☢Note-taking

Where thoughts go to be organized, over-organized, and then abandoned for a new app.

Last updated: 2026-03-08

👑 Champion

Notion

"Notion won by being everything — notes, docs, wikis, databases, project management. The Swiss Army knife that actually works for most of the blades."

⚔️ Challenger

Obsidian

Threat Level:

6/10

"Local-first, Markdown files, plugin ecosystem that rivals VS Code. The 'own your data' crowd found their cathedral."

🐴 Dark Horse

Capacities

"Object-based note-taking that treats every note as a typed entity. It's what Notion would be if Notion started over with a graph database."

Watch: If Capacities nails the mobile app and adds AI, they could steal the 'power user' segment that finds Notion too flexible.

☠️ Nuked

Evernote

"Evernote went from 'the note-taking app' to 'wait, Evernote still exists?' in record time. Sold to Bending Spoons. Legacy users mourn. Nobody new signs up."

Displaced: 2021 · By: Notion

🔥 Hot Take

Evernote's collapse is the most predictable tragedy in SaaS. They had a decade head start and did nothing with it — no databases, no collaboration, no modern editor. Notion ate them alive by being what Evernote should have evolved into. But here's the twist: Obsidian is quietly building a cult by rejecting everything Notion stands for. No cloud dependency, no lock-in, just Markdown files you actually own. In an AI world where your notes train models, owning your data might be the ultimate power move.

☢ Nuke Timeline

Jan 2012

Evernote peaks at 100M users

The 'remember everything' era. Evernote is synonymous with note-taking.

Jun 2018

Notion launches 2.0 with databases

Notes + databases + wikis in one tool. The app that does everything arrives.

Mar 2020

Obsidian launches

Local-first Markdown editor with graph view. The anti-Notion is born.

Jun 2021

Notion goes viral on TikTok/YouTube