 device sync, 1 GB. Enough to evaluate the app, not to live in it.
- Starter$129.99/yrBilled annually. 1,000 notes, more notebooks, 3-device sync, 5 GB storage, larger uploads.
- Advanced$169.99/yrBilled annually. Unlimited notes and notebooks, unlimited devices, AI Search, larger storage.
OneNote
- OneNote app$0The full app — pages, sections, ink, audio — free with a Microsoft account. 5 GB OneDrive shared.
- Microsoft 365 Personal$99.99/yr$9.99/mo or $99.99/yr. 1 TB OneDrive plus Word, Excel, Outlook — storage, not a OneNote upcharge.
- Microsoft 365 Family$129.99/yr$12.99/mo or $129.99/yr. Up to 6 people, 1 TB of OneDrive each.
Pick Evernote if… pick OneNote if…
Pick Evernote if…
- You want a notebook that isn't tied to the Microsoft ecosystem and behaves the same on every platform.
- Search and tags are how you find things — Evernote's search and image OCR are still its sharpest edge.
- You rely on the Web Clipper to save articles, receipts, and pages with their formatting intact.
- You'll pay $129.99–$169.99 a year for a polished, structured note app and want it to stay maintained.
Pick OneNote if…
- You already pay for Microsoft 365, or you're happy on the free app — OneNote costs you nothing extra.
- You write or sketch by hand on a Surface, iPad, or tablet — OneNote's ink is the best around.
- You like a freeform canvas where text, images, and clippings can go anywhere on the page.
- Your work runs on Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams and you want notes in the same ecosystem.
A third option
Neither one fits? You might be filing documents, not taking notes
Here's a pattern we see constantly: people pick Evernote or OneNote, then spend years dragging PDFs, tax forms, and insurance policies into them and tagging by hand. If that's you, the real problem isn't which note app — it's that you're using a notebook as a filing cabinet. Granite is built for exactly that job: drop in a document and it reads it, classifies it against 60-plus types, pulls the dates and amounts that matter, and answers questions with a citation to the source page. It's not a note app — there's no editor — so keep Evernote or OneNote for writing. For the paperwork that piles up, let Granite do the filing.
See Granite pricingFAQ
Evernote vs OneNote FAQ
- Is OneNote really free?
- Yes. The full OneNote app — pages, sections, handwriting, audio recording, and every organizational feature — is free with any Microsoft account. The only real limit is storage: free accounts get 5 GB of OneDrive shared across Microsoft services. If your notebooks or attachments outgrow that, you'd add Microsoft 365 Personal ($99.99/year) for 1 TB, but that's a storage-and-Office subscription, not a OneNote paywall. Evernote, by contrast, gates real day-to-day use behind a paid plan.
- Why did Evernote get more expensive?
- After Evernote was acquired by Bending Spoons in 2023, the free plan was cut to 50 notes, one notebook, and a single device, and paid pricing moved up. As of 2026 the individual paid tiers run $129.99 a year (Starter) and $169.99 a year (Advanced), both billed annually. The app is more stable than it was mid-transition, but it's no longer the generous free notebook many longtime users remember — which is the main reason people compare it against OneNote in the first place.
- Which is better for handwriting?
- OneNote, clearly. Its inking engine — pressure sensitivity, multiple pen types, ink-to-text conversion, and an infinite canvas — is one of the best in any app, and it shines on a Surface, iPad, or other tablet. Evernote supports handwriting, but it's a secondary feature rather than a core strength. If writing or sketching by hand is central to how you take notes, OneNote wins outright.
- Can I move my notes from Evernote to OneNote?
- Yes, though the move isn't perfectly clean. Evernote exports notebooks as ENEX files and OneNote has its own export, and both Microsoft-provided and third-party importers can pull Evernote content into OneNote — formatting and tags can shift in the process, and very large accounts take a while. Export a backup from your current app first, then migrate notebook by notebook for anything you can't afford to lose. Going the other direction (OneNote to Evernote) is more manual.
- Should I use Evernote or OneNote to store important documents?
- Honestly, neither is built for that. Both let you attach PDFs and scans, but neither reads the document, extracts the key fields, or answers questions about it — you're still filing and tagging by hand, then hunting through pages later. If your goal is organizing paperwork like tax forms, insurance policies, and IDs rather than writing notes, a purpose-built document vault like Granite is the better tool. Keep a note app for notes; use something that actually reads documents for documents.
- Do Evernote or OneNote encrypt my notes?
- Both protect data in transit and at rest at the infrastructure level, but neither encrypts your whole account end-to-end. Evernote can encrypt selected text you highlight inside a note; OneNote relies on OneDrive's disk-level encryption and lets you password-protect individual sections. Neither offers per-document or per-field encryption. If at-rest encryption of sensitive documents is a priority for you, that's an area where a dedicated vault is meaningfully stronger than either note app.
Keep exploring
- Granite vs EvernoteIf you used Evernote as a filing cabinet for real paperwork, here's the tool it was trying to be.
- Granite vs OneNoteA home for the documents you receive, not another digital notebook.
- Granite for important documentsAn organizer that reads your files and pulls the key fields, instead of making you tag them.
- How Granite reads every documentAuto-classify against 60+ types and extract the fields that matter, on upload.
- Free for your first 25 documentsOne flat $99/year after that. No per-seat math, no document cap.
- Built to outlive youEmergency contact, inactivity heartbeat, and an always-exportable archive — so the right person can reach your documents.
Taking notes? Pick either. Filing documents? Try Granite.
Granite is free for your first 25 documents — the full reader, plain-English search, and encrypted export, no card required. Drop in a tax form or an insurance policy and watch it file itself, while your notes stay in the app you already love.