Why Long-Time Users Are Finally Leaving Evernote

The Loyalty Threshold: Who Leaves and When

When you've used a note-taking app for 10, 12, or even 14 years, leaving is not a trivial decision. You're not just switching apps—you're figuring out what to do with 7,000, 10,000, or even 18,750 notes. These aren't casual users. They're people who built their personal knowledge management, project documentation, and sometimes their entire workflow around Evernote.

Reddit discussions from r/Evernote and r/ObsidianMD reveal a clear pattern: the users leaving now are not new subscribers who signed up last year. They're power users who joined between 2009 and 2015. They weathered previous price changes, UI overhauls, and feature additions. They have 150+ notebooks. They've been paying customers for a decade or more.

What finally pushes someone with that level of investment to leave? It's rarely a single factor. Instead, it's a combination of accumulated issues that reach a tipping point.

The Breaking Point

One user from 2011 described receiving a "your account will be permanently closed" email after receiving a price increase notification. They migrated 12 years of content—150+ notebooks and 10,000+ notes—to Obsidian, canceled their subscription, and closed their account. The message was clear: they didn't just switch apps; they made a deliberate exit.

Another user since 2009 with 18,750 notes had been experiencing performance issues for years: sluggish Mac app loading, slow search, unreliable Android web clipping. They stayed despite these problems. The price increase from $69.99 to $129.99 was what finally pushed them to leave.

The pattern is consistent: users tolerate performance issues, UI changes, and feature removals for years. But when pricing becomes unpredictable and increases by 85% or more, loyalty converts to calculation—and the math stops working.

The Price Increase That Broke Trust

Price increases are expected in subscription services. Inflation happens, costs rise, and companies adjust. But the recent Evernote price increases felt different to long-time users.

The Magnitude of Change

Users report annual pricing jumping from $69.99 to $129.99—that's an 86% increase. Another user described a "2.5x" price increase. These aren't modest adjustments; they're dramatic shifts that fundamentally change the value proposition.

One user explicitly suspected Evernote's leadership had "decided they could absorb a certain number of unsubscribe losses in exchange for the price increase." In other words, the company calculated that driving away some customers was acceptable if the remaining customers paid significantly more.

For users who had been loyal customers for over a decade, this signaled that their loyalty was no longer valued. The implicit contract—stay with us, and we'll treat you fairly—felt broken.

The Communication Problem

How price increases were communicated mattered too. Users reported receiving threatening emails about accounts being "permanently closed" if they didn't accept new terms. This aggressive approach contrasted sharply with the collaborative, user-friendly brand Evernote had cultivated for years.

Instead of framing the increase as an investment in better features or improved service, the messaging felt coercive. Users who had stuck with the platform through thin and thin were being treated as captives rather than valued customers.

What Changed Under Bending Spoons

Bending Spoons, the Italian tech company that acquired Evernote in late 2022, brought a different approach to the product. Long-time users noticed shifts that went beyond pricing.

Operational Changes

Users cited operational instability after the acquisition, including layoffs of US staff. The development pace slowed. Features that users relied on were sometimes removed or restricted to higher pricing tiers. The product roadmap became less transparent.

For users who had been with Evernote since before the acquisition, these changes signaled that the company they had trusted was gone. The new ownership had different priorities, and those priorities didn't necessarily align with what made users choose Evernote in the first place.

The Free Tier Experience

Free users reported particularly aggressive treatment. One user described "constant pop-ups demanding payment every two seconds," making continued use unbearable. Another noted that remaining a free user had become "impossible" due to the barrage of "buy this plan" messages.

For users who weren't ready to commit to a paid subscription but wanted to keep their notes accessible, this created a difficult choice: pay significantly more or leave entirely.

The Scale of Migration

When these users leave, they're not migrating 50 or 100 notes. They're moving substantial digital libraries accumulated over more than a decade.

These migrations aren't impulsive decisions. They require research, testing alternatives, exporting data, and rebuilding workflows. Users spend weeks or months preparing. The fact that they're willing to undertake this effort indicates how strongly they feel about leaving.

Migration Challenges

Large-scale migrations come with real challenges:

• Tag systems with 1,000+ entries may not transfer cleanly
• Special characters in tags (& @ ( ) / .) break in some destinations
• Note links can break during export
• PDFs and attachments need special handling
• Formatting loss is common with ENEX exports

Despite these challenges, users are completing migrations. The pain of staying has become greater than the pain of leaving.

Where Users Are Going

The most common destination for leaving Evernote users is Obsidian. This isn't accidental—Obsidian addresses several key concerns that drove users away from Evernote.

Why Obsidian?

Other Destinations

Not everyone chooses Obsidian. Users also migrate to Notion, Joplin, OneNote, or even back to paper. But the clear trend is toward tools that prioritize local ownership, predictable pricing, and user control.

Why Backup Before You Decide

Whether you decide to stay with Evernote or leave, having a local backup of your notes is essential. Users who've gone through migration describe wishing they'd backed up earlier.

The Lock-in Risk

One user described feeling like their notes might be "held hostage" by service changes. Another explicitly created a backup guide addressing "fears of losing data or being locked out." These aren't irrational concerns—they're rational responses to how SaaS services can change unexpectedly.

Having Options

A local backup gives you options. You're not making decisions under pressure. You can test alternatives at your own pace. You can migrate on your timeline, not when a service change forces your hand.

Summary and Final Thoughts

Long-time Evernote users are leaving because the combination of price increases, reduced service quality, and aggressive monetization crossed their threshold. These aren't fickle customers jumping to the newest trend—they're people who invested years in the platform and are now making calculated decisions to protect their data and their wallet.

Key Takeaways

• Users with 10+ years and thousands of notes are leaving in significant numbers
• Price increases of 80%+ are the primary driver of migration
• Bending Spoons ownership brought changes that alienated long-time users
• Obsidian is the most popular alternative due to local-first storage and free core
• Migrations at this scale involve significant effort and technical challenges

The Bottom Line

Loyalty has limits. Even users who stuck with Evernote through years of changes will eventually leave when the costs outweigh the benefits. For many, that point arrived with recent price increases and service degradation.

Whether you stay or go, the lesson is clear: don't rely solely on any cloud service for your important notes. Export regularly. Keep local copies. Make sure you can access your knowledge regardless of what happens to any particular company.