Evernote vs Standard Notes
Self-hosted for $4/mo on hetzner CAX11, versus $0-$0/user/mo on Evernote.
Side-by-side
| Evernote | Standard Notes (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $0-$0/user/mo | $4.13/mo flat (any team size) |
| Hosting | Evernote's servers | Your VPS (hetzner CAX11) |
| Data ownership | Evernote controls the data | Your disk, your encryption |
| Source code | Closed | Open (AGPL-3.0) |
| Customization | API + integrations only | Full source access; modify freely |
| Maintenance burden | Zero | Backups + updates (manual) |
| Health score (ossreplace) | — | 66 / 100 |
Why teams leave Evernote
Standard Notes answers this by: Open-source alternatives that can replace Evernote.
The cost math
Assumes 5-person team using Evernote at the midpoint price ($0/user/mo).
| Period | Evernote | Standard Notes on hetzner | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $0 | $4.13 | $-4.13 |
| Yearly | $0 | $49.56 | $-49.56 |
| 3 years | $0 | $149 | $-149 |
Deploy Standard Notes now
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Common questions
Is Standard Notes a good alternative to Evernote?
Standard Notes is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Evernote with an ossreplace health score of 66/100 — a composite of project activity, maturity, community, security, and adoption. It runs on your own hetzner VPS from $4.13/mo with full source access under the AGPL-3.0 license, versus Evernote's $0–0/user/mo hosted plans.
How much cheaper is Standard Notes than Evernote?
A 5-person team pays about $0/mo on Evernote. Self-hosting Standard Notes on hetzner CAX11 costs a flat $4.13/mo regardless of team size — roughly $-149 less over three years (-Infinity% lower).
Is Standard Notes hard to self-host?
Standard Notes self-hosts on your own VPS. You handle the install, backups, and updates yourself in exchange for full data ownership and no per-seat fees.
Do you keep control of your data with Standard Notes vs Evernote?
Yes. Because Standard Notes runs on your own server, the data lives on your disk under your encryption. With Evernote, Evernote controls the hosting, storage, and access.