Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#1

Post by eswat » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 2:31 PM UTC

Given the amount of people asking for alternatives in the Evernote thread making the waves right now and since I’ve been looking for one for a while now, figured I ask what others use.

OneNote, Simplenote, org-mode seem to be some popular ones.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#2

Post by dmn757 » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 2:53 PM UTC

Probably not nearly as feature packed or maintained, but Google Keep (https://drive.google.com/keep/) is an option.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#3

Post by StuieK » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 2:56 PM UTC

Here is a crowdsourced list: http://www.slant.co/topics/697/~what-is-the-best-cross-platf...

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#4

Post by contextual » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 2:59 PM UTC

Definitely check out Springpad: https://springpad.com/about

For me, I've been using Basecamp for practically everything. It's so useful and reliable, and the mobile site has the best most functional interface I've ever used.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#5

Post by jxf » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 2:59 PM UTC

dmn757 wrote: post #2

Probably not nearly as feature packed or maintained, but Google Keep ( https://drive.google.com/keep/ ) is an option.

Did everyone forget the lessons of Google Reader that quickly? I wouldn't use Google Keep.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#6

Post by zaqokm » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 3:00 PM UTC

My 2 cents :) The trouble is that there are little or no real alternatives. There are plenty of hacks like dropbox, simple note, etc but nothing with the complete functionality and cross platform capabilities which Evernote.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#7

Post by frossie » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 3:04 PM UTC

contextual wrote: post #4

Definitely check out Springpad: https://springpad.com/about For me, I've been using Basecamp for practically everything. It's so useful and reliable, and the mobile site has the best most functional interface I've ever used.

The problem with these (and all the other alternatives I've seen in this post so far) is that they ignore the one thing that locks people into Evernote despite the bugs, poor interface etc: scanner-support and OCR. Sure, if you have your information in digital form already, there's a bunch of decent solutions, but in terms of killing the paper mountain I am not aware of anything that supports that workflow, certainly not that easily.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#8

Post by AH4oFVbPT4f8 » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 3:04 PM UTC

I'm a long time Evernote user and honestly, it's great for record keeping but I find it pretty awful for daily use.

A huge improvement could be made by Evernote if they would support markdown within their notes. Currently the editor is very basic and can't handle functions like tables very well (creating them sure, but then adding/removing cells or sizing them is a chore)

OneNote has the best editor but it's also a lot heavier than evernote.

Google Keep can't be an option after what Google does with it's side projects like iGoogle and Reader.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#9

Post by patrickmay » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 3:05 PM UTC

I use OmniFocus. It is relatively easy to customize it to support GTD, but it is commercial software. I believe the price is around USD 80.

Re: Ask HN: Alternatives to Evernote?

#10

Post by grimlck » Sat, Jan 04, 2014, 3:08 PM UTC

Does anyone know of any note apps which support Linux, iOS, Windows, and OS X. Starts up fast. For example, vi starts up fast. Works offline and online. Always syncs without a manual step.

I don't care about pictures, or audio, or OCR, etc. I just want the basics to work and work perfectly.