If you’re anything like me, you could use a little more help to organize your life. I gave up years ago on the idea of ever reading every email in my four different inboxes; it’s been months since I’ve had all my clean laundry folded and put away rather than in an unruly, evolving pile; and the idea of completing any kind of project around the house is laughable.
Luckily for me, there is a wealth of technology out there designed to make organization and managing projects easier. Evernote, a cross-platform note-taking and organization app, is one of the most popular tools in the world for learning to organize.
It has almost 600K likes on Facebook, 445K followers on Twitter, and around 200 million users as of last year. The Business version of the app has garnered almost 2,300 reviews on our site (if you’ve tried it, please add your own thoughts!) for an overall rating of 4.5/5 stars.
Chris Hardwick — who must be really organized to put out three podcasts and a handful of TV shows every week — swears by Evernote. The app’s slogan is “Get organized. Work smarter. Remember everything.” That explains the elephant logo.
Evernote is a unique animal — part collaboration tool, part task management tool, part project management app. It has a robust free option, a well-liked Web Clipper extension, and it saves everything.
What’s wrong with Evernote?
After all that glowing praise, You may be wondering why you shouldn’t just download Evernote and begin to organize. It’s been around for years and has long been a favorite tool. But in recent years, after a change in management and subsequent feature bloat, that sentiment has started to cool. Some reviewers report that the mobile app has a bit of a learning curve to master before you can make the most of it. Others find that it doesn’t play well with Microsoft Office or Google Docs.
Evernote customer service also leaves something to be desired. On the free plan, responses from the online help portal can take up to a week. Even on the Plus or Premium plans, you get email or live chat support, but no phone support. Evernote’s Power Users have even kept a forum to discuss the app’s continued shortcomings for more than three years.
Much of the ire was fueled by Evernote’s decision in 2016 to raise prices on its paid plans, and remove some features (such as email to note) from the free, basic plan, which only includes 60 MB of storage.
5 Evernote Alternatives to Organize Your Life
To address Evernote’s shortcomings, I looked for task management apps that are easy to use and have a reputation for good customer service. Since Evernote has a free version, I looked for options that also have a free version. Finally, since Evernote is known for its note-taking feature, I made sure that all of these options are built around taking notes, and not just ToDo apps or task management apps.
Then I went shopping, and here is what I found, listed in alphabetical order.
1. Apple Notes
Apple Notes new features in iOS 11
If you own an iPhone, iPad, or Mac computer, you’ve probably noticed that little notepad icon with the yellow paper. You may have even used it to put together a quick shopping list or to-do list.
In the past, that was about all the app was good for. But recent updates have turned Apple Notes into a more complete task management tool, and if you regularly use iOS devices, it could be the simple, free Evernote alternative you’ve been looking for.
After the iOS 11 update, Notes users can now make checklists and tables, pin and search notes for better organization, scan entire documents, and share notes with their contacts.
