Notion and Evernote are two of the best-known note-taking apps, but they've gone in different directions. Notion is a flexible workspace for typed notes, class dashboards, to-do lists and databases, with a free education plan for students. Evernote focuses on capturing and finding information — web pages, scanned documents, PDFs and recordings — but its free plan is now very limited. Here's how they compare for college students on price, student offers, AI, web clipping and offline use.
| Feature | Notion | Evernote |
|---|---|---|
| Main focus | Structured workspace for typed notes, tasks and databases | Capturing and searching notes, web clips, scans and files |
| Free plan | Unlimited pages and blocks for one member; 5 MB per file upload | 50 notes, 1 notebook, 1 synced device |
| Paid plans | Plus $10/member/month billed annually (about $12 monthly); Business $20/member/month billed annually | Starter $14.99/month or $99/year; Advanced $24.99/month or $249.99/year |
| Student offer | Free education plan (Plus features, one member) with an eligible school email | 50% off Advanced for the first 12 months with an eligible school email |
| Built-in AI | Notion AI trial on Free and Plus; full AI (Notion Agent, AI Meeting Notes) on Business | AI Edit, transcription and AI Meeting Notes on Starter and Advanced |
| Web clipper | Free Notion Web Clipper | Web, mobile and email capture |
| Offline | Offline pages in the desktop and mobile apps | Offline access on paid plans |
| Moving between them | Built-in Evernote importer | — |
| Collaboration | Built for sharing pages and group projects | Sharing available; mainly a personal notes app |
Prices and features as of November 2026 — check the official site for current details
Prices and features as of November 2026 — check the official site for current details
Best for: organizing typed notes, assignments and group projects in one free workspace
Notion combines pages, to-do lists and databases, so you can build a dashboard for each class that links your notes, readings and deadlines. The Free plan gives a single member unlimited pages and blocks, and students and educators can get a free education plan (Plus features for a one-member workspace) by making their school email the primary email on their Notion account; you re-verify it each year. Otherwise, Plus costs $10 per member per month billed annually (about $12 billed monthly). Notion AI is only a trial on the Free and Plus plans — full Notion AI, including Notion Agent and AI Meeting Notes, comes with the Business plan ($20 per member per month billed annually). The free Notion Web Clipper saves web pages into your workspace, Notion can import notes from Evernote, and pages can be used offline in the desktop and mobile apps (not in a web browser).
Why students use it:
Best for: clipping web pages, scanning documents and searching inside your files
Evernote is a note-taking app built around capturing information: you can clip web pages, scan paper documents, forward emails and attach PDFs, then search across your notes and attachments. Its plans are Free, Starter and Advanced. The Free plan is limited to 50 notes, one notebook and one synced device. Starter ($14.99/month or $99/year in the US) allows up to 1,000 notes, 20 notebooks and 3 devices, and Advanced ($24.99/month or $249.99/year) removes the note and notebook limits and allows unlimited devices, subject to Evernote's safeguard limits. Both paid plans include AI Edit, transcription and AI Meeting Notes, which can record a lecture or meeting and produce a transcript and summary. Evernote offers students 50% off Advanced for the first 12 months, verified with an eligible school email (for new users or Free users without a paid plan); it then renews at the standard price unless you cancel. Paid plans come with a 7-day free trial.
Why students use it:
Choose Notion if you want one free, organized system for class notes, assignments and group projects — the free education plan makes it the better value for most students, though full AI needs the Business plan. Choose Evernote if your notes are mostly clipped articles, scanned handouts, PDFs and recordings that you need to search later, and you're willing to pay for Starter or Advanced; the free plan is too limited for regular coursework. If you're already in Evernote and want to switch, Notion can import your notes.
Organizing and summarizing your own notes is usually fine, but get permission before recording lectures or classmates, don't share course materials you don't have the right to share, and check your course's AI policy before using Notion AI or Evernote's AI features on graded work.