Benchpad vs Evernote

The problem: The trap of proprietary formats and VC funding

Evernote launched in 2008 and quickly became the default answer to "what should I use for notes." By 2012, it had 34 million users, $250M in funding, and a reputation as the first billion-dollar productivity startup.

Then the reality of venture capital set in. The company went through three CEOs in a single year, suffered massive layoffs, and was eventually sold to a holding company in 2023. Prices were raised dramatically. Features that used to be free were suddenly locked behind paywalls. The free tier was restricted to a single device.

The worst part? Millions of users realized their decade of personal thoughts and records were trapped in a proprietary XML format called ENEX.

Exporting data required using their app, and importing that ENEX file into a different tool almost always resulted in broken formatting. If an app restricts export access—which Evernote has done before—your notes are effectively stranded inside one company's failing roadmap.

The solution: Plain markdown and a sustainable business model

Benchpad is the opposite bet. We built a very sharp, very fast knife. It gives you three pads, stores everything in plain markdown you can read anywhere, and charges a flat $20/year with absolutely no VC growth pressure behind it.

Benchpad — three pads and a block editor; nothing to migrate

The honest comparison

Feature	Evernote	Benchpad
Structure	Notebooks, stacks, tags	Three fixed pads, no folders
Editor	Rich text, web clipper, PDFs	Block editor (markdown, tables, columns)
Offline	Yes, historically buggy	Yes, local-first by design
Sync	Included (strict device limits)	CRDT-based character-level merge
Platforms	Web, desktop, iOS, Android	Native iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Web
Price	~$14.99/month	$20/year flat
Data format	Proprietary ENEX (XML)	Plain markdown
Export	Lossy in third-party importers	Export as markdown, text, or HTML
Company	VC-funded, sold, uncertain	Small, sustainable, bootstrapped

The portability problem

Export everything as plain Markdown, text, or HTML — no proprietary format

ENEX isn't plain text. It is a proprietary markup language.

Benchpad stores everything as plain markdown. You can literally highlight the text in your pad, copy it, and paste it into any text editor in the world, and it will look exactly the same. Furthermore, you can export your entire database as Markdown, plain text, or HTML with a single click. It reads correctly with no importer and no vendor lock-in.

The pricing trajectory problem

Evernote's free tier once gave you 60MB/month of uploads, two devices, and offline access. Successive changes reduced it to one device, removed offline access, and added a strict note cap. Each restriction was announced as "necessary for sustainability." None ever came back.

Benchpad has one line: one pad free forever. $20/year unlocks all three pads, file attachments, and data export. The paid tier funds the infrastructure. The free tier exists so you can actually use the product before deciding to pay.

When you should use Evernote

If you need a web clipper, PDF annotation, OCR search inside scanned documents, or deep calendar integration, Evernote (or Notion) is the correct answer. We'd rather say so plainly than try to sell you a downgrade.

When to switch to Benchpad

Export your notes from Evernote as HTML or markdown. They will open cleanly in Benchpad (or any other markdown editor).

Then, start with one pad in Benchpad. Only move over the notes you actually reach for on a daily basis. Most people find that the amount of data they actually need is a tiny fraction of the thousands of notes they were carrying around in Evernote's digital hoarding system.

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Related: Benchpad vs Notion · Benchpad vs Google Keep · Try it free, no card