Evernote vs Microsoft OneNote
Evernote and Microsoft OneNote are both productivity options. Evernote lists 6 features across 5 platforms; Microsoft OneNote lists 7 features across 6 platforms — see the full breakdown below, sourced from each vendor's own site rather than ratings or reviews.
Side-by-side summary
Best for Evernote
Vendor copy targets general users organizing personal information, teams doing real-time collaborative work, students, and enterprise customers.
Best for Microsoft OneNote
Positioned for individuals and teams already in the Microsoft ecosystem who want free-form, notebook-style note-taking with handwriting and voice capture across all their devices.
Feature comparison
Every feature listed here comes directly from each vendor's own official site.
Evernote
- Ready-made note templates
- Notebooks and Spaces for organizing notes
- Full-text and fast search across notes
- Task management within notes
- Calendar integration linking events to notes
- Web Clipper for saving web content
Microsoft OneNote
- Notebook, section, and page hierarchy for organizing notes
- Handwriting and digital ink with stylus support for sketching and annotating
- Voice transcription to capture notes from audio
- Real-time collaboration for multiple users working on shared notebooks
- Full-text search across notebooks
- Copilot in OneNote for drafting plans, generating ideas, and organizing information
- Free version, with additional features included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions
Pros and cons
Evernote
- Ready-made note templates
- Notebooks and Spaces for organizing notes
- Full-text and fast search across notes
- Task management within notes
- Calendar integration linking events to notes
- Web Clipper for saving web content
- The Free plan is tightly capped at 50 notes, one notebook, and one connected device.
- Evernote Personal and Professional are discontinued for new plan selection; current individual tiers are Starter and Advanced, so older pricing comparisons can be misleading.
Microsoft OneNote
- Notebook, section, and page hierarchy for organizing notes
- Handwriting and digital ink with stylus support for sketching and annotating
- Voice transcription to capture notes from audio
- Real-time collaboration for multiple users working on shared notebooks
- Full-text search across notebooks
- Copilot in OneNote for drafting plans, generating ideas, and organizing information
- Free version, with additional features included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions
- OneNote itself is available free on the web, but desktop Microsoft 365 apps, larger cloud-storage entitlements, and bundled Copilot capabilities require a Microsoft 365 subscription.
- Paid OneNote value is bundled with the broader Microsoft 365 subscription rather than sold as a simple standalone OneNote plan, so comparisons should account for the rest of the bundle.
Key differences
- Evernote lists Ready-made note templates, Notebooks and Spaces for organizing notes, Full-text and fast search across notes, Task management within notes, Calendar integration linking events to notes, Web Clipper for saving web content that Microsoft OneNote doesn't list.
- Microsoft OneNote lists Notebook, section, and page hierarchy for organizing notes, Handwriting and digital ink with stylus support for sketching and annotating, Voice transcription to capture notes from audio, Real-time collaboration for multiple users working on shared notebooks, Full-text search across notebooks, Copilot in OneNote for drafting plans, generating ideas, and organizing information, Free version, with additional features included in Microsoft 365 subscriptions that Evernote doesn't list.
- Microsoft OneNote supports iPadOS, which Evernote doesn't list.
Choose Evernote if…
Choose Evernote if this fits: Vendor copy targets general users organizing personal information, teams doing real-time collaborative work, students, and enterprise customers. Compared with Microsoft OneNote specifically, Evernote also offers Ready-made note templates, Notebooks and Spaces for organizing notes, Full-text and fast search across notes, and 3 more features that Microsoft OneNote doesn't list.
Choose Microsoft OneNote if…
Choose Microsoft OneNote if this fits: Positioned for individuals and teams already in the Microsoft ecosystem who want free-form, notebook-style note-taking with handwriting and voice capture across all their devices. Compared with Evernote specifically, Microsoft OneNote also offers Notebook, section, and page hierarchy for organizing notes, Handwriting and digital ink with stylus support for sketching and annotating, Voice transcription to capture notes from audio, and 4 more features that Evernote doesn't list, plus iPadOS support that Evernote doesn't list.
Facts on this page are sourced from each vendor's official site (linked below), not from ratings or reviews. Products change — verify anything that matters to your decision directly on the vendor's own site before switching. See our Disclaimer and Sources Policy.
Evernote sources
Last verified October 6, 2026
- https://evernote.com
- https://evernote.com/en-us/compare-plans
- https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/46317642175763-Discontinuing-Evernote-Personal-Professional-Introducing-Starter-Advanced-FAQ
Microsoft OneNote sources
Last verified October 6, 2026
- https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onenote/digital-note-taking-app
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/accounts-billing/subscriptions/what-s-the-difference-between-a-microsoft-365-subscription-and-free-web-apps
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