Is Evernote Premium Worth It in 2026? Our Honest Take
Evernote Premium, once the gold standard for note-taking, has declined significantly under Bending Spoons ownership. The free tier has been gutted to push paid conversions, performance issues persist, and the product roadmap is unclear. At $14.99 per month, Evernote Premium is overpriced compared to modern alternatives that offer better features, better privacy, and better value. We recommend migrating to alternatives rather than investing further in the Evernote ecosystem.
What You Get
- Unlimited note syncing across all devices without the restrictive free tier limits
- 10GB monthly upload allowance for attachments and files
- Search inside PDFs, Office documents, and images using OCR
- Offline access to all notebooks on mobile and desktop
- Custom note templates and advanced formatting options
What is Missing
- Performance and reliability have degraded significantly under new ownership since 2023
- Feature development has stalled with few meaningful improvements in recent updates
- The free tier is so limited it feels like a forced trial rather than a usable product
Privacy Concerns
- Bending Spoons (current owner) has a track record of aggressive data monetization in other apps
- Privacy policy changes under new ownership broadened how user data can be used
- Notes are not end-to-end encrypted making content accessible to the company
The Decline of Evernote Under New Ownership
Evernote was acquired by Bending Spoons in late 2022 and the changes since have been largely negative for users. The free tier was slashed to 50 notes and one notebook, mass layoffs gutted the engineering team, and the product has received minimal meaningful updates. Long-time users report increased bugs, slower performance, and a general sense that the product is in maintenance mode at best. The company appears focused on extracting revenue from existing users rather than building a better product.
Why $14.99 Per Month Is Poor Value in 2026
At $14.99 per month, Evernote Premium is one of the most expensive note-taking subscriptions available. Notion offers far more functionality on a free plan than Evernote Premium provides. Obsidian is free for personal use with local storage. Standard Notes provides end-to-end encryption on a free tier. Apple Notes is free and excellent within the Apple ecosystem. Evernote's price would need to be half of what it is to compete on value, and even then the privacy and reliability concerns would remain.
How to Migrate Away From Evernote
If you have years of notes in Evernote, migrating can feel daunting but most alternatives make it straightforward. Notion has a direct Evernote import feature. Obsidian can import Evernote exports through community plugins. Joplin is an open-source alternative with an Evernote import tool. The longer you wait, the more notes you accumulate and the harder migration becomes. If you are considering leaving, start the export process sooner rather than later while the export functionality still works reliably.
Verdict: No, Skip It
Evernote Premium is not worth it in 2026. The product has declined under Bending Spoons ownership with degraded performance, stalled development, and aggressive pricing that does not match the value delivered. Superior alternatives exist at every price point including free. Notion offers more functionality for free, Obsidian provides local-first privacy at no cost, and Standard Notes delivers end-to-end encryption on its free tier. We recommend migrating existing Evernote users to one of these alternatives and strongly advise against new users starting with Evernote.
Better Options
Free for personal use, stores notes locally as Markdown files you own, optional encrypted sync, and a massive plugin ecosystem
Free plan far exceeds Evernote Premium in functionality, includes databases and workspaces, has a direct Evernote import feature
End-to-end encrypted note-taking with a generous free tier, open source, and committed to long-term privacy-first operation
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Evernote after Bending Spoons bought it?
Bending Spoons acquired Evernote in late 2022 and implemented significant changes including mass layoffs of most employees, gutting the free tier to 50 notes and one notebook, and raising Premium prices. Product development slowed dramatically with minimal new features. The company appears focused on maximizing revenue from the existing user base rather than competing with modern note-taking alternatives.
How do I export all my notes from Evernote?
You can export notes from Evernote in ENEX format using the desktop application. Go to each notebook, select all notes, right-click, and choose Export Notes. This creates an ENEX file that most competitors can import. For large collections, export notebook by notebook rather than all at once to avoid issues. Do this while your subscription is still active since the free tier limits may prevent full access to your notes.
Is there any reason to stay with Evernote in 2026?
The only reasonable argument for staying is if you have an extremely large, well-organized Evernote library and the migration effort seems overwhelming. However, the longer you wait, the bigger this library grows and the harder migration becomes. If Evernote continues to decline or shuts down, you will need to migrate eventually anyway. Starting the migration process now while the product still functions is the pragmatic choice.