Evernote is about to seriously limit its plan for free users

Evernote is going to limit new and existing free users to a maximum of just 50 notes and one notebook starting December 4th, the company announced in a blog post on Wednesday. The change, which Evernote had been testing, means that free users who have a high volume of notes may have to consider paying for one of Evernote’s other plans or switching over to another note-taking platform.

If you currently have more than the allotted 50 notes or one notebook, Evernote says that you’ll still be able to “view, edit, export, share, and delete existing notes and notebooks.” But it seems like if you want to create any new notes or notebooks, you’re going to have to delete notes or notebooks to fall under the limit. We’ve asked Evernote if that’s the case.

In the blog post, Evernote argues that the changes won’t affect most people. “When setting the new limits, we considered that the majority of our Free users fall below the threshold of fifty notes and one notebook,” the company wrote. “As a result, the everyday experience for most Free users will remain unchanged.” But given that, right now, free users can have up to 100,000 notes and up to 250 notebooks, heavy users who have relied on the free version might immediately run into the new limits once December 4th rolls around.

If you’re now considering a new note-taking app, check out our roundup of some of the best note-taking apps you can try, and if you want to know how to move your notes out of Evernote, we’ve got a guide for that.

The changes follow Evernote getting acquired by Bending Spoons in 2022 and layoffs at the company earlier this year.