Decision snapshot
- Best for: Obsidian if you want ownership, extensibility, and low recurring cost. Evernote if you want quick capture and search with minimal setup.
- Not for: Obsidian if you hate tuning settings/plugins. Evernote if you need generous free limits or flexible pricing.
- Budget tier: Obsidian can stay near
$0for core use; Evernote’s useful tier starts at paid plans. - Complexity: Obsidian is medium-high complexity. Evernote is low-medium complexity.
Notion is a broad workspace: notes, light databases, docs, and collaboration in one app. For personal use, most people only need one or two of those jobs done well. That is the right frame for this choice: pick the tool that matches your primary workflow, not the one with the longest feature page.
First Impressions
When I first opened Obsidian, it felt like a clean editor with power hidden behind menus. The onboarding is fast because there is barely any forced setup. You create or open a vault, start writing Markdown, and the app gets out of your way. The flip side appears quickly: if you want Notion-like polish out of the box, you must assemble it through core settings and plugins.
Opening Evernote feels more guided. It pushes you toward capture: notes, web clips, tasks, and search. The structure is familiar for anyone coming from older productivity apps, and you can become operational in minutes. That first hour is smoother than Obsidian, but you also feel the boundaries sooner because organization and customization are more plan- and product-defined.
Use case fit (facts):
Obsidian stores notes as local Markdown files in a vault and supports third-party sync options, including its own Sync add-on. Evernote’s current model is cloud-first with strict limits by tier, including explicit note/notebook caps on lower plans.
Use case fit (interpretation):
If your personal system is “think, link, refine over years,” Obsidian aligns better. If your system is “capture quickly and retrieve later,” Evernote aligns better.
What Worked
Obsidian delivered strongest in workflow depth. Backlinks, graph navigation, properties, and daily-note workflows are excellent once configured. Community plugins add real leverage for personal systems: habit tracking, spaced repetition, Kanban boards, publishing, and import tools. The practical result is that one vault can become a writing space, reading system, and project tracker without monthly lock-in pressure.
Evernote worked best in frictionless capture and retrieval. Web Clipper remains one of its strongest utilities for clipping articles and pages into a searchable archive. For users who want one inbox for ideas, receipts, scans, and references, Evernote’s default UX requires fewer decisions. Search and basic organization are fast enough that you spend more time collecting and less time tweaking.
| Area | Obsidian | Evernote | What It Means in Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Use case fit | Local-first knowledge system | Capture-and-retrieve notebook | Pick Obsidian for deep personal knowledge work; pick Evernote for quick intake. |
| Workflow depth | High, plugin-extensible | Moderate, opinionated | Obsidian scales with your process; Evernote scales with your volume. |
| Collaboration model | Limited for personal unless using Sync/shared vault patterns | Basic sharing plus team-oriented paths | Neither is ideal for heavy real-time personal collaboration, but Evernote is simpler to share casually. |
| Automation/integrations | Strong via plugins and external file workflows | Strong native capture tools (web/mobile/email) | Obsidian rewards technical users; Evernote rewards users who want defaults. |
| Data portability | Plain-text Markdown files | Export exists, but model is service-centric | Obsidian lowers migration risk over time. |
A second win for Obsidian is pricing elasticity. The core app is free for personal use, and paid add-ons are optional. You can run years on free plus your own sync stack if you are comfortable managing it. That directly addresses a common Notion-personal-user complaint: paying for features they do not use.
Evernote’s practical win is speed-to-value. You can install it, clip ten pages, scan a few docs, and have a searchable system the same day with less design work. For many users, that immediacy is worth paying for.
What Didn’t
Obsidian’s downside is setup burden. You must decide folder strategy, naming conventions, plugin stack, sync path, and backup method. The app does not force a structure, which is powerful and expensive at the same time. New users can spend days optimizing instead of capturing useful notes.
There is also plugin risk. Obsidian explicitly warns that community plugins run third-party code and cannot be fully permission-sandboxed. For personal users storing sensitive content, this is not theoretical risk. It is manageable, but it requires discipline about what you install.
Evernote’s main friction is value per dollar for solo users. Free-tier constraints are tight, and paid tiers moved to Starter/Advanced pricing that can feel steep compared with local-first alternatives. If your use is mostly text notes and personal planning, the price-to-flexibility ratio is weaker than Obsidian.
The second issue is migration and future-proofing concerns. Evernote can export data, but the day-to-day system is still tied to platform constraints, plan logic, and cloud behavior. If your priority is long-term ownership and low switching cost, that architecture is a structural tradeoff.
Pricing Reality Check
Below are the numbers that matter for a personal user in 2026.
Facts (checked February 16, 2026):
- Obsidian core app: free without limits for personal use; optional Sync at
$4/monthannual ($5monthly), Publish at$8/monthannual ($10monthly). - Evernote Starter:
$14.99/monthor$99/year; Evernote Advanced:$24.99/monthor$249.99/year(USD). - Evernote free/low-tier limits remain strict in current help docs (for Free: 50 notes, 1 notebook; Starter has 1,000 notes and 20 notebooks).
| Scenario (personal use) | Obsidian likely annual cost | Evernote likely annual cost | What It Means in Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Text notes on one device | $0 | $0 (but severe limits) | Both can be free, but Evernote free is restrictive fast. |
| Multi-device personal notes | $48 with Sync (optional) | $99 with Starter | Obsidian is usually cheaper for comparable personal access. |
| Heavy media + high volume | $48-$120 depending on add-ons | $249.99 Advanced | Evernote becomes significantly more expensive at scale. |
Interpretation:
Most individual users will either pay less with Obsidian or get more flexibility per dollar. Evernote can still be rational if your top priority is frictionless capture and you are comfortable paying for convenience.
Assumption and uncertainty:
Regional app-store pricing and promotions can differ from web pricing. I scored using USD list prices published in official help/pricing material on February 16, 2026.
Sources (checked February 16, 2026):
- https://obsidian.md/pricing.html
- https://help.obsidian.md/data-storage
- https://help.obsidian.md/community-plugins
- https://help.obsidian.md/plugin-security
- https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/46317642175763-Discontinuing-Evernote-Personal-Professional-Introducing-Starter-Advanced-FAQ
- https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/28473709485331-Why-Can-t-I-Create-New-Notes-in-Evernote
- https://evernote.com/features/webclipper
Who Should Pick Which
Choose Obsidian if you are a solo creator, student, researcher, or operator building a long-lived personal knowledge base. It is the better Notion alternative for most personal users because it combines low cost, local control, and workflow depth.
- Tradeoff: You will spend setup time and make more architecture decisions.
- Risk: A sloppy plugin stack can introduce security or maintenance headaches.
Pick Evernote if you are a capture-first user who wants quick notes, clipping, scans, and search with minimal configuration. It is the better fit when speed and simplicity beat customization.
- Tradeoff: Higher recurring cost for full usefulness.
- Risk: Tier limits and pricing shifts can force plan upgrades sooner than expected.
Scenario picks:
- If you are a freelance writer with limited budget and multi-device needs, choose Obsidian.
- If you are a consultant capturing web research and meeting artifacts daily with low setup tolerance, choose Evernote.
- If you are a student building a long-term study vault and want migration safety, choose Obsidian.
- If you want a ready-made inbox today and accept paid lock-in for convenience, choose Evernote.