In today's world, being able to take notes through an app which can sync your data across different devices is invaluable. Ever since it was released in 2008, Evernote has been regarded as being one of the leading note taking apps in the industry. Even though the company has received an abundance of criticism for eliminating features from the free version of the app, as well as for hiking it's prices throughout the years, it has been consistently listed as the Editor's Choice on prominent organizations such as Forbes, CNET Downloads, PC MAG and more.

While expenses associated with the premium version of the app may turn some people off, the free version still has an abundance of features that is adequate for the average user. Since its 12 years of existence, the app has gone one to acquire over 200 million users. When you take a closer look into the impressive amount of features that it provides, this comes as no surprise. Evernote gives users the ability to capture and manage memories, projects and to-do lists. Users can also use it to write notes, scan images, take voice memories or attach documents. Evernote has an abundance of features that makes it distinctive from every other note taking app that's available.

Features And Benefits

When used correctly, it can operate as a reliable project management tool as to which a team of individuals can access from various devices such as PCs, tablets and smartphones. This eliminates the possibility of losing data, because all team members are able to connect and utilize the app whenever they choose. Users are able to create different types of notes such as audio recordings, photos, attachments, reminders and handwriting scribbles. However, since Evernote is a note take app at its core, most of the options and features that the app providers are centered on enhancing the note taking process. When it comes to creating a new note, besides the traditional blank note, users can create a meeting note, to-do-list, lecture note, daily reflection or essay outline. The vast amount of different notes that you can take can help you with everything from school requirements, personal life and work needs. For instance, its essay outline is ideal for college students who need a reliable template for writing essays.

Once a user has created a note, the app provides various options as to how to store, organize and group these notes. Users are able to group and organize notes in various ways such as to create tags or to crosslink between notes. Users are also able to utilize a search tool so that they can locate files and words across their collection of notes. Users are able to search by keyword, the date the note was created, or by the location of where the note was written. By getting the paid version of the app, users can search through and annotate PDF files. It's document scanning feature is able to scan various documents such as receipts, menus, business cards and other printed material. All a user has to do to scan a document is to take a picture, and allow the app's scanner to convert symbols and words within the image to text. Another profound feature that makes this app distinctive from every other note taking app is its ability to be integrated with a wide array of popular apps such as Google Drive, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Outlook and Gmail.

Users that utilize Evernote from their PCs get access to additional features such as a web clipper browser addon. The web clipper addon, enables you to capture clips of text and images that you came across on the web, as to which gets saved directly into Evernote. But unlike other screenshot tools ,users are also able to clip very specific portions of web content, such as to avoid capturing unwanted ads or sections of the webpage that you'd rather not include. In the same breath, it's worth noting that some of the biggest issues with Everton stem from the fact that if you wish to use the app in a professional capacity, you'll have to get the paid version as the features between different plans vary.

Before we go into the differences between the free and premium versions of the app, it's important to note that when Evernote was initially launched it provided users with an abundance of features. But, over time as the app's subscriber base grew, it added more and more restrictions to the free version of the app. With the free version of Evernote, there's a 60MB monthly upload limit which may not be an issue to the average user that primarily utilizes it for taking text based notes. But, users who like the idea of recording audio notes or sharing pictures, will quickly go over the 60MB limit as a standard photo is anywhere from 2MB to 5MB. With that said, it's evident that the free version is not ideal for small teams. In addition to the 60MB upload limit, the free version also comes with a 25MB note storage limit as well.

When it comes to the paid version of Evernote, users have two options: business and premium. The premium plan cost $7.99 per month. Unlike the free version which can only be synced across 2 devices, the premium version can sync notes across an unlimited amount of devices. It also has a 10GB monthly limit as well as a note size cap of 200MB. Premium users also get access to advanced features such as the ability to annotate PDF files and the ability to access notes offline. Next up is the business version. At $14.99 per month, as its name suggests the business version is aimed towards business owners. The business version has a 20GB monthly upload limit. Unlike the free version and premium version, the business version gives users access to team management and team collaboration features as well as to enable users to integrate Evernote with various tools such as Salesforce. Regardless of which paid plan a user signs up for, they have 30 days to give the app a test run to determine if it suits their needs.

Pros

• Perfect For Professionals - When it's all said and done, Evernote is a leader within the industry for a good reason. It's extensive list of features that it provides through its paid versions are superior to every other note taking app on the market.
• Take Notes In Multiple Formats - The software enables you to take notes in multiple formats such as text, audio and photos.

Cons

• Better Options For Free Users - While the stripped down version of the app provides an adequate amount of options for free users, there are other free apps on the market that provides more features.

Is Evernote Useful?

The stripped down free version of the app is adequate for personal note taking. However, if you need it for something more serious, you'll have to choose one of the paid versions in order to fully utilize its extensive list of features such as team collaboration tools. But, even though the app is regarded as being one of the leaders in the industry, the reality of the fact is that other free note taking apps such as Microsoft OneNote, provide their free users with advanced features that free Evernote users don't have access to such as the ability to access notes offline, annotate PDFs, search for text inside Office docs and the ability sync across more than just 2 devices alone.