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Mento vs Evernote
Evernote invented the everything-notebook, and its capture ecosystem is still superb. But the free plan now stops at 50 notes on one device, and the paid tiers start at $99 a year — for an app that files your notes without ever helping you remember them. Mento starts free with real limits you won't hit in week one, and adds the layer Evernote never had: your notes become cards, and the cards come back on schedule.
Updated September 2026
The short answer
Which one is right for you?
Choose Mento if…
- ✓You hit Evernote's 50-note wall, or the price hikes finally landed
- ✓You take notes to learn something, not only to file it
- ✓You want handwriting, PDFs and typed notes in one place — with flashcards made from them
- ✓You want a free plan that's actually usable, and a student price when you outgrow it
Choose Evernote if…
- ✓The web clipper is your workflow — clipping articles and pages is still Evernote's crown
- ✓You scan documents, receipts and whiteboards and depend on OCR search across them
- ✓You have a decade of notes there and Advanced's unlimited tier is worth $249.99/yr to you
- ✓Your notes are a filing cabinet, not study material
Side by side
What's built in
Evernote's current plans against Mento today.
EvernoteBuilt-in features as of September 2026. Evernote Advanced ($249.99/yr) removes the note caps and adds AI tools.
Where Mento pulls ahead
Filing is half the job
Notes that come back to you
Evernote's promise was 'remember everything' — but it remembers for you, not with you. Search finds a note when you ask; nothing resurfaces what you're forgetting. Mento closes that gap: notes become cards, spaced repetition schedules them, and the material you captured actually stays known.
Spaced repetition in Mento →A free plan you can live in
Fifty notes is a week of real use. Mento's free plan covers the actual workflow — notes, the ink notebook, PDFs, flashcards and every study mode — so you decide to pay when you want more, not because you hit a wall in September.
Mento pricing →Capture that includes a pen
Evernote treats handwriting as an attachment. Mento treats it as a first-class page: an ink notebook with templates and sketches, living in the same topics, tags and search as your typed notes and PDFs — and feeding the same study schedule.
The digital notebook →Cost
Compare the cost
EvernoteUS prices as of September 2026. Evernote's plans have changed several times recently — check their pricing page for your region.
Fair is fair
When Evernote is the better choice
Evernote built this category, and parts of it remain unmatched.
- →The web clipper is still the best way to capture the internet — Mento has no browser clipper yet
- →Document workflows: scans, receipts, business cards, OCR across images and handwriting — that's Evernote's home turf
- →A decade of archives with deep search may be worth more to you than any new feature
- →If your notes are a life filing cabinet rather than study material, Evernote's model fits the job
Making the move
Switching from Evernote
Evernote exports cleanly (ENEX and PDF), and Mento is built around bringing source material in.
01
Export what matters
Export active notebooks from Evernote — PDFs upload straight into Mento's library, and note text pastes cleanly into the editor.
02
Make it studyable
Generate cards from the notes and readings you actually need to know, then edit them like any note.
03
Let the schedule run
Daily practice resurfaces what's due — the 'remember everything' promise, finally with a mechanism behind it.
Honestly: there's no one-click ENEX importer yet, so a big archive migrates one export at a time. Most switchers bring their active material and leave the archive where it is. Full export is included on every Mento plan.
FAQ
Mento vs Evernote, asked directly
Is Evernote still free?
There's a free plan, but since late 2023 it's capped at 50 notes, one notebook and one device. Paid plans start at $99/year (Starter) with Advanced at $249.99/year. Mento's free plan includes notes, the notebook, flashcards and every study mode.
Can I import my Evernote notes into Mento?
Not with one click yet. Evernote exports ENEX and PDF — PDFs upload straight into Mento, and note text pastes cleanly. Most switchers bring their active material rather than the whole archive.
Does Mento have a web clipper?
No — that's an honest gap against Evernote. You can paste links and text or upload files; a browser clipper isn't part of Mento today.
Does Mento do OCR like Evernote?
Mento searches the full text of your notes and PDFs. Evernote goes further with OCR across scanned images and photographed documents — if scan-heavy capture is your workflow, that row is theirs.
Is Mento a full notes app or just flashcards?
A full notes app — rich text editor, ink notebook, PDF reader, tags, tasks and calendar — with the flashcard and spaced repetition layer built on top of it, not instead of it.
What does Mento cost?
Free to start. Pro is $14.99 a month or $95.99 a year — about the same as Evernote Starter — and verified students pay $8.99 a month or $59.99 a year.
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Remember everything — with a mechanism
Notes, cards and scheduled review — free to start, no credit card.