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Scratchpad vs Evernote

Scratchpad costs less than Evernote Advanced and has no caps on notes, notebooks, or devices. It locks whole notes, exports everything as Markdown, shares and publishes, and includes an assistant, transcription, and PDF markup. Evernote is still the strongest at capture, with a web clipper, email-in, scanning, and search that reads handwriting.

Facts checked Sources All comparisons

In November 2025 Evernote replaced its plans with Starter and Advanced, and for many long-time subscribers the price went up sharply, with caps on notes, notebooks, and devices below the top plan. Scratchpad is one price with none of those caps: a quick, calm notes app with an assistant, transcription, PDF markup, sharing, and publishing included, and every note yours to take as Markdown.

The short answer

Choose Scratchpad if

  • You want one price with no caps on notes, folders, or devices
  • You want to lock whole notes with a password, not just a selection of text
  • You want to take your notes with you as Markdown, whenever you like
  • You want an assistant, voice memo transcription, PDF markup, sharing, and publishing included
  • You want something quick and quiet that does notes well

Choose Evernote if

  • You capture a lot: web pages, forwarded emails, receipts, and business cards
  • You need search that reads handwriting, or text in languages beyond English and French
  • You want tasks and a calendar in the same app as your notes

At a glance

Scratchpad Evernote
Price a month US$12, or US$8 with your own AI key Starter US$14.99, Advanced US$24.99
Price a year US$120, or US$80 with your own AI key Starter US$99, Advanced US$249.99
Free plan With a 30-day money-back guarantee 50 notes on one device
Notes and notebooks No limit Free 50 notes, Starter 1,000, Advanced no limit
Devices No limit Free 1, Starter 3, Advanced no limit
Storage 10 GB Free 1 GB, Starter 5 GB, Advanced no limit
Lock a whole note With its own password Selected text only, on Mac, Windows, and web
Export as Markdown One note or everything ENEX, HTML, or PDF, 100 notes at a time
Share with anyone by link With a password or expiry View or edit
Publishing In one click Public view links
Voice to text 20 hours a month In more than 50 languages
PDF markup
Search inside PDFs and Office files
Search text in photos and scans Printed text in English and French
Search handwriting
Web clipper For Safari, Chrome, and Firefox, plus a bookmarklet
Email-in
Built-in AI Assistant for the note you're in Assistant across your account, semantic search, meeting notes
Tasks and calendar Checklists and reminders Tasks, reminders, and a calendar
API and AI connectors API and MCP server on both plans MCP server on paid plans. The older API is deprecated
Platforms Apps for Mac and Linux, plus any browser, installable on iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Native on Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, and Android, plus the web

Evernote's prices through the App Store and Google Play can differ.

Where Scratchpad is better

Scratchpad on a computer: folders on the left, a list of notes, and a note called Lisbon in October with a checklist and a day-by-day plan in a table.

Lock a whole note

Evernote can encrypt a selection of text inside a note, on Mac, Windows, and the web, but can't lock a whole note or notebook, and has no end-to-end encryption. A locked Scratchpad note has its text and history encrypted with a key made from its password, so what we store can't be read without it, and opens with Face ID or Touch ID once you set that up.

Your own AI key, and an assistant that asks first

Add an Anthropic, OpenAI, or Gemini key and Scratchpad's assistant has no message limit, for US$8 a month. It reads the note you're in, and its edits arrive as a change you approve before anything moves.

Share, publish, and write together

A Scratchpad share link can read or edit, carry a password, and expire after a day, a week, or a month, and nobody needs an account to edit alongside you. Share a whole folder the same way, or publish a note as a clean page.

Notes that can hold more

Tabs, collapsible panels, callouts, code with highlighting for about 35 languages, LaTeX maths, footnotes, and sticky notes, with reminders you write in a sentence and up to 200 versions of every note to go back to.

One price, and no caps

Evernote Starter is US$99 a year for 1,000 notes, 20 notebooks, and three devices. Lifting those limits means Advanced, at US$249.99 a year. Scratchpad has no note, folder, or device limits on either plan: US$120 a year, or US$80 with your own AI key, with 10 GB for files.

Your notes are yours to take

Evernote exports ENEX, HTML, or PDF, from its desktop app, 100 notes at a time, with no Markdown. Scratchpad exports a note, a folder, or everything as Markdown, plain text, or JSON, from anywhere, plus one download of every note with its files.

Quicker and quieter

Evernote's reviewers often call it heavy and cluttered. Open Scratchpad and the cursor is in a note, the first line becomes the title, and search finds it later whether you filed it or not.

Connecting apps on every plan

Scratchpad's API and MCP server work on both of its plans, so Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, a shortcut, or a script can reach your notes. Evernote's MCP server is for paid plans, and its older developer API is deprecated.

And everything else Scratchpad does.

  • Reminders in a sentence

    Type /remind call the vet Friday at 9am, and get an email and a notification.

  • Voice memos, transcribed

    Record into a note and get the words back as text you can search. 20 hours a month.

  • Write on PDFs

    Pen, highlighter, shapes, sticky notes, and forms, and a copy to download with your marks on it.

  • Every version, kept

    Up to 200 versions of each note, compared side by side and brought back in a click.

  • Search inside your files

    The words in your PDFs, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, your pictures and scans, and your transcripts, as you type.

  • Tabs, panels, and callouts

    Split a long note into tabs, fold a section away, or set a tip apart in a callout.

  • Code, maths, and footnotes

    Highlighting for about 35 languages, LaTeX that renders as you type, and footnotes that number themselves.

  • Locked notes

    Encrypted with a password of their own, and opened with Face ID or Touch ID once you set that up.

  • Share links you control

    Read or edit, with a password or an expiry date, and nobody needs an account. On paid plans.

  • Publish in one click

    Turn a note into a clean web page, and take it down just as fast. On paid plans.

  • An assistant that asks first

    It reads the note you are in, and its edits arrive as a change you approve.

  • Works with Claude and ChatGPT

    Any app that speaks MCP can search, read, and add to your notes. On paid plans.

  • Two-step sign-in and passkeys

    An authenticator code or an emailed one, backup codes, and passkeys for Touch ID and Face ID.

  • Folders, tags, and backlinks

    Three levels of folders, each with its own colour and icon, #tags as you type, and backlinks.

  • Bring your notes in

    Markdown, Word, HTML, RTF, or a whole zip, with its folders.

  • Markdown in and out

    Export a note, a folder, or everything as Markdown, plain text, or JSON.

Where Evernote is better

Capturing from everywhere

Evernote's web clipper, email-in address, and phone scanning for documents, receipts, and business cards are still the best of any notes app. Scratchpad has a web clipper too, but no email-in and no document scanning.

Search that reads handwriting

Evernote searches handwriting as well as the text in images and scans. Scratchpad reads the printed words in pictures and scanned PDFs, in English and French, but not handwriting.

AI across your whole account

Evernote's assistant answers questions across every note, its semantic search finds notes by meaning, and its meeting notes label who said what. Scratchpad's assistant works on the note in front of you.

Tasks and a calendar

Evernote has tasks with due dates and assignees, and a calendar that connects to Google and Microsoft. Scratchpad has checklists and reminders.

Moving from Evernote to Scratchpad

Export a notebook as ENEX (.enex) from Evernote's desktop app, and bring the file into Scratchpad from Settings → Your data → Bring notes in. A zip of several .enex files works too. What to expect:

  • Each notebook becomes a folder, and each note keeps its title and its original dates.
  • Headings, lists, checklists with their ticks, tables, code blocks, links, and formatting arrive as themselves.
  • Pictures, PDFs, Word and Excel files, and audio come with each note, back where they were.
  • Tags arrive as #tags at the end of each note. Encrypted sections and videos are left out, with a line in the note saying so.

See Bringing your old notes in.

Good questions.

What does Evernote cost now?

Since November 2025: Free, Starter at US$14.99 a month or US$99 a year, and Advanced at US$24.99 a month or US$249.99 a year, with Enterprise priced on request. Free allows 50 notes and one device, and Starter 1,000 notes and three devices. Scratchpad is US$12 a month, or US$8 with your own AI key, with no note or device limits.

Is Evernote end-to-end encrypted?

No. Evernote encrypts data on its servers with keys it manages, and lets you encrypt a selection of text inside a note with a passphrase. Scratchpad isn't end-to-end encrypted either. It stores the text of a locked note encrypted with a key made from its password, so what it keeps can't be read without it.

Can I export from Evernote to Markdown?

Not directly. Evernote exports ENEX, HTML, and PDF from its desktop apps. Scratchpad imports ENEX, so a notebook comes across in one file, and once it's here every note exports as Markdown.

Does Scratchpad have a web clipper like Evernote?

Yes. The Save to Scratchpad extension for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox saves the article you're reading as a note, with its pictures, a link back, and your tags, and a bookmarklet does the same in any browser. There's no email-to-note address.

Is Scratchpad a good Evernote alternative?

Yes, if you mostly write and file notes and Evernote's new limits or prices are the problem: Scratchpad has no caps, costs less than Advanced, and exports everything as Markdown. If you rely on the web clipper, email-in, scanning, or searching handwriting, Evernote still does those better.

Sources

Checked on 24 September 2026, from Evernote's own pages:

And for Scratchpad, the documentation and pricing.

The best way to decide is with your own notes.

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US$12 a month, or US$8 with your own AI key. 30-day money-back guarantee.