Evernote Freemium

Note-taking app with AI search, summaries and transcription

Evernote is a cross-platform note-taking and web clipping app. AI features summarize long notes, transcribe recorded meetings, and run semantic search that finds notes by meaning rather than exact keywords.

What is Evernote in 2026?

Still a notebook-and-tags structure. Still the best web clipper on the market — the Chrome extension captures full article text, cleans ads, and keeps readable formatting. Still sync across Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and web.

After the Bending Spoons acquisition, development slowed noticeably. The apps are stable, but you shouldn’t expect a fast feature cadence.

Which AI features did Evernote add?

  • AI note summaries — a short digest at the top of long notes and clipped pages.
  • AI-powered search — natural-language queries instead of tag gymnastics.
  • Transcription — audio and video attachments become searchable text.
  • AI Cleanup — strips clutter formatting from clipped web pages.

All AI runs in the cloud and is capped by monthly action limits depending on plan.

Is Evernote free plan still usable?

Barely. Free limits you to 50 notes and 1 notebook, no more syncing to unlimited devices. Professional is about $10.83/month billed annually and includes AI features, 20 GB uploads and unlimited devices. Personal sits around $7.99/month.

Anyone with more than a month of notes will pay. Compare that with Notion, Obsidian or Apple Notes, some of which are free.

Product Highlights

  • OCR search inside images and scanned PDFs.
  • Tasks with reminders and due dates built into notes.
  • Web clipper for Chrome, Safari and Edge with template capture.
  • Offline access on desktop and mobile.

What people actually use it for

  1. Research clipping: saving articles with full text and citations.
  2. Meeting notes with recorded audio transcribed afterward.
  3. Receipt and document archiving with OCR search.
  4. Personal knowledge base tagged by project.
  5. Travel planning with clipped itineraries and confirmations.

Why you might leave

Fifty notes on free is not a trial, it’s a wall. The editor is plainer than Notion’s, no nested databases or linked views. Export to Markdown works but loses structure. And the AI summaries are competent, not clever — long notes get a generic digest rather than an argument.

Verdict: still great if your workflow is clipping and archiving. If you build structured docs, Notion or Obsidian is a better home.

Quick Summary

  • Evernote is a cross-platform note app known for web clipping and OCR search.
  • AI features include note summaries, semantic search and audio/video transcription.
  • The free plan is capped at 50 notes and 1 notebook; Professional is about $10.83/month annually.
  • Good for clipping and archiving, limited for structured databases or collaborative docs.