Evernote is one of the best-known note apps, and its free plan is a fair place to start. The page I reviewed lists a Free plan, Starter, Advanced, and enterprise tiers, but it does not show a dollar price for any of them. That is the first reason people go looking for alternatives: they want a price they can see before they commit. I run my own stores and teach high-ticket dropshipping at Ecommerce Paradise, so I judge note apps by how well they hold supplier details, product research, and the steps of a repeatable order process.
Everything below comes from each vendor’s own page as I reviewed it. Where a page does not show a number, I write “not shown” instead of guessing. Prices change often, so confirm them before you sign up. Some links in this article are affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you sign up, at no extra cost to you.
A notes app helps once you have a business to run. If you are still deciding what to sell, start with my guide to what high-ticket dropshipping is before you build folders and templates.
Evernote Alternatives at a Glance
| Tool | Starting price | Free option | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notion | Plus at $10 per member a month | Free plan | Owners who want notes, documents, and tasks in one place |
| Microsoft OneNote | Included in Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year | Not shown on the page | Owners who already use Microsoft apps |
| Obsidian | App is free; Sync is $4 a month billed annually | Free app, no sign-up required | Owners who want local files and full control |
| Joplin | Joplin Cloud Basic at 2.40 euros a month billed annually | Not shown for the app | Owners who want paid sync at a low price |
| Simplenote | Free | Completely free | Owners who want quick, plain notes |
A notes app is only useful once you have a store to run. If you want a high-ticket store built for you, start here. See the done-for-you store build →
What Evernote Costs and Where It Falls Short
The Evernote comparison page lists five plans: Free, Starter, Advanced, Flexible, and Unlimited. Free includes 50 notes, 1 notebook, 5 spaces, 20 tags, 200 attachments, 1 device, and 1 GB of storage. Starter raises that to 1,000 notes, 20 notebooks, 10 spaces, 100 tags, 1,000 attachments, 3 devices, and 5 GB.
Advanced lists unlimited notes, spaces, tags, attachments, and storage, with unlimited devices and notebooks subject to safeguard limits meant to protect performance. The page lists features such as AI Assistant, AI Transcribe, offline notes, and in-note encryption, but the text version does not show which plan includes each one. Flexible and Unlimited are enterprise tiers, and the page says enterprise plans require contacting sales.
Paid plans come with a 7-day free trial unless otherwise specified, and you can choose monthly or yearly billing. Eligible college students can get 40% off a one-year Advanced subscription. Prices and refund terms are not shown on the page.
The main drawback for a small store is the free plan. One device and 50 notes fill up fast if you keep supplier details, product research, and order steps in one place. If a price you cannot see is the sticking point, the tools below publish their numbers openly. My AI note taking apps guide covers apps that add transcription and summaries.
How to Pick a Notes App
Start with where you work. If you move between a phone, a laptop, and a tablet, check how many devices each free plan allows. Evernote’s free plan lists 1 device, which is a real limit for a store owner who is out and about.
Next, think about how you search. A notes app is only as good as your ability to find what you wrote last month. Tags, folders, and search all help, so test them with a handful of real notes before you move everything over.
Finally, decide how much control you want. Some tools store notes on a company’s servers, and some keep notes as files on your own computer. Pick the one you will open every day, because a tool you ignore is worth nothing.
1. Notion
Notion lists Free, Plus at $10, Business at $20, and Enterprise as custom, per member per month. The page says you can save up to 20% with yearly billing but does not show each plan’s monthly and yearly price. The Free plan lists a 5 MB file upload limit and 7 days of page history.
Plus, Business, and Enterprise list file uploads up to 5 GB each. Page history is 30 days on Plus and 90 days on Business. The page lists a full refund within 3 days of monthly signup or 30 days of annual signup.
Notion suits owners who want notes, documents, and tasks in one workspace. It is a bigger tool than a plain note app, so expect to spend an afternoon setting it up. I cover it in more depth in my Notion alternatives guide. My Notion pricing breakdown goes through each plan.
2. Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft OneNote does not show a standalone price on the page I reviewed. The page lists Microsoft 365 plans instead: Personal at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, Family at $12.99 a month or $129.99 a year, and Premium at $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year.
Personal lists OneNote desktop apps, use on PCs, Macs, phones, and tablets, sign-in on up to 5 devices at once, and 1 TB of cloud storage. Family covers 1 to 6 people with 2 TB of shared storage. Premium storage is not shown.
The page offers a one-month free trial of Personal, Family, and Premium. It says a credit card is required, and the trial converts to a paid 12-month subscription unless you cancel. Whether the OneNote mobile app is free is not shown, so check the app store listing before you count on it.
3. Obsidian
Obsidian lists the app as free without limits, with no sign-up required. Sync is $5 per user per month or $4 billed annually. Publish is $10 per site per month or $8 billed annually.
Sync lists syncing across devices, end-to-end encryption, version history, shared vault collaboration, and priority support. Publish lists publishing to the web, a customizable theme, and graph and full text search. Storage limits are not shown.
The FAQ says a commercial license is not required, though organizations are encouraged to buy one at $50 per user per year. Sync and Publish list a full refund within 7 days. Students, faculty, and nonprofit employees get 40% off Sync and Publish.
4. Joplin
Joplin lists Joplin Cloud plans in euros. Basic is 2.99 euros a month or 2.40 euros a month billed annually (28.69 euros a year), with 2 GB of storage and a 10 MB limit per note or attachment. Pro is 5.99 euros a month or 4.79 euros billed annually (57.48 euros a year), with 30 GB upgradable to 100 GB and a 200 MB limit.
Pro 100 GB is 9.99 euros a month or 7.99 euros billed annually (95.88 euros a year). Teams is 7.99 euros per user a month, or 6.69 euros billed annually, with a minimum of 2 users and 50 GB. Joplin Server Business is priced per user for 2 or more users, with tiers from 40 to 30 euros per user per year.
Basic lists publishing, unlimited device sync, a web app, and Joplin Cloud AI in beta. Pro adds sharing notebooks with others, Email to Note, and a custom publishing banner. The page refers to open source applications in its FAQ but does not state the price of the app itself.
5. Simplenote
Simplenote says it is completely free, including apps, backups, syncing, and sharing. The page lists iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux, and the web. Notes update across all devices automatically and in real time.
The page lists Markdown support, tags, instant search, and the ability to share a list or publish notes online. Each change is backed up, so you can view notes from earlier weeks or months. Attachment, storage, and team features are not shown.
Simplenote suits owners who want a fast place to capture a thought and nothing more. If you need folders, databases, or file storage, one of the other four tools will fit better.
What Each Option Costs Per Year
These totals are my own math from the listed prices, for one person on annual billing where the page shows it. Evernote is not shown, so I cannot total it. Simplenote works out to $0, and the Obsidian app works out to $0 as well.
Obsidian Sync works out to $48 a year at the annual rate and $60 at the monthly rate. Joplin Basic is 28.69 euros and Pro is 57.48 euros a year. Microsoft 365 Personal is $99.99 a year and Family is $129.99. Notion Plus would work out to $120 a year if the listed $10 is a monthly rate, but the page does not say.
Which Tool Fits Which Store Owner
If you work alone, a free tool is usually enough. Simplenote and the Obsidian app both list a price of zero, and either can hold supplier names, product notes, and order steps. Start there before you pay for anything.
If you share notes with a helper, look at Notion or Joplin. Notion lists member pricing and free guests, and Joplin Teams lists shared notebooks for two or more users. Either works for a short list of written steps that a helper can follow.
If your life is already in Microsoft apps, OneNote may be the least effort. The cost is the Microsoft 365 plan, so compare the yearly price with what you pay now. Pick the tool you will open each morning.
Using a Notes App for a High-Ticket Store
High-ticket orders have more steps than low-ticket ones. You may need to confirm stock, get a quote from a supplier, arrange freight, and follow up with the buyer. A note for each step keeps those orders from slipping.
Create one note for each supplier with the contact name, phone number, and quote history. Keep a second note for your order process, written as numbered steps a helper can follow. Keep a third for product research, with links to the pages you checked.
If you sell on a hosted platform, a store on Shopify gives you the order data that your notes refer to. My guide to task management apps covers the tools that turn those notes into assigned work.
Costs to Watch as You Grow
The first cost is devices. Evernote’s free plan lists 1 device and Starter lists 3, so a store owner with a phone, laptop, and tablet needs to check this before choosing. Obsidian and Simplenote list no device cap on their pages.
The second cost is storage. Joplin Basic lists 2 GB and a 10 MB limit per note, Evernote Free lists 1 GB, and Notion Free lists a 5 MB file limit. If you save supplier price sheets and product photos, those caps matter.
The third cost is add-ons. Obsidian charges separately for Sync and Publish, and Microsoft bundles OneNote with a wider plan. Count what you will use before you compare sticker prices.
Moving Away From Evernote Safely
I did not see export details on the Evernote pricing page, so check your account settings for the export options before you start. Export a small batch first and open the files in the new tool. Make sure titles, tags, and attachments came across.
Write down how you organize notes today. If you use notebooks and tags, decide how they map to folders or tags in the new tool. Move one notebook at a time and test search on a few real notes.
Keep your Evernote account active for a few weeks until the new tool feels reliable. The page says subscriptions bought through iTunes or Google Play must be managed through those stores, so cancel in the right place. Check the terms before you cancel.
When Evernote Is Still the Right Pick
Evernote still makes sense in many cases. If your notes already live there and the plan fits your budget, moving costs time. The free plan lets you test with 50 notes before you pay, and the page lists a 7-day trial on paid plans.
Advanced lists unlimited notes, storage, and attachments, along with AI features, which suits a heavy note taker. If you rely on those features and the price works for you, there is no rush to leave. Match the tool to how you actually work.
Hiring Help to Organize Your Notes
Note work is easy to hand off once you write down the steps. A virtual assistant from OnlineJobs.ph can file supplier details, tidy tags, and keep your order notes current from a written guide. Include screenshots so they know where each type of note belongs.
For a logo or a custom template, a freelancer on Fiverr can deliver a one-off job. A branded email address through Google Workspace helps your replies look trustworthy when you write to suppliers.
Common Mistakes With Notes Apps
The first mistake is building a complex system for a small store. Start with a few notes and add structure only when you need it. The second mistake is never writing down the order process, which leaves every sale depending on your memory.
The third mistake is organizing notes before your business is set up. If you have not formed your company, read my guide to business formation for high-ticket dropshipping. To file an LLC quickly, Bizee is one option I recommend.
The fourth mistake is keeping notes about a niche you have not chosen. Pick one from my high-ticket niches list first. My guide to finding suppliers for high-ticket dropshipping covers the sourcing side.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best Evernote alternative?
It depends on how you work. Notion fits owners who want notes and tasks together, Obsidian fits owners who want a free app with local control, and Simplenote fits owners who want quick, plain notes at no cost.
How much does Evernote cost?
The page I reviewed lists Free, Starter, Advanced, Flexible, and Unlimited plans but does not show a dollar price for any of them. It lists a 7-day free trial on paid plans, so check the price at checkout.
Which Evernote alternative is free?
Simplenote says it is completely free, and the Obsidian app is listed as free without limits. Notion also lists a Free plan, though it caps file uploads at 5 MB.
Do I need a notes app for a small store?
Not always. A solo owner can start with a free tool and a few notes. A notes app becomes more useful once you have helpers, suppliers, and several orders in progress at once.
Can I move my notes to another app?
You can usually rebuild them. Export a small batch first, check that titles, tags, and attachments came across, and then move one notebook at a time.
Final Verdict on Evernote Alternatives
Notion is the best pick for owners who want notes, documents, and tasks in one workspace, Obsidian fits owners who want a free app and control over their files, OneNote suits people who already pay for Microsoft 365, Joplin suits owners who want low-cost paid sync, and Simplenote suits anyone who wants fast, free, plain notes. Evernote is still worth a look if you need its higher limits and AI features and the price fits your budget.
Start with the free option that matches how you work, confirm any paid price on the vendor page, and write down your order process first. Then spend your attention on the store itself, because a tidy note only helps once buyers trust what you sell.
Want a high-ticket store ready for your notes and processes? Let my team build it for you. Get your store built →
Prefer to learn the model yourself? Start with my free mini course, or go deeper in the masterclass and coaching. Free mini course → Masterclass → Coaching →
Related Articles
If you found this useful, these guides go deeper on related topics:
- Notion Alternatives: 5 Workspace Tools Compared for Store Owners (2026)
- Best AI Note Taking Apps (2026): 8 Picks Compared by Price and Fit
- Notion Pricing in 2026: Free, Plus, Business and What You Actually Pay
- Best Task Management Apps (2026): 9 Picks Compared by Price and Fit for Store Owners
- Otter.ai Alternatives 2026: 7 Notetakers Compared by Price, Limits and Fit
Trevor Fenner is an ecommerce entrepreneur and world traveler from Seattle, Washington, and the founder of Ecommerce Paradise, a platform focused on helping entrepreneurs build and scale profitable high-ticket ecommerce and dropshipping businesses. With over a decade of hands-on experience, Trevor specializes in high-ticket dropshipping strategy, niche and product selection, supplier recruiting and onboarding, Google & Bing Shopping ads, ecommerce SEO, and systems-driven automation and scaling. Through Ecommerce Paradise, he provides free education via in-depth guides like How to Start High-Ticket Dropshipping, advanced training through the High-Ticket Dropshipping Masterclass, and fully done-for-you turnkey ecommerce services for entrepreneurs who want a faster, more hands-off path to growth. Trevor is known for emphasizing sustainable, real-world ecommerce models over hype-driven tactics, helping store owners build scalable, sellable, and location-independent brands.
He maintains homes in Seattle and Bali, spends most of the year overseas, and usually returns to Seattle for about a month each summer.
