Migrating from Evernote to Joplin

[Archiver]

I've been an Evernote user for well over 10 years, and it might be time to migrate to another note taking program. I use Evernote as a mass storage system that organizes saved webpages, news articles, recipes, computer tips and whatnot. It also contains some journal entries written when I've been on the road, and I want to avoid any future idiocy where Evernote decides to prevent user data export. Evernote has also doubled their subscription price. Fortunately, an open source note taking program called Joplin exists, and it purportedly easily imports Evernote's ENEX files. Joplin should allow me to securely sync from my phone to the main database on my computer. Fingers crossed!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

I did the same thing last year. It worked well.

 

[Archiver]

@Chriscrawfordphoto I'm still procrastinating on the switch, kind of like procrastinating on switching from Adobe Premiere Pro to Davinci Resolve for video editing. Evernote holds just so much stuff that it's rather daunting, and I'm used to the interface and process. But I'll get there!

Do you sync from your phone? I'm loathe to use Google or Microsoft cloud storage and would prefer local sync such as Syncthing.

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

One thing that Joplin didn't work well with was syncing across devices. I was trying to use Microsoft OneDrive. I haven't tried anything else yet. I don;t use a smartphone; I dislike them and won't own one as long as I can avoid it. I have a tablet though, and right now just use Joplin on my desktop Mac.

 

[Archiver]

Evernote is set to almost double its price once again. A few years ago, Evernote was about $80 AUD per year. For the past two years, it has been $159. Next month it will be $309, and with that, I'm out. I'm currently exporting dozens of notebooks and thousands of clipped web pages and notes to ENEX files, and importing to Joplin.

First impressions of Joplin is that it does the job, although there are a few formatting differences. For example, Evernote displays imported HTML pages in dark mode, but Joplin seems to default to a weird dark mode with white background. Importing as Markdown shows everything as Dark Mode, but markdown removes the formatting of HTML.

Converting from HTML to Markdown after import removes the date that the original file was created, so I may have to import as Markdown and just bear with it, or try an alternative like Upnote and see if the imported files display properly and they retain the metadata like date created and modified. If they do, then I'll move to Upnote and pay the USD $39 lifetime price.

I'll also look at Upnote's Web Clipper feature, which is pretty good in Evernote but a little less functional in Joplin. Evernote's web clipper shows exactly what the clipped page will look like as a preview, but Joplin does not give any indication. We shall see if Upnote's web clipper is better.

 

[Archiver]

A bit more experimentation and I think I can live with converting the HTML web clips from Evernote to Markdown, as the information is still there, albeit now all in a long column as opposed to tables. I don't mind.

Joplin's web clipper works well, it's just a matter of checking the clipped page for formatting afterward. If this is the price of moving to Joplin vs $309 per year on Evernote, I'm going with Joplin.

Joplin formats reddit threads so much better when copying and pasting! Evernote had a lot of wasted space / line breaks, but Joplin just single breaks everything, which is fine by me.

For now, everything will be stored locally and backed up to a second drive periodically with an auto backup program I'll have to find soon. It is debatable whether I need to sync Joplin with my phone at this point, but I'm learning about how to do this with Syncthing so the syncing remains on my local network and not in the cloud. I'd like to be able to write journal entries on the road and have them sync when I return, or I could just write them in Joplin mobile and copy/paste after.

 

[Archiver]

Everything is now in Joplin, and I think I might be able to recover an old Evernote database from an external HDD using the current software. If this is possible, I'll repopulate the current Evernote with the old files and import them into Joplin.

Next step is to figure out a reliable auto backup method, and learn how to sync using Syncthing. Or maybe create my own server on my PC so I don't have to bother with a cloud server for syncing with my phone. More to investigate.

 

[Archiver]

Now using the built in backup method in Windows to duplicate the Joplin file to a separate hard drive.

Have just cancelled my Evernote plan. It was a great 15 year run from 2011 until now, but the price is just way too much for how I use Evernote. A jump from $159 to $309 is simply not acceptable. Bending Spoons has done a lot to improve Evernote over the past couple of years, but they have added so much AI based functionality that I simply do not use, and are charging for it.

Joplin is working well. Only a couple of differences relative to how I used Evernote, but easily adapted to. Joplin lacks a mobile web clipper, so I have to send web pages to the desktop and save them there.

All I need now is to set up Syncthing to sync Joplin with my phone and all will be as normal.

 

[Archiver]

I've figured out a workaround for syncing Joplin mobile with my computer. My primary use of Evernote/Joplin on my phone is to take notes and write journal entries when I'm on the road/away from the home computer. So instead of using Joplin, I send myself messages using WhatsApp, then copy and paste them from WhatsApp desktop into Joplin when I'm in front of the computer. It involves another step, but it removes the hassle of syncing mobile with desktop. Notes are more or less secure through WhatsApp's E2E encryption.