Best Evernote alternatives in 2026
The best Evernote alternatives in 2026: Loam, Joplin, Obsidian, Notion, Apple Notes, Bear and Craft, and the exact way to move your ENEX exports across.
The best Evernote alternative depends on what you used Evernote for. If you want files you own, with no account and no subscription, try Loam, our free and open source Mac app. If you need Windows and phone apps and a direct ENEX import, Joplin is the better pick. Evernote's web clipper and email-in have no equivalent in Loam, and this guide says so where it matters.
Why do people leave Evernote?
Evernote stores your notebooks on its servers, in its own format, behind an account. The free plan is small, and the paid plans sit above it. When you want out, you export to ENEX or HTML, and then you convert the export for the next app. People leave for the price, for the account, or because they want notes they can open without Evernote.
What should an Evernote replacement do?
Start from what you actually do in Evernote. Four jobs cover most people.
- Keep notes you write: a good editor, search that finds things, notes that stay yours.
- Capture from the web: a clipper in your browser, or email-in to file a message.
- Be everywhere: apps on Windows, Android and the web, not only one computer.
- Let you leave: an import that reads your ENEX files today, and an export tomorrow.
No single app wins all four. The list below says which app wins which job, and the table shows how each one takes in an Evernote export.
Evernote alternatives compared
Loam is ours, so it comes first in the ranking, and each entry says where another app is the better choice. Every app below except Loam imports from Evernote itself.
| App | How Evernote notes get in | Where notes live | Price model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Loam | No importer: convert the ENEX files to Markdown, then open the folder | Markdown files in a folder you choose | Free and open source |
| Joplin | File > Import > ENEX, directly | Markdown notes in the app's own storage | App free; Joplin Cloud is paid |
| Obsidian | Official Importer plugin reads .enex files | Markdown files in a vault folder | App free; Sync and Publish are paid |
| Notion | Connect your Evernote account; reliable up to about 5,000 notes | Notion's cloud, in its own block format | Free plan, paid plans for teams |
| Apple Notes | File > Import to Notes, with .enex files | Apple's Notes database, synced with iCloud | Free with Apple devices |
| Bear | File > Import From > Evernote, with .enex files | Bear's own database, with export options | A free tier, and a paid subscription |
| Craft | Import from Evernote, up to 50 .enex files at a time | Blocks, synced through Craft's cloud | Free plan, then paid plans |
Facts checked on official sites, November 2026.
1. Loam: files you own, no account
- Best for
- Notes you keep for years, as files you own, on a Mac
- Notes stored as
- Markdown files in a folder you choose
- Platforms
- macOS 26 or later, on Apple silicon
- Price model
- Free and open source
Loam is a native Mac notebook, and a disclosure: it is ours. Each note is a .md file in a folder called a vault, so there is no database and no server of its own, and you need no account. If you stop using Loam, you keep every note. Evernote organizes with notebooks and tags. Loam organizes with folders, tags, backlinks, daily notes and collections that show your notes as a table, a kanban board or a gallery.
Search is the feature Evernote users ask about first. Loam searches by file name, by text and by meaning. Name and text search work out of the box. This command returns the lines of text that match, with their line numbers:
loam --vault ~/Notes search.content q=invoiceSearch by meaning needs Truffle, a separate tool, and it finds notes by what they say in any language. See Links, backlinks and search.
Loam has limits. It has no web clipper and no email-in. It has no Evernote importer, so you convert the export first, as described below. It runs on macOS only, with no iPhone or Android app, it is for one person, and its plugin catalog is younger and smaller than Obsidian's. Details: Loam vs Evernote.
2. Joplin: the closest match across platforms
- Best for
- A free Evernote replacement on every platform, with a direct ENEX import
- Notes stored as
- Markdown notes in the app's own storage
- Platforms
- Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and a terminal app
- Price model
- The app is free; Joplin Cloud is paid
Joplin imports ENEX files directly. In the desktop app, choose File > Import > ENEX and pick your file. Joplin lists tags, attached files and note metadata as imported, and each import lands in a new, separate notebook. Some things do not survive: colours, font sizes and font faces in complex notes, and links between notes, which Joplin matches by title, so a few stay Evernote links.
Joplin is open source (AGPL-3.0). It syncs through Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV, Nextcloud, S3 or a local folder, with end-to-end encryption, and it has a web clipper extension that saves pages and screenshots (the desktop app must be running). If you need Windows or a phone, Joplin is a better answer than Loam. Details: Loam vs Joplin.
3. Obsidian: Markdown with a clipper
- Best for
- Markdown notes with a very large plugin catalog, on every platform
- Notes stored as
- Plain Markdown files in a vault folder
- Platforms
- Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, iPad and Android
- Price model
- App free; Sync and Publish are paid
Obsidian imports Evernote through its official Importer plugin. You choose Evernote (.enex) as the format, select your export and review the template before you run it. The export has gaps that Obsidian documents: notebook stacks are not in it, and tag hierarchy is not kept. You can rename each file to Stack1@@@NotebookA to rebuild the stack as a folder.
Obsidian also answers the clipper question. Its Web Clipper is an official, free, open source extension for Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge and other browsers, and it saves clips as Markdown files in your vault. The app itself is closed source. If you clip a lot and want Markdown files, Obsidian is a better fit than Loam today. Details: Loam vs Obsidian.
4. Notion: a shared workspace
- Best for
- Teams and shared workspaces
- Notes stored as
- Notion's cloud, in its own block format
- Platforms
- Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android
- Price model
- A free plan, and paid plans for teams
Notion has its own Evernote importer. You sign in to Evernote and authorize Notion, under Settings > Import. Notebooks become pages in the sidebar and notes become items in a list database. Notion says the import is reliable up to about 5,000 notes, and it supports the standard edition of Evernote, not Evernote Business or Evernote China.
Notion also has a web clipper for Chrome and Safari on desktop, and a share sheet on iOS and Android. It is cloud first, with limited offline support, and it needs an account, so it moves you from one cloud to another. Pick it when you work with a team. Details: Loam vs Notion and Notion alternatives.
5. Apple Notes: free and already there
- Best for
- Simple notes, free, on the Apple devices you own
- Notes stored as
- Apple's Notes database, synced with iCloud
- Platforms
- Mac, iPhone, iPad and the web
- Price model
- Free, included with your Apple devices
Apple Notes imports ENEX files on Mac with File > Import to Notes. Each note in the file becomes its own note, and an option keeps your folder structure. Notes skips any attachment or feature it does not support, so check a few notes after the import. It is rich text, not Markdown, it has no plugin system, and you automate it with Shortcuts only. Details: Loam vs Apple Notes.
6. Bear: a calm writing app
- Best for
- Writing on Mac, iPhone and iPad, organized with tags
- Notes stored as
- Bear's own database, with export options
- Platforms
- Mac, iPhone and iPad
- Price model
- A free tier, and a paid subscription for sync and more
Bear imports ENEX with File > Import From > Evernote. Its own guide points out that an ENEX file does not say which notebook a note came from, so Bear does not carry notebooks over. Add a tag in Evernote for each notebook before you export, or import one notebook at a time and tag the notes. Bear has no plugin system. Details: Loam vs Bear.
7. Craft: polished shared documents
- Best for
- Documents that look good and that you share
- Notes stored as
- Blocks, synced through Craft's cloud, with a copy on your Apple devices
- Platforms
- Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android and the web
- Price model
- A free plan (1,500 blocks, 1 GB), and paid plans
Craft imports ENEX files directly: use the Import button in the sidebar and choose Import from Evernote. You can upload up to 50 files at a time, and the export must come from the Evernote desktop app, because the web app is not supported. Craft has a web clipper, no plugin system and no end-to-end encryption of documents. Details: Loam vs Craft.
Sources: Joplin: import and export notes ↗ · Joplin: web clipper ↗ · Obsidian: import from Evernote ↗ · Obsidian Web Clipper ↗ · Notion: import data into Notion ↗ · Notion: web clipper ↗ · Craft: import from Evernote ↗
What does Evernote still do better?
Evernote is built for capture. Its web clipper and email-in are a large part of why people use it, and Loam has no equivalent of either. In Loam you write or paste Markdown, and nothing files a web page or an email for you. Evernote also runs on Windows, Android and the web, where Loam does not.
| Loam | Evernote | |
|---|---|---|
| Where notes live | Markdown files in a folder you choose | Evernote's cloud, in its own format |
| Account | None; free and open source | Evernote account required |
| Export | Nothing to export: the files are the notes | Export to ENEX and HTML |
| Web clipper and capture | No web clipper; write or paste Markdown | Web clipper and email-in |
| Platforms | macOS 26 or later, on Apple silicon | Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and the web |
| Price | Free | A free plan (50 notes, one notebook, one device), and paid plans |
Facts checked on official sites, November 2026.
Stay on Evernote if you rely on the clipper or email-in, if you need Windows, Android or the web, or if you want a service that keeps your notes on every device with no setup. If clipping is your main use, pick an app from the list that has a clipper, such as Joplin, Obsidian, Notion or Craft.
How do I move my Evernote notes?
Export your notebooks from Evernote as ENEX files, then import them into an app that reads ENEX, or convert them to Markdown. Export one ENEX file per notebook, because the file does not record which notebook a note came from. The steps for Loam:
- In the Evernote desktop app, select a notebook, choose Export and pick ENEX as the format. Repeat for each notebook. Empty the trash first, because an ENEX export keeps trashed notes.
- Convert the ENEX files to Markdown with Yarle, an open source converter (MIT). It keeps tags, attachments and links between notes, and it runs as a desktop app or from the command line.
- Open the folder that Yarle wrote as a vault in Loam: File > Open Vault (Shift+Cmd+O). See Your first vault.
- Check a few notes before you trust the rest. Only standard Markdown links feed backlinks, so look at the links between notes.
A second route exists. Apple Notes and Bear both read ENEX, and Loam imports both of them. Import the export into Bear or Apple Notes first, then run the Loam importer as a dry run, which writes nothing and shows what would change:
loam --vault ~/Notes import.apple-notes dry-run=trueThat route depends on what Apple Notes keeps, and Notes skips features it does not support. Yarle lists tags, attachments and note links among what it converts, so use it first when those matter. The importers copy notes into Imported/<app> in your vault and never overwrite a file that exists.
Sources: Yarle: Evernote to Markdown converter ↗ · Bear: migrate from Evernote ↗ · Apple Support: import notes to the Notes app ↗
Which Evernote alternative should you pick?
- Files you own, no account, on a Mac: Loam.
- The closest match across platforms, with a direct ENEX import: Joplin.
- Markdown plus a clipper that saves files, with many plugins: Obsidian.
- A shared workspace for a team: Notion.
- Free, simple and already installed: Apple Notes.
- Quiet writing with tags on Apple devices: Bear.
- Polished documents you share: Craft.
- The web clipper and email-in are the point: stay on Evernote.
For the wider field, see the best note-taking apps for Mac.
Try Loam
Loam is free and installs with one command on a Mac with macOS 26 or later and Apple silicon. Start with Install Loam, convert one notebook with Yarle and open it as a vault, then decide. Read Loam vs Evernote for the full comparison, or browse every comparison.
