Springpad vs Evernote — Why It Might Be Better…
20. Apr, 2010 
32 Comments
A few weeks back, while researching for my comparison review of Shelfster and Evernote, I stumbled upon another alternative to collect information and organize your life: Springpad. I had the pleasure of speaking with the CEO and co-founder of Springpad, Jeff Janer (formerly of Third Screen Media and Britemoon) — and I have to say, Evernote user or not, Springpad may have a place in your life.
To test this theory against my normal giddy excitement for new tech, I got my wife to try it – and, let me tell you, if my wife can find a new piece of tech both useful and exciting, then it may just be one of the best bits software to appear in a long, long time.
“The beauty of Springpad is that it functions less like a junk drawer where important items can get lost, but more like a personal assistant that keeps you organized and productive. Never forget anything of interest to you, like gift ideas for Mother's Day or things to do on a trip to Florida; just save it into Springpad and it will be there for any event, for any use, from any location.” – Jeff Janer, Co-Founder and CEO
What is Springpad and How is it Different?
Anyone who has ever read this blog knows that we are fans and users of Evernote to an extent that borders on the religious. Naturally, then, the first question I had was “How does it compare, and why would I switch?” The answer is simple: Springpad and Evernote may overlap in some of their functionality, but Springpad is a vastly different approach that may even be complimentary to some Evernote users. Evernote is a brain dump, pure and simple — and it’s a brain dump that you have to create your own organization for, after the fact. Springpad, on the other hand, offers a both pretty and easy to use organization that is already implemented for you, and that you can easily fit yourself into. And it’s free. Completely free.
Springpad also offers a few features that Evernote users have been crying for. Namely: The ability to share single notes via favourite services, Google Calendar integration and event and task reminders. There are many other differences in the approach of Springpad vs Evernote as well, such as the customized views and functionality for different categories such as Notes, Tasks, Recipes, Bookmarks, Movies, Music and more; and the integration of about 75 apps that add more specific and configurable functionality to Springpad.
And once again… it’s free.
How it Works (jump to: The Good and Bad of Springpad)
You can quickly capture, organize, and even share everything that interests you from wherever you are, using the webclipper, mobile interface, or iPhone app (iPad and Android are on the the way in May). Springpad doesn’t stop there, though — on anything that you choose to post as public and shareable, Springpad will provide you with enhanced information and functionality, as well as offers from their partners. This is a great feature for three reasons:
- You have access to possible ways to save money on things you are actively interested in.
- You can automatically integrate your notes with other aspects of your life (such as adding a movie you noted in your Movies category to your Netflix queue, or seeing showtimes and buying theatre tickets via Fandango).
- This model keeps Springpad free — in fact, the more you add to Springpad, the more offers they can serve you and the better those offers will work for you. This means that Springpad will never cap you or charge you for storage — something you can’t get away from in Evernote.
Here’s a Usage Scenario:
- You’re surfing and come across a movie that you’re interested in.
- You don’t have too much time to research it, so you use the Springpad webclipper and capture the information for later — you can capture it as a bookmark or, as the clipper is intelligent, you can pick the movie category and do a quick search within Springpad’s userbase and partners — like Netflix for example — for more information to connect to your note.
- You add comments or tags if you like, or even additional media, and save the selected movie for later.
- When you have a moment, you pop open Springpad and open up the note for that movie.
- You are presented with a link to wherever you clipped it from and whatever information you added — as well as the ability (depending on what stage of release the movie is in) to see where and when the movie is playing nearby, links to more information, a link to add the movie to your Netflix queue, buy the movie via Amazon (possibly at a discount), or buy tickets to the movie via Fandango.
- You can also rate how much you want to see the movie, rate how much you liked the movie and even write a review.
- Finally, you can share the post via Twitter, Facebook, Email, or any of your favourite services via AddThis.
And all that is just one aspect. Springpad can also help you with Project Management, Task Management, Trip Planning, and numerous other things, including finding, organizing and sharing over 100,000 recipes that you can easily integrate into interactive shopping lists. Fun, huh? That was the thing that sold my wife on it…
The Good and Bad of Springpad (jump to: Will I Switch?)
The Good:
- Easy to use right out of the box. You can use it just as it is, or customize your notebooks, integrations and tabs (much like OneNote) to the extent that you are very nearly creating your own custom app.
- Crazy amounts of integrated features and services with more on the way. Currently you can login by and link your Springpad account to Twitter, Facebook, Gmail, and Yahoo/Flickr — there are plans for Last.fm, Pandora and more.
- Google Calendar integration! That’s right Evernote users, there is finally a note-taking service that has Gcal Sync built in — and it has its own built in task reminder system as well.
- Apps! There are about 75 apps already available for Springpad that offer you enhanced features for task management, GTD (Getting Things Done), more robust shopping lists, meal planners, and more. They plan to release their API soon, as well, which will likely mean some very cool third party integrations in the near future.
- The clipping tool is powerful and intelligent, almost as functional as working directly out of the main software. It can even grab just the recipe ingredients off of a page on a site like Epicurious, for example, or you can share what you are clipping on Twitter, Facebook or email right from the clipper. You can also set up events and task reminders from the clipper, which is a handy feature.
- Add by Email – Springpad provides you with an email address to add content to the service via email, much like Evernote or Posterous.
- Their iPhone App is simple and highly functional, providing you with the ability to add by text, by type, by photo, by a location-based search of what’s nearby, or by barcode. As mentioned, there is also an Android app on the way (mid-May), and other smartphone users can access the mobile version of the Springpad website.
- Offline sync! Just like the Evernote app, you can sync your entire Springpad with your iPhone for offline viewing.
- iPad app coming in about a month or so, also with offline sync! This should be a great help when you want to take a recipe into the kitchen…
- You can share notes and information with people quickly and easily. The inability to share notes and information easily is one of the major flaws of Evernote – not so, Springpad.
- Just start typing in Springpad and Live search the web and other users’ public Springpad posts. Share and “Spring” what you find into your own account.
- Follow Springpad users you respect, like Twitter, but with access to more than just 140 characters and a link.
- Bloggers can add a Save button directly to their blog. The button works just like the webclipper and is another great way to get your work shared about the web, especially as Springpad grows.
The Bad:
- No Desktop App yet. It’s in the works, but it will be later in the year (a Mac client may be available in June).
- There are times when the Clipper seems to miss things, at least when grabbing a recipe. When trying it out, my wife pointed out that one or two of the ingredients in the list were missing. Thankfully, it is extremely easy to copy and paste them back in.
- Since the Springpad service is so robust, there is still a slight learning curve as you figure out how to best make it work for you — however, I say again: if my darling and tech-resistant wife can get into it easily, then so can you. Apparently Springpad is actually very popular with moms, in general. It’s like a personal assistant that’s easy to get along with.
What’s on the horizon
Aside from the impending releases of of the API and iPad, Android, and Desktop apps, Springpad is integrating more and more services to provide users with even more enhancements. They are also adding an Alerts Dashboard feature that will allow you to opt in to offers from their partners — so you could be adding a note about a product that you really like and find yourself looking at (for example) a 50% Off coupon for that product or something related.
Will I Switch?
Switch? No. At least not right away, anyway. I have adopted Evernote as much too much of a major part of my general and offline workflow to just jump about all willy nilly. However, I may well refine my usage of Evernote and adopt Springpad as a more organized and visual approach to the information I collect, as well as my GTD process. Much of my decision here will come from watching how my wife adopts and handles the software over the next few weeks — which I plan to do a follow up post on.
Springpad has some of the features that I’ve always wished for in Evernote and, quite honestly, does a better job of presenting and allowing you to manipulate the information. Evernote does what it is meant for extremely well, but if you find it lacking or frustrating at times, Springpad may be what you need (especially with a desktop app on the way).
Give it a shot and let me know what you think!
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I liked Springpad – I used it a while ago – but it was just so BUSY. It always seemed like there was too much going on. I also didn’t like how hard it was to get mobile information in and synced, but it sounds like a lot of that has changed.
I’m definitely going to go have another look – don’t tell Evernote
LOL! I won’t tell…
There is still a lot going on that might not suit the minimalist, but once you find your workflow in it, I think it could be a winner. I am really interested to see what they do with the desktop app — though I will have to wait till they do the PC version *sigh*.
Hi David,
Hope you get the chance to check us out at Springpad again. Would love your feedback on what you like and what you don’t like: jgrossman AT springpartners.com
(by the way, I sprung your recommendation for the Roku player: http://sprng.me/nh6f )
Cheers,
Josh
Springpad sounds interesting. I went in and created an account, and now have to figure out what I’ll use it for. I suspect I’ll probably try to use it to clip stuff from around the web, and see if it grows on me from there.
One thing I do use Evernote for, among many other uses, is as sort of a document repository. For example, if I get a bill, I scan it, and it goes right into my Evernote account so that I can pay that bill wherever I have Internet access. As best I can tell, you can’t import documents and files into Springpad. Am I right?
Hi Evan,
Josh from Springpad here. You can upload your files into Springpad. Just click on My Stuff at the top navigation bar of the site. Then on the right hand column where it lists categories under the heading of “My Stuff” click “more.” One of the choices is “File” and you can then upload whatever file you wish.
Thanks Josh!
Thanks for weighing in Josh!
I also noticed you can add files and images to notes directly. No viewers though (for files anyway), so it just downloads as an attachment.
If you want to stay in the browser without opening another app, Evan, you can always add the file to Google Docs and then add the link to a note, with a description. And I suspect adding a scan that is an image to a note will allow you to view it directly from Springpad.
You can also add reminders to your bill payment notes, and sync them to your Google Calendar (though I admit I haven’t quite figured how to get the sync to happen yet).
It has a handy blog post planner app too, Evan, complete with Scheduler.
Hey Bobby,
You are correct. You can add a file to a note, or anything else you save. If that file is an image, you can view it directly in the note.
For example, here’s a recipe with an image in the notes section underneath the ingredients (and you can click the image to view it):
http://sprng.me/17cfp
I’ll have to play with it a bit more. I tried to figure out how to share a task with another user, so, for example, the task would show up for both of us and nobody else could see it. Couldn’t figure it out.
I don’t believe that functionality is live yet — looks like they may be going that way late this year, maybe sooner if there is a high user demand — maybe Josh could speak to that?
So I figured out how to add something to Google Calendar: After you set it up as a connected service, you simply add something as an Event. Not a task, an event. Pretty simple. I noticed that reminders and descriptions are not added to Gcal though, they remain handled by Springpad.
On a completely different note: If you sign up originally via Twitter or Facebook or another service, make sure you go into your account settings and add a password — otherwise you won’t be able to log in to the iPhone app.
Evan,
Nearly everything you save (including tasks) has the option of being made public or private. Unfortunately, there is no way to only make it public for one other person. This may not work for your purposes, but you can make it public just for a moment to share it with another person, and after the other person saves it to their account, you can both make it private again.
We do plan on offering more collaborative options down the road, but I can’t give you a timetable just yet. I’d encourage you to check out our Get Satisfaction page to leave your input! Keep it coming!
http://www.getsatisfaction.com/springpartners
http://www.getsatisfaction.com/springpartners
Thanks for the tips and input Josh!
Thanks for the tip, Josh. I suspect Bobby is just as excited as I am about the blog planning possibilities in this.
I admit it, I’ve been an Evernote groupie for sometime (a premium one at that). Although I LOVE EN, there are things missing. For me, I need a way to organize my notes (clips, files, links, etc) into projects that I can visually see together. The tag thing just doesn’t cut it. I have tried Zoho notebook but feel that it ends up looking more like a messy scrapbook. I tried Nozbe but it is so slow. But this Springpad may be my answer. I love the organizational structure. I love how nice it looks. For me, I see how this could compliment my use of EN. Evernote is my digital filing cabinet and I don’t see functioning without it. However, Springpad might just work as my digital binder. Ironically, I looked at this 2 weeks ago before reading your blog & passed by. Honestly, the save ‘anything’ promo on the front page (and video) made my categorize it as just another web capture tool. Given the Apps & Google calendar integration I can see it is way more and has major possibilities as a project management tool. I think highlighting these features upfront might grab the attention of folks who have already moved beyond ‘bookmarking’ as a way of capturing content. Of course I look forward to a desktop app. Also any idea if they are planning an android app? Can’t wait to play around with it some more. Thanks for the info & making me stop and take another look!
Hi Kathleen!
Glad I could help you take another look! I’ve been playing with Springpad more and more since I wrote the post, and I am liking it more and more. They still have some things to iron out, for sure, but as they develop I can see it only getting more awesome.
The Android App is due out in May, I believe.
And very good points on the intro and marketing presentation — when I first stumbled upon them, I skimmed right by too, until they offered up an interview with the CEO. His walkthrough made me take a real look at it. Hopefully they will see your comment, and perhaps alter their strategy to suit!
I like it, but it still is not up to par with Evernote… until you have the ability to view files other than images, it is pretty useless. I store EVERYTHING in evernote, and 90% are PDF files clipped from Safari on my mac (i mean who wants the windows version where everything is clipped without structure and layout, blah), so you really need to focus on the ability to view PDF files with springpad, both in the browser and the iphone app if you want to be able to convince people to leave Evernote… that is a MUST, otherwise I might as well just use an ftp site to store my files because I can’t view them there without downloading either.
So, in closing, no viewing of PDF files, no using of your app
As far as I can tell, I can not add my scanned-in documents to Springpad. That’s a deal-breaker for me.
Hi Matt, almost missed you here!
You can add any file to Springpad when in the MyStuff area. Just click the more button in the right sidebar and select file and upload.
Hope that helps you!
Springpad sounds awesome, and of course I’m eager to start playing with it!
One of the things I found very cool about Evernote was the fact that it would search for text even within images. Will Springpad do that too?
That may be on their long term roadmap, Christie, but unless something has changed recently, I am pretty sure it doesn’t.
Thanks. I played with it some yesterday. It really is awesome, and I’ll bet they will keep adding cool stuff.
Will springboard bring in OCR for documents/images, etc like evernote has?
Hi Ankit,
Funny enough, the las commentor asked the same thing! As I told her, I believe it is on their roadmap, but I have no idea for when. As people are asking, I hope it will be soon!
I’d like to know if Springpad offers to save websites … as in, not only a link, but the site, either as an html file or a pdf or anything. Because I was just recently thinking about that, that there are just quite some interesting sites/articles and some of them vanish so quickly and a simple link is useless in this case. Or does Evernote offer this? Or any other service?
Hi Ellen,
You can clip article content into Springpad with the webclipper, just highlight what you want to save. You can do this with Evernote as well — and that works really well when combined with Readability (see here: http://www.40tech.com/2009/06/23/combine-readability-and-evernote-with-one-bookmarklet/).
Another possibility for what you’re looking for is Read It Later, or Instapaper.
My husband found Springpad from an advertisement on a different app. We both use our ipod touches as a PDA already. I love Springpad! I’ve never heard of Evernote but will be checking it out. Springpad has been great for me as a self-employed business owner. I am always looking for ways to increase organization. I do love that Springpad will pull information and recommendations from the web and can be accessed online as well. Many ipod apps can’t be accessed online. I am also a huge fan of Google Calendar and the CalenGoo app, both of which sync with my website’s internal Google calendar. It seems to work much better than Windows calendar or Microsoft Outlook calendar.
Thanks for the comment, Heidi! If you love the recommendations engine of Springpad, you should definitely stick with it. Evernote is awesome, but you won’t get that from it. I had never heard of CalenGoo before your comment — I checked it out, and it is pretty full featured, despite the unfortunate name. Definitely better than the stock iPhone calendar — I may review it, down the line. Thanks for the tip!
Glad to see springpad is improving. Here’s my beef: Once you leverage the power of social networking into your items, your repository of things ends up looking a heck of a lot like everyone else’s. But that’s not my only problem with Springpad. There are redundancies which I have to scratch my head over to guess at how they would be useful: new apps, new notebooks, new keywords. To have all my information reshape into a different function-it’s sort of a GTD’s (getting things done) brain explosion. I just couldn’t comprehend how my ideas, concepts, leads, read it laters, reference information, could be retrievable after seeing the interface mutate in so many ways. Sure, I’d love to have a picture of a bottle of wine magically populate my entry with all the other things I would like to know about it (what to pair with it, where to buy it, vintage, best price, map of closest wine shop), but doing so is depended on pre-existing databases. What about all the non-conventional things that the individual might be keeping track of?
I wish it was easier to retrieve and repurpose information in evernote (EN), but EN still works better for me. I’d really like Springpad to work for me, really, but I just don’t think that way. Also, springpads checkboxes seem to be easier to create, thus checklists are great, but then how do you organize them in terms of “what do I need to do today?” or “what do I need to pack for this weekend’s ski trip?”
Evernote on the other hand, is the individual’s attempt at creating a database of stuff one can’t jam into his/her own brain. It’s easier for me to keep organized. It’s local drive versus working from the cloud. Trust me, I think there are a lot of activities that are better for being networked rather than local, but Springpad makes me feel like you need a hive mind (“resistance is futile, you will be assimilated!”)
If evernote made “subscriptions tags.” Not notebooks, they might be able to compete. The social network component of springpad is bound to take off. I just don’t understand it.