Is Obsidian an alternative to Evernote? A frustrated EN user

Things I have tried

What I’m trying to do

First, I did search this question, but found no actual direct answer, though I did find discussions of the challenges moving to O. I want to know if O is a valid alternative to EN. I have looked at the website, I am still getting my head around O, but it does seem powerful and useful. So, can O take the place of EN?

I ask as recently EN has shown every sign of dropping the ball. Of producing bad apps and a lack of direction. I am looking at DevonThink as one alternative.

I use EN mainly for web clipping and document storage. Also for scanning documents.

Is O worth a close look or should I move on?

I doubt you will find an actual direct answer because it depends on how you use it. There are people for which Obsidian is better.

From what you write, let me point ot some points that maybe relevant for you:

  • Obsidian does not have a web-clipping function, you can go around it with windows or mac shortcuts to copy and paste in notes
  • Obsidian can not scan documents, in fact a mobile app is not even out yet, only a beta version is currently available
  • Obsidian can embed documents that you put in the vault. There is no image search however, so you cannot find a specific word in a document, as you can with Evernote (although for me this feature has always been a hit and miss)
1 Like

Hi @Traveller1, great to have you here!

Some people have moved from Evernote to Obsidian and have had great experiences. I personally love Obsidian, but I worry that its main features might not be the best fit for you. It isn’t intended to be used mainly for document storage, but note creation and linking ideas together. If you just want to store documents and webpages, DEVONthink might be better for you since Obsidian is meant to be interacted with instead of being a file storage.

On the other hand, if you would like to try to do more creating instead of collecting, Obsidian would be great to give a try. It’s helped a lot of people transition from being collectors to creators. Ultimately, just choose the tool that better suits your needs.

Let me know if you have any questions! I’d be happy to help :smiley:

5 Likes

Thanks a lot. In a nutshell the distinctive difference. For the time being I will stay a storage guy, but I may well take a look at O as a creation device. Again, thanks.

Thanks. I do now understand the difference.

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