Evernote jacking up prices, restricting free accounts to two devices

Early this morning, the lead devs of Evernote rose from their slumber. They stretched, yawned, looked around and then said to themselves, “You know what? We’ve almost never pissed anybody off. Let’s go ahead and get that squared away, shall we?” And so it came to pass that Evernote decided to increase the prices of both their Plus and Premium plans while at the same time heavily handicapping Basic users to encourage them to subscribe.

I mean, that’s one explanation of the events as they’ve occurred. A more generous interpretation of this price hike casts Evernote as a company struggling to provide a valued service ad-free in an increasingly competitive app environment, but you can choose to look at it either way.

Previously, a year of Evernote Plus ran you $24.99 per year (or $2.99 per month), but soon you’ll have to fork over an extra buck on the monthly billing or pay a lump sum of $34.99 every year. Similarly, Premium once cost $49.99 each year (or $5.99 per month), but now you can expect to pay $7.99 per month or $69.99 a year. Basic accounts previously cost nothing but had bandwidth and feature restrictions. Now in addition to those existing restrictions, you will only be able to use your Evernote account on two devices. And don’t forget that your computer counts toward that figure. But hey! At least Basic users are getting a passcode lock as a consolation prize.

The company promises that this change won’t be abrupt, and users will be given time and notifications to properly adjust to the new model. Honestly, for how useful the service is, the Plus tier is well worth what you’re paying for it. However, in spite of Evernote’s commitment to an ad-free experience, we think it’d be nice to at least provide an ad-riddled version for low-end users who only use the service from time to time.

What are your thoughts regarding Evernote’s looming price changes? Is this a reasonable adjustment or a Pushbullet kerfuffle waiting to happen? Give us your opinion in the comments below!