Evernote alternative
ForkLeaf vs Evernote
Evernote keeps your notes in Evernote's cloud, and on the way out hands you an ENEX file. ForkLeaf never holds them at all: every note is a Markdown file in your own GitHub repository, free, with full history.
Side by side
| Question | ForkLeaf | Evernote |
|---|---|---|
| Where a note ends up | A .md file in a GitHub repository you own | A note in Evernote's cloud |
| Format | Markdown — readable in any editor, for ever | ENEX, an XML format only Evernote writes |
| History | Every save is a git commit — diffs, blame, revert | Note history on paid plans |
| Sync | git push, to a repository you already pay nothing for | Theirs, limited on the free tier |
| Offline | Fully — edits queue locally and push when you reconnect | Partial, on paid plans |
| Diagrams | A Mermaid studio; the diagram renders on GitHub as well | Sketches |
| Collaboration | Pull requests and review — proposed, discussed, then merged | Shared notes |
| If the company disappears | Nothing happens. The notes were never here | You have an ENEX file to find a converter for |
| Price | Free, open source, and no account to close | Free tier with limits, then paid |
Choose Evernote if…
- You depend on Evernote's web clipper and its search inside scanned documents and images.
- You want an app that handles everything — including storage — with no account anywhere else.
Choose ForkLeaf if…
- You want notes in a format every text editor reads, not one only Evernote writes.
- You want history and offline editing without a paid plan.
- You want no note limits, no device limits and no tier to upgrade to.
- You want to link notes to each other with [[wikilinks]] and see the backlinks.
Moving from Evernote
- Convert your ENEX export to Markdown with an open-source converter such as yarle or evernote2md.
- Open ForkLeaf, sign in with GitHub and choose the repository your notes will live in.
- Use Import → Markdown files and choose the converted folder; pictures beside the notes are copied too.
Nothing is locked in on the way in, either: your notes stay plain Markdown in your own repository, so changing your mind later means opening the same folder in something else.
Questions
Is ForkLeaf a free Evernote alternative?
Yes. ForkLeaf is free and open source with no paid tier, no note limit and no device limit. Notes are stored in your own GitHub repository rather than on ForkLeaf's servers.
Can ForkLeaf import Evernote notes?
Not ENEX directly. Convert the export to Markdown with an open-source tool such as yarle, then import the folder of Markdown files in ForkLeaf.
Can I save web pages into ForkLeaf?
Yes. ForkLeaf has a bookmarklet and a share target that save a page into the inbox/ folder of your notebook as a Markdown note.