I’ve used Evernote since 2009. It’s never been better.
Evernote is stable and quick, with a fresh, modern design that still feels familiar, and new releases each week. The AI is the practical kind: search that understands what you mean, meetings recorded, transcribed and summarized, and an MCP that connects Evernote to Claude, ChatGPT and more.
“Do people still use Evernote?”
That’s one of the things I hear most when I tell people what I do. Others include:
“Oh, I used to love Evernote.”
“I still have a ton of notes in there.”
“I stopped using it when they started charging.”
Yes! Millions of happy users still use Evernote.
These comments usually come from memories of the old Evernote, clickbait headlines and angry comments from online trolls, not from keeping up with what Evernote has done under Bending Spoons. And yes, pricing has changed for both free and paying users. Without knowing what’s now possible, and how much has been added to the app, it’s understandable that people feel frustrated and blame Bending Spoons.
To understand why my customers and I are so happy with Evernote today, you first need a brief history of the app.
A short history of Evernote.
Evernote launched in 2008 as a Silicon Valley startup. Stepan Pachikov founded the company, and Phil Libin led it as CEO. Evernote defined digital note-taking, and it was backed by venture capital, so the plan was always to go public. Even as a billion-dollar “unicorn” in 2012, it never did.
It ran on a freemium model: millions of people used Evernote for years without paying a dime. Then times changed. Competition arrived, new features slowed to a trickle, and Evernote came to be seen as bloated and slow. Many people stayed anyway. Even as Evernote limped along, it remained a highly valuable app for those of us who had embraced it early on.
In January 2023, under CEO Ian Small, Evernote was sold to Bending Spoons. It was a huge opportunity, and they’ve made the most of it.
- 2008–2018
- 2018–2025
- 2025–today
Meet Bending Spoons.
Bending Spoons is a technology company based in Milan, Italy, and it buys and holds. Since 2014, it has bought well-known apps “not to sell on, but to own and operate for the long term,” in its own words, and set out to improve them.
Bending Spoons’ homepage. Visit bendingspoons.com
Evernote put Bending Spoons on the map.
Evernote was the first household name Bending Spoons bought, and its biggest, most visible purchase at the time. The deal was announced in November 2022 and closed in January 2023. Since then, Bending Spoons has added Vimeo, WeTransfer, AOL, Eventbrite, Meetup, Miro, Airtable and more.
Now anyone can see the numbers.
On July 1, 2026, Bending Spoons went public on NASDAQ (ticker: BSP, I bought!) at a value of about $18 billion. Berkshire Hathaway invested $600 million, then $330 million more in October, for a 4% total stake. Evernote never made it to the stock market on its own. Now it’s part of a public company that reports its results for anyone to read.
Sources: Bending Spoons’ website (figures as of October 2026) and its filings with the SEC (Form 6-K, Form F-1, Form DRS, IPO prospectus), plus news reports on its IPO.
I’m in Bending Spoons’ private Slack channel for Evernote Certified Experts. I volunteer my time there to report bugs, share product feedback and suggest new features directly to Evernote’s engineering team. I also meet with Evernote one-on-one every month.
My opinion of Bending Spoons comes from working with their team directly, not from headlines.
I don’t work for Evernote. I tell them what users need, and I tell you what’s great and what could be better.
What Bending Spoons has done with Evernote.
The first year went into stability and speed. Since then, new features have shipped at a pace I track for a living.
- Jan 3, 2023Bending Spoons completes its purchase of Evernote, and spends the first year on stability and speed, including sync up to 3 times faster across devices.
- Mar 26, 2024Legacy Evernote, the older apps, is retired, so everyone is on the same modern Evernote.
- Since Jan 2024375+ improvements, by Evernote’s own count, with a new release nearly every week.
- Oct 2025A fresh new look for Evernote, including a new logo.
- Jan 19, 2026Evernote v11 marks the beginning of AI in Evernote, with AI Assistant, Semantic Search and AI Meeting Notes. Every AI feature is optional, and you control which ones you use.
Sources: Evernote’s v11 announcement, Evernote’s 2025 recap, Evernote’s mid-2026 recap, Bending Spoons’ website.
You have to trust the app to use the app.
A big part of trusting Evernote is forming your own opinion of the company that owns it.
Evernote’s Three Laws of Data Protection are a big reason I chose Evernote in the first place. They date back to Phil Libin’s time as CEO, and they still govern Evernote today:
- Your data is yours.
- Your data is protected.
- Your data is portable.
Trust isn’t all or nothing. Some people put everything in Evernote, and others keep their most sensitive documents elsewhere. Read Evernote’s privacy policy and decide where your line is. It’s a topic we discuss often inside the Academy.
Evernote used to be free. Now it’s pay to play.
Yes, Evernote costs more than it used to, and that’s upset a lot of people. In December 2023, the free plan dropped to 50 notes and one notebook. In November 2025, Evernote capped its lower-priced paid plan, so paying no longer automatically meant unlimited use. But those of us who’ve embraced Evernote get real value for what we pay. Our subscriptions support the development of the app we use, instead of carrying millions of free accounts. And Evernote is now a profitable company built to last.
Which plan is right for you?
It depends on how you use Evernote. If you’re ready to stop paying, Free keeps everything you’ve saved. If Evernote runs your life, Advanced is worth it.
A trial run
- Up to 50 notes
- 1 notebook
- 1 device
For lighter use
- Up to 1,000 notes
- Up to 20 notebooks and 100 tags
- Up to 3 devices
- 5 GB of storage
- AI features
For your whole life
- Unlimited notes, notebooks and tags
- Unlimited devices
- Unlimited storage
- AI features
Limits as of October 2026. Prices vary by country: see Evernote’s plans page for what they cost where you live.
Deciding on a plan? Here’s what to consider.
You won’t lose a thing.
Whatever plan you choose, you can downgrade without losing your data. Every note and notebook stays put. You just can’t add more until you’re back under the limit or you upgrade.
It’s the limits, not the price.
If you’re a longtime user, you’re likely over Starter’s caps of 1,000 notes and 20 notebooks. That’s where people get stuck, and why Advanced is usually the answer.
The grass isn’t greener.
If you do leave, here’s what I hear over and over: other apps are more complex, and they cost just as much to do what Evernote’s Advanced plan includes.
For people who really use Evernote, the value far outweighs the price. I work with this group every day inside the Academy. Join, and you’ll become one of them.
Evernote keeps evolving. I’ve been here for all of it.
I’ve taught Evernote since 2012, longer than Bending Spoons has been a company. Through four CEOs, every major release and a new owner, I’ve seen why Evernote works the way it does, what’s changed and where it’s headed.
Pick and stick. I picked Evernote and stuck with it, and it’s what I teach. Go deep with one tool, and your time goes into getting things done instead of moving thousands of notes and rebuilding every workflow somewhere new.
The next app won’t fix your productivity problems. Skills and habits will.
This is an exciting time for Evernote, and it’s innovating in meaningful ways. Whether you’re coming back or you never left, I’m here to guide you through it.
“Evernote is a very powerful program that continues to evolve. This newsletter helps me use the old and new abilities in Evernote. Using Evernote without staying up to date is similar to driving a Lamborghini but only using first gear. You get where you are going, but slowly with much noise and frustration.”
“I really appreciate this newsletter. Ever since Bending Spoons took control of Evernote, it seems we've been flooded with updates. Many of us Evernote subscribers can thank Stacey for giving in depth articles to explain what's going on. Many thanks!”
Get your money’s worth from today’s Evernote.
I track every release for a living. Let me keep you current.
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