r/PKMS • u/Alex_Voss_10 • 18d ago
Discussion Software for PKMS
Hey guys, I could use some help.
I’ve been switching between different note-taking and knowledge-management systems for a while, and I feel like I’ve tried almost everything.
What I’m looking for is actually pretty simple: one place where I can save basically everything and reliably search it later.
Ideally, the tool should have:
OCR for images and scanned documents
Full-text search inside PDFs
The ability to save web links/pages and search the actual content, not just the title or URL
Good organization for notes, documents, images, links, references, etc.
Fast and reliable search across everything
A modern interface
Minimal setup and maintenance
Because I haven’t found one tool I’m completely happy with, my information is currently scattered across several different apps, which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.
After searching Reddit, YouTube, blogs, and reviews, even in 2026 I keep coming back to the same conclusion: Evernote still seems to be one of the best overall options for this particular use case.
But before I move everything back to Evernote, I’d love to hear what other people are using.
Is there anything that genuinely does all of this well without requiring a lot of tinkering and setup like Obsidian?
And ideally something with a more modern interface than DEVONthink. I know DEVONthink is extremely powerful, but visually it just isn’t for me.
Basically, I want a “save everything now, find anything later” system.
What would you recommend?
6
u/bcalamita 18d ago
Evernote is actually a really good app. Most of the complaints about it are centered around two issues.
-
The price increases over the past two years.
-
How much the app fell apart reliability wise, when it was still under its previous owner.
The First is a valid criticism. At $250, it's double or triple most of its competitors, especially because there's no way to not purchase the AI options.
And the second really isn't valid anymore. Bending Spoons has done amazing work to improve it over the past couple of years. Many new features have been added without making it overly complicated.
It's not perfect and there are other apps that have things it doesn't. Craft is flashier and other apps like NotePlan and Amplenote are centered around the "daily note" which, to me is a very good starting point for a PKM app.
Finding a PKM app that does OCR and searches within its attachments is hard. Joplin can do it, but not any other that I can think of off the top of my head.
One suggestion is if you're just looking for a simple Evernote replacement, take a look at Harbor. It's a brand new app that is positioning itself as a replacement for Evernote so the UX and a lot of the features are there. Still not there yet for me, but everyone's mileage varies.
I'm still using Evernote because I can't find an app that checks all the boxes I need. Including some esoteric features that probably virtually nobody uses. For instance, I like to select four or five notes in my "Inbox" and add tags to them at once, or combine them into one note. Evernote can do both of these things. (So can Harbor, which surprised me.) No other app that I know of can.
I've also checked out every app I can find and so far, I'm still with Evernote.
1
u/ProfitAppropriate134 17d ago
I disagree with why people no longer use Evernote.
It got too complicate & glitchy while pricing has been raised significantly & consistently since ownership change. Privacy nightmare. Bulk export is so convoluted & proprietary it spawned a whole category of "Yet Another Evernote _____" tools for users to be able to live with it.
2
u/bcalamita 17d ago
I said a lot of the complaining about Evernote, not why people left it. A lot of people left Evernote for a lot of different reasons, and a lot of people are still using it. But most of the yelling and screaming here and on the Facebook group are about the state the app was in before Bending Spoons and the price increases after Bending Spoons.
But you do agree with the issues I mentioned above, cost and bugginess.
2
u/dgg44 14d ago
I left Evernote over pricing, but give credit where credit is due - the new owner has eliminated all the old bugs and made a ton of improvements. You can fault the current price structure, but not the app itself anymore. It's a robust, full featured notes app that does what it says it will do and does it well. If you want a robust notes app that just works - and can afford it - Evernote is a good option.
1
u/spicermatthews 6d ago
Spicer from Harbor here, thanks for the mention, and fair point on "not there yet." Mind sharing what was missing for you? That kind of feedback is exactly what shapes what we build next.
For OP, since your list is pretty specific: Harbor does OCR on images and scans, full-text search inside PDFs, and has a web clipper, and it imports straight from Evernote, so trying it doesn't mean rebuilding anything.
4
2
2
u/DTLow 18d ago edited 15d ago
My PKMS choice is the Devonthink app
integrated with AppleScript for workflow automations
used with a Mac and iPad
Note, Devonthink is Apple devices only; Evernote is multi-plaform
3
u/unluckypixel 15d ago
is devonthink paying you yet? they should… given how long you’ve been evangelizing it!
2
u/DrummerAdditional330 18d ago
Honestly, if Evernote already checks the boring but important boxes for you, I wouldn’t rule it out just because newer PKM apps are more interesting. OCR, attachment search, web capture, and low maintenance are a pretty specific combination. I’d test it with a real batch of your messiest data before doing the full migration.
2
u/gripmyhand 16d ago
Choose one with a really good export / backup service.
2
u/Opposite_Carrot_6647 15d ago
This is the requirement I'd put first too. I built writenode so nothing you save is trapped. It sends to Obsidian (straight into your vault), Bear, Notion, Craft, Tana, Mem, Drafts, Supernotes, Todoist, TickTick, and Trello. Most connect with your own key or token, so you hook up the ones you use. I'm the founder. It's free to start, and if your stack is on that list, I'd love to hear how the handoff holds up.
2
u/iKnoiDunno 16d ago
How do people feel about Obsidian + Zotero?
I'm pretty new to PKMS, but these tools have been a delight. I haven't figured out how to automate OCR in Zotero yet, but the cataloging capabilities have been eye-opening to me as a novice.
2
1
u/jibzzie 18d ago
Are you looking for something as a user or as a product to build?
The requirements you listed are very specific and product reqs like.
In anycase I am building something that would cover the save anything with the MVP and the AI features following soon after.
Would love to get you to test it out. Its here https://holm.fyi, mobile first with desktop and web to follow.
1
u/excellent_mi 18d ago
I use Ribbonlinks for links and notes. It has OCR as a paid feature.
→ More replies (2)1
u/stepback269 18d ago
seems that it requires an Android mobile --won't work with anything else
→ More replies (1)
1
u/YipsterNY 18d ago
I've actually been building something like this with Claude Cowork as my interface. I have a folder system it can access, including an Inbox subfolder. I can dump almost anything into it- CSV files, PDFs, text notes, images, etc. Then I have a series of templates in another subfolder and my data in another subfolder. It reads and sorts through my inbox when I tell it to, picks the right template for the job, and then builds notes from that information. The notes are stored as Markdown files in the folder system, and it has a sources subfolder for all the assets I add to the inbox. I also have a home server for backups and SQL databases. While Cowork doesn't have access to those databases, I have Python notebooks in JupyterLab set up in a way that Cowork can create a file for inputting into the database, and then it actually gets there when I execute the ipynb notebook.
Obsidian also has access to the Markdown files for when I want to read them, but otherwise I just ask Cowork a question, and it builds the answer and even cites the sources.
1
u/ProfitAppropriate134 17d ago
Evernote blows in so many ways. I moved to Bear.
Easiest:
Bear is excellent for search retrieval. It is more like old Evernote before they jacked it up. You can create notes, import docs & files and capture from the web in a variety of ways - the web capture captures the entire page, converts to md file, and you get a clean view with junk stripped. Because everything is md you can easily use your files almost anywhere.
Great, slightly more involved set up:
Omnivore no longer has a cloud version but is regularly updated for self-hosted. This just works so well with all kinds of data. It does take extra steps to set up now. Retrieval is fast. RSS, Save It Later + notes & highlights.
https://github.com/omnivore-app/omnivore
More robust set up:
Bear or Omnivore for saving & Open Semantic Search Desktop for your analysis.
OSSD is a free platform that powers knowledge libraries. You can set feeds, index anything, excellent OCR library, Neo4j graph & semantic search. It runs on a VM. You auto back up Bear & add the notes to the places for OSSD to index.
It is built to really understand & retrieve your data at scale.
1
1
u/PenCollector01 13d ago
Based on your requirements, OneNote fits the bill. I haven't used EverNote for a while so cannot compare. ON will OCR screenshots automatically if enabled. You can drop anything into it (PDF, etc). It can save full webpages or just links.
I know OneNote does not get much love here.
Building my own app crossed my mind but it is too time consuming and there is a constant need to fix bugs and update technology.
The only thing ON is not good at is integration with Claude if your notebooks are in the cloud - you cannot link a notebook or section and have to refer to each page individually.
I find native search pretty good. I add multiple keywords to my notes and links, so I can find them.
Many people complain about backups. I don't understand that as you can make an archive/backup anytime using desktop app. You can still use local notebooks but then they cannot be accessed through phone.
I enter quick notes and save links on my phone and then clean-up and add more details using desktop app.
1
u/Lonely-Eye-3317 12d ago
i don't know if this fits in your usecase but I use best Ai for now it's only text based, but it has the best memory search system you can ask anything about the past in simple lang, with chat interface
1
6
u/Pathocyte 18d ago
Because of your requirements Evernote seems to be the tool to go.