Should I Leave Evernote or Stay?

Evernote has undergone dozens of issues in the 14 or so years it has been in the public eye.

Security changes, staff developments and many different CEOs have been in and out the door, but the fact remains the same, Evernote is a staple note-taking application that many households know and love as a brand in the productivity tool space.

Evernote has been a note-taking I've used for over 10 years and still do as an archive storage space for a whole wealth of notes. I've got my wedding speech written in Evernote to my first-ever startup pitch deck, there's memories and notes that have a special place.

For many this is the case too, Evernote has been something they've used for so long, a place for special memories and notes - somewhere where people have treasured memories but practical notes from years gone by. So this matter needs to be approached with context and helpful advice from someone who has been very much a user too.

Evernote Staff & Subscription Changes

To start, why is everyone speaking about leaving or moving to an Evernote alternative?

Well, Bending Spoons, the new owners of Evernote have just laid off 98 staff from the Evernote company. This isn't the first layoffs since the announcement that Bending Spoons has acquired Evernote in January 2023, early in 2023 they laid of 120+ employees.

The main concern for many is that the round of layoffs at Evernote has seen all the remaining team at Evernote disappear and ownership of fully transferred to the Bending Spoons development company. Making Evernote fully European in base.

A few weeks earlier, Bending Spoons also announced changes to subscription - almost increasing in 50% total price rise now sat at $14.99 and $17.99 for Evernote Professional. For many Evernote users a shock and in a cost of living crisis globally, something that many cannot afford coming from the former Evernote pricing starting from $7.99 per month.

Of course, Evernote continues to have a free platform.

All this information is important to note before we begin, this gives you context to why Evernote is being talked about on Twitter and all places on the web as a jump ship scenario and will help you understand the context to your decision-making process as we move on.

Moving Away from Evernote: Best Advice

To summarise this above and Evernote's new vision of AI-based development. I'd only consider leaving Evernote for those out there if the following bothers your situation:

• Pricing - You cannot afford the new pricing and rely on the Evernote Personal or Professional subscriptions. This is a concern for many and budget is such a factor when it comes to productive setups. You don't want to overspend.
• Company - You aren't happy with how and where Evernote is structured now with Bending Spoons. Bending Spoons has a positive reputation - but none-the-less, people need to feel comfortable with their choices. Whether that is the new base in Europe or the fact that Evernote is now run by Bending Spoons, this needs to be considered.
• Vision Ahead - Bending Spoons is going to be AI-focused with Evernote and very much less community-focused than before. Evernote formerly was driven by community and I'm not sure I see that as part of their vision but AI is one of Bending Spoons leading skillsets, so if this is something that bothers you and use of data, another reason.

If any of these bother you when it comes to reasons to leave Evernote, then have a good long hard think about it before jumping ship. Remember, right now it might seem a bit bleek as Evernote has undergone the most change in a set period of time, but don't worry that tends to happen when new leadership and company styles arrive.

Is this the End for Evernote?

Evernote's demise has been spoken about broadly. With Bending Spoons at the helm of Evernote, this is the beginning of Evernote in my own opinion. There are a few reasons behind this prediction for Evernote - let's begin with the first one.

• Bending Spoons - This company isn't your average app development firm. Once they were acquired Evernote I did some digging, they have a great track record of turning around apps, even buying one off of GoPro to re-focus. 500M downloads across their apps and huge funding rounds that companies like ClickUp and others score. Investors like Ryan Reynolds too and many other high profile individuals. The grounding for Evernote and the skills are stronger than ever.
• AI Development - Development in AI is a skill of Bending Spoons, they are one of the leading app development companies in this and if you're willing to see what Evernote can do with AI and your past notes, this could be exciting. Development in this area will take some time, but the innovations here could outweigh development from note-taking apps adding GPT-3 and 4 plugins to their current tool in the long-term.
• A Change of Team - Discovering that the remaining Evernote team had been fully laid off was sad news, I knew many of them and of course layoffs like the one with Evernote is sad upheaval for many. But sometimes a change in personnel is a change in thinking. Elon Musk did this with Twitter 9 months ago and has had huge changes in lean approaches to company structure and innovation. This could do the same at Evernote.

Evernote will likely become much more of a consumer application than it was. Meaning it will focus more towards the general note-taking app user, versus a hardcore user, but for many this can be a huge win hence why many people head back to Apple Notes thanks to the speed and function of the application. This is where I think Bending Spoons is heading.

For many, this will be the end for Evernote for them. They will leave and move onto an alternate note-taking application, if this is the best decision for them, that is good. You want to be happy, comfortable and confident in your decision to move to a new note-taking application, so I'd recommend exploring all our note-taking applications on Tool Finder.

We'd recommend exploring our advice on picking the best productivity tool too.