Scrivener vs Evernote: An In-Depth Comparison for Writers and Note-Takers

As a writer or avid note-taker, you‘ve likely heard of Scrivener and Evernote – two popular apps that aim to boost your productivity and organize your work. But while they share some overlap, these are two very different tools designed for distinct purposes.

In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll dive deep into what sets Scrivener and Evernote apart. By directly comparing their features, pricing, and ideal use cases, you‘ll gain a clear understanding of which app (or both!) may be the perfect fit for your creative workflow. Let‘s get started.

What is Scrivener?

Scrivener is a writing app built for tackling big, complex projects like novels, screenplays, dissertations and long-form articles. It provides a fully-featured writing environment that goes beyond a typical word processor. With Scrivener, you can:

• Break large manuscripts into manageable sections and scenes
• Rearrange your content with a simple drag-and-drop
• Store research, notes, and reference material alongside your writing
• Track your progress towards manuscript targets
• Compile your finished draft into professional formats for printing, self-publishing, or submitting to editors

In short, Scrivener gives authors the tools to plan, compose, and revise their magnum opus in a non-linear, intuitive way. It‘s less about quickly capturing ideas, and more about seeing a major written work through from start to finish.

What is Evernote?

Evernote is a general-purpose app for taking notes, saving information, and accessing it from anywhere. More than just a digital notebook, Evernote allows you to:

• Jot down text notes, to-do lists, images, audio clips, scanned documents, and more
• Clip web pages, articles, and PDF files for later reference
• Organize notes with customizable tags and notebooks
• Search for text inside notes, images and PDFs
• Share notes and collaborate with others
• Sync your notes across mobile, desktop and web apps

Evernote excels at being a centralized, searchable repository for all kinds of information. It‘s less focused on developing comprehensive written works, and more about having a reliable system for collecting and retrieving the information you need.

Scrivener vs Evernote: The Key Differences

Now that we understand the basic objectives of each app, let‘s see how they stack up in the areas that matter most for writers and note-collectors.

1. Supported Platforms

Scrivener offers native apps for Mac, Windows and iOS. Your projects can sync between the desktop and mobile versions, but there is no browser-based app. Also, the Windows version tends to lag behind the Mac version in terms of features and updates.

Evernote, on the other hand, has feature-rich apps for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android, and most web browsers. All versions stay in sync, so you can seamlessly access your notes no matter what device is at hand.

Advantage: Evernote. Its wide cross-platform support makes it more convenient for users who don‘t primarily work on a Mac.

2. User Interface & Ease of Use

Scrivener sports a clean, modern interface that puts your manuscript front and center. On the left is a "Binder" that displays your draft‘s sections as a nested list. On the right you‘ll find a corkboard for visualizing your story structure, plus an inspector for adding synopses, notes and keywords to each section.

While easy on the eyes, Scrivener‘s UI presents a learning curve to new users, simply because it has so many features designed for long-form writing. Expect to spend some time with the tutorial projects to fully grasp the power under the hood.

Evernote‘s interface is more minimal and intuitive. In the desktop app, your notes appear as a chronological list next to a pane for viewing and editing the selected note. Notebooks and tags are accessible in the sidebar for quickly filtering your notes. The result is an uncluttered workspace that lets you jump straight into writing.

However, Evernote‘s simplicity means it offers less control over your note structure compared to Scrivener. Individual notes are limited to a single level of hierarchy – you can put them in notebooks, but can‘t nest them in a multi-level outline.

Advantage: Tie. Scrivener trades some ease of use for greater depth of features. Evernote is friendlier for beginners, but less able to handle complex structures.

3. Writing & Editing Tools

As a dedicated writing app, Scrivener provides a wealth of tools for the drafting and revision process:

• A formatting toolbar and style presets for headings, block quotes, etc.
• A "Scrivenings" mode that combines the text of multiple sections into a single editor
• File attachments and inline image support
• Revision tracking with "Snapshots" of past drafts
• Custom metadata fields for tracking characters, plot threads, and other details
• A distraction-free composition mode that hides the binder and toolbars

With a focus on shorter notes, Evernote‘s writing tools are more basic. You get common formatting options like bold, italics, checklists and tables, but no built-in modes for drafting, revising or structuring a long manuscript.

Advantage: Scrivener. If you‘re serious about crafting long-form content, Scrivener‘s specialized editing environment is in a different class than Evernote.

4. Note-Taking Capabilities

While Scrivener supports research notes, its core purpose is developing your manuscript content, not general note-taking.

This is where Evernote shines. In addition to formatted text notes, you can create:

• Checklists with checkable to-do items
• Reminders that ping you about a note at a specific date/time
• Handwritten notes and sketches (on tablets and touchscreens)
• Notebook "stacks" for organizing notes by topic or project
• Saved searches for instantly pulling up notes that match specific criteria

You can also forward emails into Evernote, annotate attached PDFs, and even scan physical documents with your phone‘s camera. All these notes are instantly synced and searchable from any device. You can even search for text captured from images!

Advantage: Evernote. As a digital brain for all your information and ideas, Evernote runs laps around Scrivener‘s limited note-taking.

5. Organizing & Finding Content

Both Scrivener and Evernote let you organize content in a logical hierarchy. The key difference is that while Scrivener focuses on crafting that structure as you write, Evernote is optimized for capturing information first and organizing it later.

Scrivener‘s Binder encourages you to plan out your manuscript‘s structure in advance, using folders and text sections to build an outline. As you write, you can drag and drop sections to rearrange them. The Corkboard view even lets you sequence sections visually using index card thumbnails.

Evernote takes a looser approach, with stacks, notebooks and tags serving as flexible buckets for sorting your notes. While you can‘t arrange the notes themselves in a custom order, you can use multi-word tags to mimic an outline structure (like tagging a note with "Chapter 1/Scene 1").

Evernote‘s real organization power, however, comes from its ability to instantly find information no matter where it‘s buried. Its full-text search lets you dig up notes by any keyword, even searching inside PDFs and images. You can also save frequent searches for quick access.

Advantage: Tie. Scrivener has better tools for structuring long works, while Evernote‘s search is unparalleled for retrieving specific notes.

6. Research & Reference

When it comes to compiling background material for a writing project, both apps have convenient features.

Scrivener provides a dedicated "Research" folder for each project, separate from your manuscript. Here you can store images, PDFs, and web pages that inform your writing. The split view lets you view a reference and your draft side-by-side as you write.

For general reference, Evernote is hard to beat. Its Web Clipper browser extension lets you save web pages with a click. On mobile, you can use the camera to scan books, papers, and handwritten notes. Everything is processed by OCR so the text is searchable.

Evernote‘s tagging system is also handy for cross-referencing related materials. For example, you can tag multiple notes with "Character study" or "Plot ideas" to round up all your relevant thoughts.

Advantage: Evernote. Unless you only need project-specific research, Evernote‘s flexible tools make it an ideal all-purpose reference library.

7. Collaboration & Sharing

As a solo writing app, Scrivener doesn‘t offer any built-in collaboration features. You can sync your projects via Dropbox to access them on multiple personal devices, but you can‘t co-write with others in real time. Sharing drafts with editors or beta readers means exporting them to a common format first.

Evernote, in contrast, has a robust set of sharing and collaboration options:

• Share individual notes with view/edit permissions
• Share entire notebooks with your team or the public
• Chat and comment on notes in real time (Premium and Business plans only)
• Export notes as a web page anyone can view

If you frequently work with others to brainstorm ideas, give feedback, or write together, Evernote is the natural choice.

Advantage: Evernote. Writers who often collaborate will appreciate the multiple ways to share in Evernote.

8. Progress Tracking

Scrivener‘s "Project Targets" feature is a boon for authors who need to hit certain word counts or deadlines. You can set separate targets for your full manuscript and each writing session, then track your progress in the toolbar.

The Outliner view also shows statistics like word counts for each section, along with customizable columns for statuses, labels, and more. This bird‘s-eye view helps you stay on top of your draft as it evolves.

Evernote doesn‘t have any tools specifically for word count goals or writing streaks. The note list does show each note‘s size and word/character counts, but not cumulative totals across notes. If tracking your output is a must-have, Scrivener is the better equipped app.

Advantage: Scrivener. Its target trackers and outline stats help you monitor a manuscript‘s growth over time.

9. Exporting & Publishing

Since Scrivener is built for long-form writing, it offers the most flexible options for exporting your finished work. Using the "Compile" feature, you can:

• Export to DOCX, PDF, HTML, ePub, Kindle, and other common file types
• Choose which sections to include/exclude in the output
• Automatically generate front matter like a table of contents and title page
• Customize page size, margins, and headers/footers
• Apply typography and formatting presets for print or digital

In other words, Scrivener has everything you need to prep a manuscript for submission or self-publishing. You can even export multiple versions for different purposes, like a PDF for print and an ePub for e-readers.

Evernote‘s export options are more limited. You can share notes as a PDF or web page, but there are no settings for typography, pagination, or front matter. For casual sharing this may suffice, but for professional publishing, Scrivener is the better tool.

Advantage: Scrivener. Its powerful Compile feature is ideal for generating publishable manuscripts with all the trimmings.

10. Pricing & Value

Scrivener is sold as a one-time license for each platform:

• macOS: $49
• Windows: $45
• iOS: $19.99

You can use the app indefinitely with no subscription. Minor updates are free, while major new versions may require a paid upgrade. If you use multiple devices, Scrivener also sells a bundle with the desktop versions for $80.

Evernote has shifted to a freemium model. The Basic plan is free to use on up to 2 devices, but limits you to 60 MB of new uploads per month. For $7.99/month, the Premium plan offers 10 GB monthly uploads, unlimited devices, and additional features like PDF annotation and searching inside attachments.

How the value shakes out depends on your needs. If you mainly want a writing environment for long projects, Scrivener is the better deal at a flat $45-$80. But if you need a cross-platform, full-featured note-taking system for life, Evernote‘s ongoing subscription could pay off.

Advantage: Tie. Scrivener is more affordable for its specialized writing tools, while Evernote‘s subscription gives you continuity across all your devices and projects.

The Verdict

So which app should you use for writing and note-taking? The answer depends on your specific goals:

Choose Scrivener if you:

• Mainly work on long-form, structured writing like novels, non-fiction books, screenplays, dissertations, etc.
• Want a powerful yet distraction-free environment for drafting and revising
• Need to track your progress towards manuscript targets
• Want to export your finished work in professional formats

Choose Evernote if you:

• Frequently capture ideas and information from multiple sources (web, mobile, email, etc.)
• Want to access your notes from any device
• Need powerful search tools to find specific notes and references
• Collaborate with others and share your work publicly

Why not both? Many writers find that Scrivener and Evernote complement each other well. You can use Evernote to gather research and flesh out ideas, then focus on your manuscript in Scrivener when it‘s time to write.

Ultimately, the best writing app is the one that fits your unique creative process. We hope this in-depth comparison has shed some light on whether Scrivener, Evernote, or a combination of both can empower you to write more and write better.