Evernote's New Pricing: Separating Fact from Fiction

 

November 24 2025 | Issue 71 | Link to this issue | Subscribe

Hi Reader –

The hot topic for Evernote users continues to be the new pricing structure announced three weeks ago.

Since the announcement, I’ve:

  • Appeared on two podcasts diving deep into these changes

  • Fielded dozens of questions from customers and readers like you

  • Had active conversations with Evernote leadership and fellow Evernote Certified Experts

  • Gathered comments from social media about reactions to the new plans

Through all of this, I’ve found there’s a lot of misinformation flowing from concerned users. My goal today is to clarify what the plan repackaging really means for long-time users who are feeling the pinch, and help you make an informed decision about your future with Evernote – not a reactive one.

The New Plans: Starter & Advanced

If you missed it, Evernote announced new plans and pricing that will impact all paying users at your next billing cycle:

  • Advanced replaces Professional and includes (virtually) unlimited access to Evernote’s features and organizing tools. And, the price went up.

  • Personal is going away

  • Starter is the new budget option (cheaper than Personal) and comes with significant limits

Key Starter Plan Limits:

  • 1,000 notes maximum

  • 20 notebooks maximum

  • 100 tags maximum

  • 10 Spaces maximum

  • 1,000 attachments maximum

  • 3 device access/sync

  • 1GB storage

When I polled readers in my previous newsletter, the results were striking – 77% of Personal plan users who read this newsletter are WAY over the new Starter plan limits.

So what should this group do?

First, Some Perspective

Pricing increases aren’t unique to Evernote. SaaS software prices are going up across the board – at least six key subscriptions I use to run my life and business have increased this year. This is the reality of the software landscape in 2025.

And here’s what might surprise you – the reaction to Evernote's new plans isn’t all negative.

I’ve heard from many fluent Evernote users who use it as their Second Brain and Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) system. For those of us managing busy personal lives and small businesses, Evernote is the project management tool that keeps us organized and provides access to what we need, wherever we are.

This group of advanced users is:

  • Sticking with Evernote

  • Pleased with the feature evolution and massive sync and stability improvements under Bending Spoons

  • Already seeing workflow improvements from the new AI features being rolled out

  • Willing to pay for the Advanced plan because the value proposition works for them

But not everyone's in this position.

Your Three Options

If you’re currently on Personal and exceeding Starter limits you can:

  1. Level Up: Accept the automatic upgrade to Advanced when your subscription renews

  2. Level Out: Proactively downgrade to Starter and manage within the limits (Evernote’s guide here)

  3. Leave: Migrate to another tool

Before you choose, let me clear up the biggest misconception I’m hearing…

The #1 Question: “Will I Lose My Notes If I Downgrade?”

Absolutely not.

This is the most important point. If you downgrade to Starter (or even Free), here’s what actually happens:

✓ All your existing notes remain intact
✓ Your current notebook structure stays exactly as is
✓ All your tags remain in place
✓ You can still search, view, and edit all existing content
✓ Your organizational system continues to work

What you CAN’T do is exceed the new limits going forward. For example, if you have 30 notebooks and downgrade to Starter (which allows 20), you keep all 30 but can’t create notebook #31 until you’re back under 20.

As Evernote states in their official documentation:

“All of your existing content and organizational structure will remain exactly as is. You don’t need to move, export, or reorganize anything.”

Two Deep-Dive Conversations Worth Your Time

This week, I joined two productivity experts to explore these changes:

Both conversations address the "elephant in the room": This really isn’t about the price – it’s about the limits.

The Hidden Costs of Switching

Before you switch, be sure you evaluate the true cost of the tool:

Financial costs:

  • Full subscription cost of your tool for your account size (Obsidian sync, for example, costs extra and escalates based on data volume)

  • Multiple tools may be needed to replicate Evernote’s full functionality (are you familiar with all Evernote offers in terms of calendar integration, task management, meeting note taking, transcription, and more?)

Non-financial costs:

  • Time investment learning a new tool – is it approachable or steep learning curve?

  • Energy spent rebuilding your organizational structure and workflows

  • Lost productivity during the transition period

The advice I’ve given for years when picking an app remains true: Pick and stick. Switching costs are often much higher than subscription prices, and productivity is better spent learning to work within a tool’s constraints (which they all have) rather than reactively jumping between apps.

🧠 Academy Members: Review the Evernote Basics: Subscription Plans training for a deep dive into the new plans, navigating your options, and how to work within Starter limits if that’s your choice.

The bottom line? Take a breath. You have time to make a thoughtful decision about your future with Evernote. Your data is safe. And whether you level up, level out, or leave, you – and your notes – are going to be okay.

As I prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday this week here in the US, I'm reminded how grateful I am to that you are subscribed. I appreciate you reading and sharing my newsletter. Sending my thanks to you 🙏🏻 🦃 🍁 !

Until next week –

Stacey

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Stacey Harmon