Apple Notes vs Evernote
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Apple Notes is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 7.7. Apple Notes wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Evernote on 1.
iPhone, iPad and Mac owners who want a fast, free place for everyday notes
Long-time users with large archives of clipped articles and scanned documents
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Apple Notes | Evernote |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Productivity & Notes | Productivity & Notes |
| Category rank | #5 of 17 | #17 of 17 |
| Developer | Apple | Bending Spoons |
| Pricing | Free | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | — | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | — | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Apple Notes better than Evernote?
Apple Notes is the better app overall, scoring 9.0 to 7.7. Apple Notes wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Evernote on 1.
Which is cheaper, Apple Notes or Evernote?
Apple Notes: Free; syncs with 5 GB of free iCloud storage, and iCloud+ starts at $0.99 a month. Evernote: Limited free plan; Starter $99/year or $14.99/month. On value for money, Apple Notes scores higher.
Do Apple Notes and Evernote work on the same devices?
Only Evernote runs on Android, Windows.
Which is more private, Apple Notes or Evernote?
Apple Notes scores higher on privacy (9.0/10). App Store label: no tracking. Your note content and an ID are linked to you; usage data is not. Turn on Advanced Data Protection and your iCloud notes are end-to-end encrypted.
Strengths and weaknesses
Apple Notes
- Free and built into every iPhone, iPad and Mac
- Handwriting, scans, tables and transcripts in one app
- No tracking, according to the App Store label
- No Android or Windows app, only iCloud.com in a browser
- Free iCloud storage is just 5 GB
- Not end-to-end encrypted unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection
Apple Notes is free, already on your iPhone, iPad and Mac, and a lot better than most people think. You get checklists, tables, document scanning, handwriting, Math Notes and audio recordings with written transcripts. Share notes with family, lock private ones and export to Markdown. Everything syncs through iCloud. The catch is that it lives in Apple's world, with only a web version for Windows and Android.
Full Apple Notes review
Evernote
- Excellent web clipper for saving articles
- Finds text inside images, PDFs and scans
- Mature apps on phone, desktop and web
- Free plan stops at 50 notes and one notebook
- Paid plans cost more than most rivals
- Google Play lists the Android app as containing ads
Evernote is still a capable place to capture everything. The web clipper is excellent, search finds text inside images and PDFs, and notes, tasks and calendar live together. Version 11 added an AI Assistant, semantic search and meeting transcripts, and updates keep coming. The problem is value: the free plan stops at 50 notes, and paid plans cost more than most rivals. Hard to recommend unless you already rely on it.
Full Evernote review
