(Archived) Springpad vs Evernote

[johnnyshinta 1]

Hello EN users,

I've been using EN for just about 2 weeks at this point. My loyalty was wavering for a few days as i couldn't get EN to work well with my daily routine. For whatever reason i thought it would just click and everything would just flow. So I tried SP to see if it would be easier for me to implement. It does have a bit more predefined structure. It is sectioned off into categories, recipe, tasks, notes, movies, shopping lists, etc.

Anyway I liked SP's ability to look up things such as products and movies. Made it easier to reference things. I looked up a PS3 console and got a link to amazon. versus having to use the amazon app seperately on my android device.

But in the end EN has a much better UI and from what i see is much more robust. OCR is amazing and the support is tops. It has a desktop client and local notebooks. SP seems like a good entry lever program but feels a bit Mickey Mouse.

In the end I came running back to EN and will never stray again. Great app guys, you have my endorsement. I'm currently trying to get my wife to use your service as well.

[Phil Dean 150]

Thanks for your comments and glad you like Evernote!!

[gorlando 1]

hey there. I agree with Johnny here. Although evernote is the first of its kind that I have used - being used to doing things manually until one day a friend suggested evernote - I find it very helpful and very convenient to use. without going into details, this has made my work easier to manage and handle. Oh yes, the OCR rocks. I gave up on OCRs years ago, finding more errors than correct text. But yours made me believe in it again.

[Limegreen 8]

The problem with Springpad is that it's very predefined in how you go about things. It could be an interesting alternative if you're just starting out getting organized. Though there seems to be no desktop client for offline access yet and, like OneNote, it's availability is less than that of Evernote.

In fact I think it's Evernotes availability on most platforms as well as its transparency that makes it the default Data organizer. You can so easily get your data out of Evernote that you can feel quite secure in using it.

What springpad does seem to have though, while I have not tried it, is support for calendars such as Google Calendar. This is the feature that I think is most needed in Evernote, I wish Springpad was otherwise comparable to Evernote in features because then I would at least have the option to switch and try to implement my system there if I at some point decided to do that. But I rather just Evernote try to do something about calendar support instead.

SP seems like a good entry lever program but feels a bit Mickey Mouse.

I like that quote even though I have no idea what it means.

[johnnyshinta 1]

Feels a bit Mickey Mouse. Meaning its rinky dink, something a kid would use. Like if you get a new cell phone that has really big buttons and pretty flashing lights but no apps. i would say it is a mickey mouse phone

does that make sense? cuz honestly i think i just confused myself

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I guess I tend to think that "Mickey Mouse" also refers to something that's just really Goofy. 8)

(Like one time when my husband was out of town & had to stand in a particular spot in his hotel room, in order to get an ok cell phone signal.)

[johnnyshinta 1]

yes BnF that is a good use for it as well. I know I'm going to catch flak for this but one thing that ties both our definitions together would be windows Vista.

Very Mickey Mouse.

[danielegold 26]

Hi all - I've been a very active Evernote Premium user for quite some time. Up until November, I scoffed at other competitors such as Springpad. Then, in November 2010, Springpad unleashed a massive refresh of their UI and many slick new updates. I've blogged about it at length and Springpad featured my post on their site (I'm not tooting my horn at all). Evernote has unleashed a series of incredible updates as well recently - the most notable is sharing notebooks and notes through social streams. When the question comes up about Springpad vs Evernote I think the real question is this: what do you want to do with your notes?? Evernote is amazing for me professionally because of its search engine, OCR capabilities, nesting of notes & notebooks, etc. Springpad has its advantages as well - its whole business model relies on being able to semantically categorize your notes and offer up 3rd party links to Amazon, IMDB, Google, etc. I just put together a pretty comprehensive comparison chart between the two services and I'd enjoy getting your feedback of what you all think: http://wp.me/ptgV6-bf. I think it lays everything I could possibly think of about the differences. Thanks!

[ever111 24]

Yeah, but is Springpad going to offer you the best deal, or THEIR deal? Do you only look at the paid search boxes at the top and right of google searches? Does Amazon offer the same price through Springpad as going straight in? Does Springpad get paid to send you to Amazon? Does Springpad TOS say they will find the best deal, or even try to?

Do you want all of your shopping controlled and handed to you? Not me!

[cgknight 2]

The killer for me is that springpad does free off-limit access to my notes in their android app. While overall I perfer the evernote interface, I'm using springpad more and more for that reason.

[Mark923 26]

I've been an Evernote user for over a year, and by comparison to Springpad, it's GUI is spartan, but I've tried/uninstalled/tried/uninstalled SP so many times because I want it to work, but I just can't buy into it. I really like how EN allows for notebooks and nesting within, for a more traditional organization hierarchy like on a Mac desktop. I would love it if EN allowed for some kind of personalization of colors or themes. As often as I use my phone, I like to change out my background every so often, to fit my mood. And, as much as I use Evernote, it would be great to 'personalize' it as well.

I'm extremely impressed with Evernote, and though I continue to try 'others', I stick with what works, and that is EN. Keep up the great work.

[cgknight 2]

The killer for me is that springpad does free off-limit access to my notes in their android app. While overall I perfer the evernote interface, I'm using springpad more and more for that reason.

And then I thought about it a bit more after posting yesterday and thought "this is $5 a month, why are you too mean to support development?" and then upgraded to premium

[Lars 0]

I find using both, depending on the type of note collection and re-purposing intended, to work best for my personal and professional collection, organization and execution needs.

EN and SP compliment each other more than they compete imho.

Therefore, perhaps this discussion might explore the benefits and risks of EN acquiring or partnering/integrating with SP?

Lars