In 2008, Evernote burst onto the tech scene with a promise that was hard to resist—organize your thoughts, ideas, and memories in one sleek, digital space. For years, it seemed like the app that could do it all: note-taking, to-do lists, document scanning, and even web clipping. It became a productivity powerhouse, a digital extension of your brain. But somewhere along the way, the spark faded. Today, Evernote’s once unstoppable growth has slowed, and its loyal fanbase is left wondering: what happened?
Let’s take a journey through the rise and fall of Evernote, from its humble beginnings to its ambitious dreams, and explore what went wrong along the way.
I. The Rise of Evernote: The Productivity Revolution
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Evernote was born from a simple idea—helping people remember everything. Founded by Stepan Pachikov in 2007, the goal was to create a digital tool that could store and organize all types of notes, be it text, photos, or even audio recordings. The key to Evernote’s initial success was its ability to sync data across multiple devices, allowing users to access their notes anytime, anywhere, and on any platform.
As the app evolved, it became a powerful tool that did far more than just keep track of basic ideas. Users could save entire webpages, scan documents, clip images, and even record voice memos. It transformed into a full-fledged productivity suite that wasn’t just about remembering things—it was about streamlining your life. Evernote capitalized on the rapid rise of smartphones and tablets, becoming an indispensable tool for those who wanted to take their productivity on the go.
By 2012, Evernote had amassed 30 million users, with its fanbase spanning across professionals, students, and creatives. By 2015, that number had skyrocketed to over 150 million users. The company had tapped into a universal need for organization and became synonymous with note-taking. It seemed as if Evernote had cracked the code on how to help people store and access information in the digital age.
II. The Secret Sauce: A Robust Ecosystem
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What set Evernote apart from the competition wasn’t just its core functionality—it was the ecosystem it built. The app wasn’t just for taking notes. It was for managing your entire digital life. With features like Optical Character Recognition (OCR), users could search for text inside scanned images or handwritten notes, which was a revolutionary feature at the time. It became the Swiss army knife of productivity apps, and the company made bold moves to ensure that it was not just a one-trick pony.
Evernote’s investment in third-party integrations also allowed users to seamlessly connect with other productivity tools. It was more than just a note-taking app—it was a hub. Whether it was linking with cloud services like Google Drive or allowing users to store business cards through its Evernote Scannable app, Evernote became central to its users' digital lives.
III. The Fall: Innovation, Competition, and Internal Struggles
While Evernote experienced rapid growth in its early years, the very same factors that made it successful would ultimately contribute to its downfall.
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a. The Rise of Competitors
By the mid-2010s, Evernote’s competitors had caught up. Apps like Microsoft OneNote and Google Keep began offering similar features, and in some cases, at a better price (Google Keep was free, for example). These competitors had the advantage of being part of the larger ecosystems of Google and Microsoft, meaning that they were more tightly integrated into the tools that people were already using.
Evernote’s pricing structure, on the other hand, began to alienate some users. As the company shifted its focus to premium plans and enterprise solutions, users started to feel like they were paying more for features that weren’t always valuable or were already available through competitors. Evernote’s freemium model began to feel restrictive, and many turned to alternatives.
b. Overload and Identity Crisis
Evernote's ambition was both its strength and its downfall. In an attempt to be everything for everyone, it became bloated. As the app added more and more features, the interface started to feel cluttered. The promise of simplicity was lost amid constant updates, redesigns, and shifting functionality. The app’s core appeal—its user-friendly, minimalistic design—began to feel compromised.
Additionally, as noted in The Growth Playbook, leadership changes created a lack of continuity in the company’s direction. Stepan Pachikov, the founder, stepped down, and new leadership struggled to maintain the vision of Evernote as the ultimate productivity tool. Internal turmoil, compounded by a lack of a clear strategy, made it harder for the company to focus on improving the user experience.
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c. User Trust Eroding
Evernote’s decision to revamp its app by adding a paid subscription service for premium features seemed reasonable at first. However, users were soon alienated by the constant changes in pricing plans and the removal of previously available features. Many users felt like they were being pushed into paid tiers, even though they had once been able to access the features they loved for free.
Moreover, performance issues became a point of contention. As Evernote grew more complex, it struggled with speed and reliability, leaving users frustrated. The app began to feel less like an efficient productivity tool and more like a bloated, buggy mess.
IV. When Was Evernote Acquired?
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In November 2023, Evernote was acquired by the Italian company Bending Spoons, a mobile app developer known for its focus on simplicity and performance in software. The acquisition marked a pivotal moment in Evernote’s history, as Bending Spoons committed to revitalising the app by streamlining its features and returning to its core mission of helping users organise their lives. Time will tell if this change in leadership will restore Evernote’s reputation and standing in the productivity space.
A New Hope? The Shift Toward Simplicity
Despite its decline, Evernote is not completely out of the picture. In recent years, the company has attempted to reinvent itself once again. In a bid to return to its roots, Evernote has focused on improving the core experience: taking and organising notes. The company has worked hard to simplify its design and streamline features, removing unnecessary complexity and improving the app's performance.
However, it’s unclear if these efforts will be enough to win back the many users who have already abandoned the app in favour of competitors. As Medium contributor Todd Allan explains, Evernote’s new focus on simplicity is certainly a step in the right direction, but it may be too little, too late. The app’s reputation has suffered, and users have become loyal to other solutions, making it difficult for Evernote to regain its former glory.
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