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Last checked October 15, 2026

Best Free Alternatives to Evernote (2026)

Evernote is a notebook of rich-text notes plus a web clipper. People leave it when the note count or the device limit on the free plan gets in the way.

IndividualsWritersStudentsPrice unverified

What Evernote costs

Paid plans exist. A current dollar figure is not copied into this listing.

Evernote website·Pricing source

Ranked by Drop-in score

How we rank

#1 is the highest-scoring alternative that is not sponsored. A featured listing, when one is sold, is labeled and sits after #1.

  1. 100
    #1Open sourceReview notes

    Joplin

    Notes, notebooks, and a web clipper.

    Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0-or-later (apps)

    MacWindowsLinuxiOSAndroid
    Cost and detailsMigration guideWebsite
  2. 75
    #2Open sourceReview notes

    Standard Notes

    Encrypted notes with a published client.

    Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0

    MacWindowsLinuxiOSAndroidWeb
    Cost and detailsWebsite
  3. 75
    #3Open sourceReview notes

    Trilium

    A hierarchical note vault you can host.

    Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0

    MacWindowsLinuxSelf-host
    Cost and detailsWebsite
  4. 53
    #4Open sourceReview notes

    Logseq

    An outliner that stores a graph of pages.

    Last checked October 15, 2026 · AGPL-3.0

    MacWindowsLinux
    Cost and detailsWebsite
  5. 53
    #5Open sourceReview notes

    SilverBullet

    A Markdown note server with a plug-in space.

    Last checked October 15, 2026 · MIT

    WebSelf-host
    Cost and detailsWebsite

Feature by feature

Full is the whole job. Partial is a real version with a gap. Missing means it does not do this. Not checked counts as zero in the score.

FeatureJoplin#1 · 100Standard Notes#2 · 75Trilium#3 · 75Logseq#4 · 53SilverBullet#5 · 53
Rich-text notesWeight 10FullFullFullPartialPartial
Notebooks or foldersWeight 8FullPartialFullPartialPartial
A web clipperWeight 6FullMissingMissingMissingMissing
Search inside notesWeight 8FullFullFullFullFull
Sync across devicesWeight 8FullFullPartialPartialPartial

Real cost

Joplin

Free tier
The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
Hosted plan
No hosted price recorded.
Self-hosting
Moderate. Sync can use a filesystem, WebDAV, or Joplin Server. Read the server license before you offer accounts to other people.

Standard Notes

Free tier
The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
Hosted plan
No hosted price recorded.
Self-hosting
Moderate. Plan on Docker or a small VM. A hosted plan, when one exists, is separate from the free self-host.

Trilium

Free tier
The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
Hosted plan
No hosted price recorded.
Self-hosting
Moderate. Plan on Docker or a small VM. A hosted plan, when one exists, is separate from the free self-host.

Logseq

Free tier
The desktop app is free. A sync service is separate. Unverified.
Hosted plan
No hosted price recorded.
Self-hosting
Easy. The app stores Markdown or Org files locally. Sync is optional.

SilverBullet

Free tier
The community edition can be self-hosted without a per-user fee. Hosted prices are not copied here. Unverified.
Hosted plan
No hosted price recorded.
Self-hosting
Moderate. Plan on Docker or a small VM. A hosted plan, when one exists, is separate from the free self-host.

Top pair

Migrate from Evernote to Joplin

Export each notebook as ENEX from Evernote before the account closes.

Read the migration guide

Questions