Paying users are also leaving (price increase, no real new features)

[clypac 12]

 

I see a lot of users of the free version complaining and talking about leaving elsewhere. I imagine the company sees them leaving without much sadness, as they cost them money without bringing in anything. 

But as for me, I am a paying user. And I want to leave as well. The price increase is outrageous. It was mentioned in the middle of a long email, like the dozens we receive from Evernote every year, hidden among the lengthy text. I have been a paying subscriber for 14 years. I happily pay for a service even though Evernote essentially serves as my notebook and content capture tool. I would love for its to-do list system to work better, with good folder functionality and various task reminder modes, which would also prevent me from having to pay for ToDoist on top of it, but that's how it is.

But in 2 years, we've gone from 29 euros to 59 euros to 99 euros. The email (intentionally vague in its subject and sent in the middle of an Evernote newsletter) announcing it talks about changes and says we are not paying more for the exact same product. Except that the mentioned features (like synchronization) are just bug fixes. No new features. We are indeed paying the same product for twice the price. By the way, there have been no public announcements from Evernote on this forum for almost a year.

I was charged yesterday, I requested a refund, and now I've moved elsewhere.

I don't mind paying for the service, but not more than my Deezer subscription, an application that also has to pay a significant portion of its sales to music companies for broadcasting rights, which is not the case with Evernote. All of this just for taking notes or clipping pages, something other free or half-priced applications can do.

I am perfectly willing to pay, but not for such a steep increase without any concrete new features other than a bug fix. Best regards.

[PinkElephant 8,189]

The price point is quite clearly not meant for occasional or light users. Many were on the Free model, but of course some used a subscription. 

If value and price don’t match any more, look for an alternative. Simple as that.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,979]

7 hours ago, clypac said:

By the way, there have been no public announcements from Evernote on this forum for almost a year.

https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/148965-new-blog-post-evernote-free-accounts-will-have-fifty-notes-and-one-notebook/

https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/148619-rolling-out-mobile-1058/

https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/147719-question-on-evernotes-speed-and-reliability/

https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/148712-rolling-out-desktop-1066/

7 hours ago, clypac said:

Except that the mentioned features (like synchronization) are just bug fixes.

The sync system was entirely revamped early this year. It was much more than a bug fix, more like a significant upgrade to an existing feature.

7 hours ago, clypac said:

All of this just for taking notes or clipping pages, something other free or half-priced applications can do.

If that's all you do with Evernote (no searching for text in images or PDFs, for instance), then it is definitely overpriced and overpowered. For people who use a broader range of its features, the price may make sense. IMHO.

[clypac 12]

On 12/27/2023 at 5:27 PM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/148965-new-blog-post-evernote-free-accounts-will-have-fifty-notes-and-one-notebook/

https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/148619-rolling-out-mobile-1058/

https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/147719-question-on-evernotes-speed-and-reliability/

https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/148712-rolling-out-desktop-1066/

The sync system was entirely revamped early this year. It was much more than a bug fix, more like a significant upgrade to an existing feature.

If that's all you do with Evernote (no searching for text in images or PDFs, for instance), then it is definitely overpriced and overpowered. For people who use a broader range of its features, the price may make sense. IMHO.

 

[clypac 12]

On the public announcements at this time perhaps it is necessary to put them at the place envisaged on the forum?

I'm sorry, but how is synchronization a new feature? It's just normal that it works better.

On usage: the usage I had for a long time was billed at 29 euros, then 59. Why is it now 99 in one year? Even though it's the same software.

I still haven't received my refund

[clypac 12]

On 12/27/2023 at 10:45 AM, PinkElephant said:

The price point is quite clearly not meant for occasional or light users. Many were on the Free model, but of course some used a subscription. 

If value and price don’t match any more, look for an alternative. Simple as that.

I understand that you want to defend the company that employs you. But if people like me, who are regular users and are willing to pay a reasonable amount for a quality product without having high needs and therefore without wanting to pay too much, leave, you might not have a job anymore.

 

 By the way, since you're here: evernote promised me a refund, but nothing's come of it.

 

[gazumped 11,709]

35 minutes ago, clypac said:

I understand that you want to defend the company that employs you.

@PinkElephant is not an employee.  Mainly just us users here,  unless they have a green flash that actually says "Employee".

Sorry you were  badly affected by the price rise,  sorry that some of us still think differently to you - that even at its new price,  and with upgrades and additions that we think do add value,  Evernote is worth supporting - and sorry that you haven't seen your refund yet.  But the situation and the subscriptions are what they are.  Accept them or move on.  And if Evernote promised you something but haven't delivered yet,  feel free to remind them via whatever email address you received confirmation from.

[Neil Maxfield 155]

On 12/27/2023 at 8:30 AM, clypac said:

 

I see a lot of users of the free version complaining and talking about leaving elsewhere. I imagine the company sees them leaving without much sadness, as they cost them money without bringing in anything. 

But as for me, I am a paying user. And I want to leave as well. The price increase is outrageous. It was mentioned in the middle of a long email, like the dozens we receive from Evernote every year, hidden among the lengthy text. I have been a paying subscriber for 14 years. I happily pay for a service even though Evernote essentially serves as my notebook and content capture tool. I would love for its to-do list system to work better, with good folder functionality and various task reminder modes, which would also prevent me from having to pay for ToDoist on top of it, but that's how it is.

But in 2 years, we've gone from 29 euros to 59 euros to 99 euros. The email (intentionally vague in its subject and sent in the middle of an Evernote newsletter) announcing it talks about changes and says we are not paying more for the exact same product. Except that the mentioned features (like synchronization) are just bug fixes. No new features. We are indeed paying the same product for twice the price. By the way, there have been no public announcements from Evernote on this forum for almost a year.

I was charged yesterday, I requested a refund, and now I've moved elsewhere.

I don't mind paying for the service, but not more than my Deezer subscription, an application that also has to pay a significant portion of its sales to music companies for broadcasting rights, which is not the case with Evernote. All of this just for taking notes or clipping pages, something other free or half-priced applications can do.

I am perfectly willing to pay, but not for such a steep increase without any concrete new features other than a bug fix. Best regards.

Hey @clypac - fully understand, not an easy one to absorb. There is another way though, as @Dave-in-Decatur intimates....and that is to lean into the product and use it's range of features more fully. The comment around tasks is an indication....IMHO, there is no need to have a todoist account if tasks in EN are used to maximum potential. Just one example. Happy to help you embrace the full potential of the product if you like, and I am sure there are other EN experts equally happy to do so

[clypac 12]

I've tried the to-do list, but the reminders don't work and it's difficult to access them from the browser version. As for the new features, I can't see them. Pay more with additional functions ok. But here...I'm told that it synchronizes better...it's not a new function, it's just a bug that's been fixed.

Ok for PinkElephant but he defends the company so much without nuance on all the forum posts that I had believed. Maybe he's just a service provider? a pseudonymous employee?

[PinkElephant 8,189]

I‘m parchdermic, not pseudonomynous.

[Powerfab 43]

I had to go look that one up 😕

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,979]

4 hours ago, clypac said:

I've tried the to-do list, but the reminders don't work and it's difficult to access them from the browser version. As for the new features, I can't see them. Pay more with additional functions ok. But here...I'm told that it synchronizes better...it's not a new function, it's just a bug that's been fixed.

Ok for PinkElephant but he defends the company so much without nuance on all the forum posts that I had believed. Maybe he's just a service provider? a pseudonymous employee?

As I said, sync is an existing feature that got upgraded; no one said it was a new feature, but it's much more than a bug fix. Actual new features added over the last few years include backlinks, tasks (as mentioned), ability to paste a URL link directly to selected text, the Home page, linking to Google Calendar, etc. If you don't need or even want to try any of these, then yes indeed, Evernote is both overpowered and overpriced for your purposes. As always, no one individual's purposes are everyone's purposes.

[clypac 12]

the tasks part is very late: inaccessible on the browser, impossible to create sub-tasks or task folders, reminders not up to scratch. too bad because if it had been correct, it would have saved me todoist so it would have justified the doubled price. putting hyperlinks or synchronizing with a calendar, which has existed elsewhere for a long time, is not serious. Bye.

[Grant837 114]

@Dave-in-Decatur  can you tell me more about "ability to paste a URL link directly to selected text".  This sounds like block level links... which would be great!

[rosingm 12]

And they don't even do bug fixes.
I've had the same bug issues for years and they just sign off on them again and again.
Now they don't run chat and search for help is useless.

[gazumped 11,709]

1 hour ago, rosingm said:

And they don't even do bug fixes.
I've had the same bug issues for years and they just sign off on them again and again.
Now they don't run chat and search for help is useless.

Hi.  No clue what you're talking about, but you're right there is no chat - what is your issue?

[Tao Jones 3]

On 12/27/2023 at 2:45 AM, PinkElephant said:

The price point is quite clearly not meant for occasional or light users. Many were on the Free model, but of course some used a subscription. 

If value and price don’t match any more, look for an alternative. Simple as that.

The price point quite clearly isn't meant for daily/long time users either.   Never thought I'd leave Evernote after many years, but here we are.  Very disappointing.

[MvdH 424]

18 minutes ago, Tao Jones said:

The price point quite clearly isn't meant for daily/long time users either.   Never thought I'd leave Evernote after many years, but here we are.  Very disappointing.

That's too narrow. If the price isn't worth it for your category of daily/long time users, then you are right. I'm sad you are in that position and have to find an alternative solution. I personally hate it when I have to spend time on such 'overhead' sysadmin tasks instead of being productive. You cannot speak for all of us though. For me Evernote slowly (sigh) is getting better and better for my usecases, but it already is worth the higher price.

[Jon/t 1,335]

14 hours ago, Grant837 said:

can you tell me more about "ability to paste a URL link directly to selected text". 

Copy a link to your clipboard - select some text in Evernote and then CTRL+SHIFT+V and the text become the link. I use it loads and it speeds up linking a lot.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,979]

8 hours ago, Jon/t said:

23 hours ago, Grant837 said:

can you tell me more about "ability to paste a URL link directly to selected text". 

Copy a link to your clipboard - select some text in Evernote and then CTRL+SHIFT+V and the text become the link. I use it loads and it speeds up linking a lot.

In the Android and Web apps, even a simple paste (Ctrl+V) seems to leave the selected text as is, but makes it a link to the URL on the clipboard. In the Windows app Ctrl+V will change the selected text to the title of the linked URL, while Ctrl+Shift+V leaves the text and makes it a link. 

[PinkElephant 8,189]

Works on a Mac as well, just need (as usual) to replace the CTRL by the CMD key: Copy URL, go to note, select text, then CMD-SHIFT-V.

What is interesting: If you had more than one paragraph of text selected, the inserted URL will independently be inserted into each paragraph. If you erase the link (right click on the text - Remove Link), it is only removed in that paragraph. It will remain in the others.

[Grant837 114]

On 1/6/2024 at 9:24 AM, Jon/t said:

Copy a link to your clipboard - select some text in Evernote and then CTRL+SHIFT+V and the text become the link. I use it loads and it speeds up linking a lot.

Ah, OK, then you meant 'associate' a URL to existing text.  No problem.  I just thought I missed the start of block-level content management in Evernote... which would be handy

[Dave Green 210]

On 1/6/2024 at 12:14 PM, PinkElephant said:

CMD-SHIFT-V

While it works, the "SHIFT" key is not needed.

[osum 0]

While I love this app at the steep price increase, it was something I just didn't need to keep. Agreed that the updates don't warrant the price change. R &D is a cost of doing business and shouldn't be passed on at this rate to clients (newly created former clients). 

[gazumped 11,709]

In one of the groups I frequent,  a formal announcement of disapproval and departure is known as a 'flounce'.

[PinkElephant 8,189]

1 hour ago, osum said:

While I love this app at the steep price increase, it was something I just didn't need to keep. Agreed that the updates don't warrant the price change. R &D is a cost of doing business and shouldn't be passed on at this rate to clients (newly created former clients). 

Just for finding out: To whom do you pass on your R&D cost, if not to your customers ?

Given your customers are your only source of income, I can't think about another way of recovering R&D (or any other cost) than by making my customers pay.

EN has never been profitable in the last years, AFAIK. This probably explains the hike: They needed to bring the enterprise into the black, and finance further R&D. The former EN management from what we have seen has focussed on the front end (clients), but kept building technical debt on the backend (servers, infrastructure).

This obviously can only go on for so long as it lasts - and from what we see, BS is tackling this problem in parallel to many others.