Both Onenote and Evernote has pros and cons. But Onenote is slightly better in user experience and speed. We have data from our subscribers behaviour to back this up. We share our notes on both Onenote and Evernote ids. Over the time we see that user choose Onenote to read notes. Our subscriber base has a ratio of about 2:1 in favour of Onenote.
Onenote:
Pros
- Better UI :Notes can be arranged in section / subsections (Screenshot attached)
- Search :Search algo is super fast and brings all relevant notes if you type a keyword. (Screenshot attached)
- Lightweight :It can easily run on a 2GB ram laptop without an heat issues or hangs.
- Free :No data limits even for free version. (Needs Genuine Windows or Microsoft 365)
- Mobile App is good :Search, folder arrangement etc. is as good as it can be on mobile.
- Lots of features :Immersive reading, presentation, hand drawing etc which are rarely used.
Cons
- Sync issues :Onenote has sync issues. Notebooks / notes shared are not visible many times. Need to reshare multiple times. Many times notebooks asks for login and give Sync errors. This is a big drawback if one wants to share notes with many peers / students.
- Issues in Exporting notes or printing
Evernote:
Pros
- Instant Sync :Updates and sharing works instantly. Never faced any issue.
- Export works seamlessly.
Cons
- UI is not good :You can create a clean folder structure in Evernote if you want to share notes.
- Very heavy application :Even 8 GB heavy duty laptop heats up if Evernote kept open for few hours or if you are doing heavy addition of notes.
- Freemium :Though 60 MB data transfer is free which is sufficient most of the times. But we face issue with some subscribers as they have their own notes in Evernote. When we share our notes with them (Over 5000 notes), initial sync crosses this 60 MB limit.
- Search hangs. Mobile search is even mote slow.
So, our vote goes to Onenote :)
Onenote Folder Structure
Onenote Search Functionalit
