Evernote Vs. Microsoft OneNote

Evernote is considered the go-to application for those who want to corral the paper chaos in their lives. Scan a receipt, take a picture of a product and Evernote will allow you to search for the text in the images and access your notes anywhere you can connect to the Internet.

Microsoft's OneNote has been around a bit longer than Evernote but is considered by many to not only be overpriced but not as portable and versatile as Evernote.

In order to cut through the hype behind both of these programs this reviewer decided to give both of them a workout with a feature-by-feature comparison as well as revealing which of these two notetaking programs won this reviewer over.

Platforms:
Evernote works with both Windows and Mac computers and will also work on mobile platforms such as the iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, Blackberry, Palm Pre/Pixi and Windows Mobile.

Microsoft OneNote currently works on Windows, iPhone and Windows 7.

Winner: Evernote wins hands-down with a multitude of installation options.

Interface:
Evernote has a simple interface that reminds one of files and folders complete with a little thumbnail view of the note. A small bar tells you immediately how much you have uploaded in that time period to help you determine if you are getting close to your monthly upload limit and the search feature is readily available. Users can create different notebooks at will and store their files within. Users can also change the look of the interface, showing or hiding certain parts of the application as desired.

Microsoft OneNote strongly resembles a 3-ring binder without the rings. On the left are the books you can open--depending upon which book is open you will have a row of tabs on top that are customizable. Each of these tabs is another section in the active notebook and contain a series of pages, which initially appear as a line of tabs along the right side of the page.

Winner: Tie. OneNote has a smoother, more notebook-looking interface, but Evernote allows more variety in how you see the interface itself. Those who prefer to categorize their notes may prefer OneNote but for simplicity the Evernote interface is difficult to beat. This one comes down to user preference.

Price:
Evernote's basic functionality up to a certain file upload limit (currently 60 MB/month) is completely free; premium subscribers get a significantly larger upload limit (up to 1 GB) for a price of $5 a month or $45 a year.

Microsoft Onenote can be purchased with Microsoft Office at prices ranging from $149 to $499 or purchased separately for $79.99.

Winner: Evernote provides basic functionality for free, which is impossible for Microsoft OneNote to beat. However, if you are comparing the Evernote Premium Service with the base purchase price of $79.99 Microsoft inches Evernote out of the way on the price front if you plan to use the service for 2 years or longer.

Cloud Computing:
Evernote is designed for cloud computing at the start; all notes unless specified will sync to their servers and can be accessed with a web browser wherever you desire. Free users can upload up to 60 MB a month while Premium Users can upload up to 1 GB a month.

Microsoft OneNote has cloud computing capability when you use the Windows Live Skydrive. The Skydrive gives you 25 gigabytes of online storage that you can access from most computers at no extra charge, with no monthly limits on how much you can upload.

Winner: Evernote. Over the long-term Evernote will provide both free and premium users more than 25 gigabytes of space in the cloud to upload to, while Microsoft caps you at 25 gigabytes without an option to expand the amount you can store in the cloud.

Usability:
Evernote allows users to use a small variety of fonts and formats, but the text editor is limited.

Microsoft OneNote allows you to choose from a wide variety of fonts, page colors, styles and drawing tools that allow you to circle, highlight, draw or any other number of things.

Both applications allow scanning and recording directly into the applications.

Winner: Microsoft OneNote for variety and increased functionality.

Ease of Use:
Both Microsoft OneNote and Evernote are easy to use. It is the work of a simple click to send things to OneNote, and you can download add-ins for Evernote to clip whole web pages as well.

You can set up OneNote as your default printer and print receipts and information directly into OneNote, a feature that Evernote has yet to offer.

Winner: OneNote's printer option beats Evernote's ease of use by a nose. Without that one feature they would be equally simple to use.

Conclusion:
Depending upon what you want to do with your notetaking software, Evernote is hard to beat in regards to price, platform versatility, ease of use and cloud computing. However, heavy note takers who enjoy being able to mark up their notes and send printouts directly to the note application may want to give Microsoft OneNote serious consideration.

This reviewer has used both products in the past (premium and free Evernote as well as OneNote), and while she recommends Evernote for overall versatility and convenience she personally uses OneNote because of the extra formatting capabilities and the "Print to OneNote" feature.

If you use a multitude of platforms Evernote may be best for you, but for Windows users who want an application that works seamlessly with Microsoft Office, OneNote may be the application that you prefer.

For more information about Evernote, please visit their home page here. For those interested in learning more about Microsoft Onenote you can visit this link to explore this application and download a free trial.