Evernote's Free Plan: 50 Notes, Then You Pay
Let me give you a number: 50. That is the total number of notes you can store on Evernote's free plan. One device. One notebook. Fifty notes. I have seen people hit that ceiling in two weeks of regular note-taking. Once you do, you cannot add another note until you pay. The Starter plan costs $15/month and allows 1,000 notes; the Advanced plan is $25/month for unlimited notes. That is not a free tier. That is a time-limited trial disguised as a free plan.
This is the most extreme example of what I call a "free in name only" app. But it is not the only one. To navigate the mess of freemium note-taking apps, I have built a three-tier taxonomy: truly free, usably free with soft limits, and free in name only.
What Makes a Free Note-Taking App Actually Free?
An app is genuinely free when it imposes no artificial ceiling on core usage. Core usage means: the number of notes you can create, the number of devices you can sync, the amount of storage for text and basic attachments, and the ability to access your notes offline. Some apps add soft limits—generous storage caps or feature restrictions that only affect power users—which I call "usably free." Others, like Evernote, cap the fundamental unit of a note-taking app: notes themselves. That is not a cap; it is a paywall disguised as a ceiling.
Here is the framework in three lines:
- Truly free: No cap on notes, devices, or storage worth worrying about. You could use it forever without paying a cent.
- Usably free with soft limits: Free for most users, but certain limits (storage, upload size, version history) may force a power user to upgrade.
- Free in name only: The free tier is so restrictive that it is effectively a trial. You will hit a wall within days or weeks.
Truly Free: No Ceilings in Sight
These apps let you take notes indefinitely without paying. Each has trade-offs—none is perfect—but none will ask you to upgrade because you wrote too much.
Google Keep
Keep is completely free. No limit on notes, no limit on devices. Your storage is shared across Google apps—15GB total—which is generous for text notes but can fill up if you add many photos or audio recordings. The real constraint is not a ceiling but a trade-off: simplicity. Keep is optimised for quick capture and lists, not deep writing or organisation. You cannot nest notebooks or use Markdown. If that fits your style, it is genuinely free forever.
Both Zapier and Tech Insider confirm Keep has no paid tier and offers 15GB of storage.
Simplenote
Simplenote is completely free with unlimited storage. Every major platform is supported. No ads, no upgrade prompts.
PCMag describes it as "completely free with unlimited storage and available on every major platform." The trade-off is minimal formatting: plain text only, tags instead of folders, no images inline. If you need a reliable, speedy, zero-friction note taker and do not care about rich formatting, Simplenote is the definition of truly free.
Joplin
Joplin is free and open-source. You can self-host or use Joplin Cloud for €2.99/month, but the core app—notes, notebooks, tags, search, markdown, encryption—is completely free.
Zapier confirms Joplin is free and open-source; cloud sync starts at €2.99/month.
The cost: setup. Joplin requires a bit of tinkering to sync across devices if you do not use Joplin Cloud. But once set up, it is genuinely free with no artificial limits.
Obsidian
Obsidian's core app is free for personal and commercial use. No limit on notes, no limit on storage (since files live on your local drive), no limit on devices (sync manually via a folder). Paid features are purely optional cloud services: Sync ($4–$5/month) and Publish ($10–$15/month).
The most recent source—Tech Insider (June 2026)—states that Obsidian is free for personal and commercial use. Older sources show a $50/user/year commercial fee, but the latest policy is more generous.
Usably Free: The Soft Limits You Can Live With
These apps are free for most usage scenarios. The limits exist but are generous enough that a typical note-taker might never hit them. I call them "usably free."
Microsoft OneNote
OneNote's free plan includes all core features with 5GB of OneDrive storage.
According to both Zapier and PCMag, that 5GB is free and additional 100GB costs $1.99/month.
For pure text notes, 5GB is a lot. Start adding images, audio, and embedded PDFs, and you might hit the ceiling. I have seen heavy meeting-note users fill 5GB in about a year. If that sounds like you, the 100GB upgrade is cheap—but it is no longer free. OneNote itself does not cap notes or notebooks, only the underlying storage. That makes it usably free for the vast majority of people.
Notion
Notion's free Personal plan is generous for solo use: unlimited pages, unlimited blocks, 7-day version history, and file uploads capped at 5MB per file.
Tech Insider confirms the 5MB upload cap and 7-day page history.
The 5MB limit hits if you attach images, PDFs, or other files. For a simple note-taker, it rarely matters. The 7-day version history means if you delete something and do not notice for a week, it is gone. Notion's AI features are also locked behind a subscription (bundled in Business at ~$30/user/month). The free tier is genuinely usable for note-taking, but the constraints are real and worth understanding. I consider it usably free for most knowledge workers.
Apple Notes
Apple Notes is free with 5GB of iCloud storage. Additional 50GB costs $0.99/month (source). Like OneNote, the limit is storage, not notes. But Apple Notes also restricts some features to newer hardware: Math Notes, live transcription, and Apple Intelligence are not available on older iPhones and iPads. For anyone in the Apple ecosystem who does not store many large attachments, it is free and capable. The catch is ecosystem lock-in: exporting notes to another app is tedious.
Free in Name Only: The Apps That Will Ask You to Pay
Evernote is the poster child of this category. Its free plan is so restrictive that I cannot recommend it to anyone who expects to take notes regularly. Fifty notes, one notebook, one device. Hit that limit and you are locked out until you pay.
PCMag puts it plainly: "Evernote's free version isn't worth using; paid plans start at $14.99/month."
"Evernote's free version isn't worth using." — PCMag
There are other apps with similarly bait-and-switch free tiers—Standard Notes' free tier lacks Markdown rendering and file attachments, Notesnook limits notebooks on its free plan. But Evernote is the largest and most deceptive. If an app's free plan caps the number of notes or devices, treat it as a trial, not a free tier.
How to Decide Which Tier Fits You
Here is a simple decision guide:
- You take a few notes per day—grocery lists, quick ideas, reminders. You value speed over organisation. Pick Google Keep or Simplenote. Both are truly free, sync instantly, and require zero setup.
- You take many notes, need folders, tags, or Markdown. You are comfortable with some local storage setup. Pick Obsidian. It is truly free for the core app and scales to thousands of notes without hitting a limit.
- You are already inside the Microsoft or Apple ecosystem. OneNote or Apple Notes will work well and remain free for years. Just be aware of the 5GB storage cap—if you add lots of images, consider the cheap upgrade.
- You want a rich database-like note app with databases and project management. Notion's free plan can serve you well, but watch the 5MB file upload cap and 7-day version history.
- You are tempted by Evernote. Do not. Its free plan is a trap. If you need Evernote's features, pay for it—but do not pretend the free tier is usable.
For a broader comparison that factors in more than just price, see Best Note-Taking Software in 2026: A Use-Case-First Comparison.
What Does 'Free' Actually Cost You?
Zero dollars does not mean zero cost. Here are the hidden trade-offs I see most often:
- Data portability. Google Keep exports in JSON and HTML—not Markdown. Simplenote exports plain text only. Obsidian uses Markdown files by default, which is the most portable format. OneNote exports to PDF but not to Markdown. Before you invest weeks of notes, check how you can get them out.
- Learning curve. Obsidian and Notion have steep learning curves compared to Keep or Simplenote. The cost is time and frustration. If you just want to write and find, pick the simpler tool.
- Vendor trust. A free tier today can disappear tomorrow. Evernote and Notion have both tightened their free plans. Obsidian and Simplenote have more sustainable business models—more on that in the next section.
Which Free Apps Will Stay Free?
The sustainability of a free tier depends on the app's business model. Here is my assessment:
| App | Business Model | Free Tier Outlook |
|---|---|---|
| Obsidian | Free core, paid cloud services (Sync, Publish) | Very stable. Local-first means no server costs for the free tier. |
| Simplenote | Owned by Automattic (WordPress.com revenue) | Stable. Automattic can afford to keep it free as a brand builder. |
| Google Keep | Loss leader for Google Workspace | Stable as long as Google keeps Workspace. No sign of change. |
| Joplin | Open source, optional cloud sync | Stable. No single vendor controls it. |
| OneNote | Microsoft bundling (Office suite) | Stable. OneNote is a feature, not a revenue source. |
| Apple Notes | Ecosystem lock-in | Stable. Notes are a reason to stay on Apple devices. |
| Notion | VC-backed freemium (Notion AI push) | Riskier. Venture capital expects growth. Free tiers have already tightened (5MB upload cap, 7-day history). |
| Evernote | Subscription-only after free trial | Unstable for free users. The free tier is a marketing expense, not a product. |
Notion and Evernote are the ones I worry about. Notion is under pressure to monetise its user base—the AI paywall is already in place. Evernote has raised prices multiple times and shrunk its free plan. If you want a free note-taking app that will still be free in five years, pick from the top five rows.
After walking through the tiers, limits, and business models, here is my straightforward advice: The best free note-taking app is the one that matches how you actually work—not the one with the most features or the biggest name. Use the three-tier framework to evaluate any new app that comes along. It has saved me from several bad decisions.
If you need more detail on a specific app or want a comparison that goes beyond just free versus paid, check out Free vs. Paid Note-Taking Apps in 2026 or the Best Note-Taking Apps for Your Laptop comparison.