Although Both Evernote and OneNote are great note taking tools having features like web clipping, OCR editing, and syncing notes with many devices there are unique differences between Evernote and OneNote. The key difference between Evernote and OneNote is that, Evernote provides better web clipping and third party support while OneNote works better with the Microsoft Office applications as it is well integrated with it.
Evernote Review – Features and Functions
Web clipping: web clipping is one of the best features in EverNote. It seems as if this application was primarily designed for this purpose than just to create notes from scratch. The Evernote application appears similar in all platforms. The left side contains a screen for navigation. You can tap on notebooks and view all the content available on that particular note. This can be viewed as a scrollable list for better viewing. For the ease of navigation, tags can also be added for easy reference.
The visual effects on the Evernote are more attractive than that of the OneNote. Also, Evernote offers many options, especially, for web clipping. In Evernote, small graphics can be viewed from the page that was saved. However, Evernote does not consist of some great features that are present in OneNote. But, basic features such as text formatting, adding files, pictures, and recording audio and video are available in this application.
Editing: Evernote is able to capture only the content that is desired, without annoying ads. It will only capture what is truly needed, omitting the video and the layout it was present in. It is also capable of saving the whole page as well when the need arises. It can bookmark the page as well as the screen shot of the page. It also features markup tools like adding arrows and highlighting text for important information. OneNote captures an image of the page but, with Evernote, the page is captured as it is with the text that can be copied and edited. The links are also live, and the user can click the link to be taken to the original location to view the page or video.
Search options: Search option can be used in Evernote and OneNote notebooks, but Evernote provides an additional feature of being able to search the tags and find the needed content as well. All the versions display Evernote in the same way. The mac and iPad display it more attractively. Android and iPhone also display the app in a similar way.
OneNote Review – Features and Functions
Organize: OneNote has been around for a long time; in fact, from Microsoft Office 2003. It can create simple and complex notes which can be navigated easily and can be synced through a variety of platforms. There are tools for drawing, adding audio and video, scanning images, adding spreadsheets, and also viewing edited notes. These features are better than the Evernote by comparison.Another feature of OneNote is that you could have notes and subcategorize them even further within the same note.
Clip notes: As a comparison, the EverNote is better at this feature than the OneNote. By right clicking on the web content or dragging it to OneNote clipper, the content can be added to a notebook among many of the notebooks previously created. One downside is that, in some browsers, a menu does not appear, and the web clip is sent to Quick notes from where the Clip can be moved to another location at a later time. Another disadvantage is that, there is no facility to select and clip individual portions of a web page.In such instances, the whole page will be clipped.
Versions: OneNote works well with windows. It gives full access to all the tools that is present in OneNote. OneNote takes advantage of the ribbon tab which gives it full access to all the features available with Onenote like review, home, history, and draw. The home tab gives features like formatting text and marking items as important. The insert option gives options like including audio and videos and spreadsheets.The draw tabs enable editing, and the history feature let you view recently added edits and collaborate with others. The review feature lets the user check spellings and grammar. The view feature on the ribbon lets you customize your notebook.
Initially, the page is just a blank slate. The user can freely add any kind of media like text media and images. These can be edited in any way the user prefers. The Mac and iPad gives the same look and feel as in windows. But there are only three tabs contrary to the six tabs in Windows. The iPhone, on the other hand, does not display any of the tabs because of the limited space the screen offers. The iPhone is best for taking note quickly and checking existing notes. Android has a poor version. It does not provide any of the tabs as the previous versions or give access to all great features that were available with the other versions.
Usage and storage: OneNote web version has tabs like in versions of windows and Mac. All the content of OneNote is synced using Microsoft OneDrive. It allows a storage of up to 7GB.
What is the difference between OneNote and Evernote?
Differences in Features of OneNote and Evernote
OneNote – “Digital Notebook”
OneNote is powered with great features that can be used to make notes from scratch and to do formatting and editing as needed. There are a number of tools specially designed for this purpose. Many functions like Adding text, images available in a Word Document are also present in OneNote. Spelling checks, thesaurus can also be accessed inside the OneNote. Windows version can even support drawings and handwriting on the note. It is easy to organize and edit the content inside OneNote. .
Evernote – “Digital File Cabinet”
You will be able to store information in a more organized manner with this application. The notes that are saved can be accessed by searching the notes or searching the tags that are attached to the notes. Evernote is a great application for information management. Functions such as creating a note, tagging it, sharing it and setting reminders are easy with the Evernote. The notes that are saved can be set to appear in Google searches as well.
Evernote web clipper and email are also features that surpass OneNote. These features make Evernote better at collecting and retrieving information effectively.
Web Clipping and Third Party Support
Evernote – Better for web clipping and third party support.
OneNote will save the note to a quick note section, and we will need to spend time later to put it into our preferred notebook.
The web clipping option is great in Evernote as we are able to save portions of a web page and also highlight those portions as needed. We are also able to tag these web clips for easy retrieval.
Mobile Interface
Evernote – Offers desktop-like experience
The Evernote has a great mobile interface which can be used effectively on the go. The Evernote retain most of the features that are available with it in other platforms.
OneNote is limited in this feature.
Windows Integration
OneNote – Windows integrated
OneNote works well with the Windows operating systems. It works better with the Microsoft Office applications as it is well integrated with it. It can work really well in collaboration with other Microsoft applications. Tagging pages can also be done on OneNote.
Evernote is a single application and is not collaborated with other applications.
Drag and Drop Function
OneNote – Offers Drag and Drop
When you want make a quick note, the drag and drop option is available in OneNote.
Evernote can only support adding or attaching documents. OneNote can be exported to a variety of formats like PDF, word and HTML.
Reminders
Evernote – Supports reminders
Reminders can be supported by Evernote. This is a built-in feature in Evernote.
OneNote can do this but with the help of Microsoft outlook.
Sharing
Evernote – Scores more in Sharing
Sharing can be done in a stronger fashion with Evernote with the use of social media tools.
Password
Evernote – Password protected
Passwords can be applied to the notes via encryption on Evernote.
This is not supported in free OneNote versions.
Summary
Both applications are note-taking tools, but they both have a unique way of doing it. As we are able to see from the above reviews, Evernote is more suitable for users who want to do web clipping, to capture and edit text, and organize. If the users want to create notes from scratch, noting text and article writing, OneNote should be the preferred choice of the user. Both are great in their unique areas.
Image Courtesy:
“Microsoft OneNote 2013 logo” by Micrososft – →This file has been extracted from another file: Microsoft Office 2013 logos lineup.svg.original file. (Public Domain) via Wikimedia Commons
“Evernote” by User:ZyMOS – This vector image was created with Inkscape.Open Icon Library. (Public Domain) via Wikimedia Commons