Education · head to head
Evernote vs Skyward
Skyward
Education
Student information and school ERP for K-12 districts and municipalities
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Evernote has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Evernote free tier limited to 50 notes, 1 notebook, 5 spaces; 20GB storage with Single device sync; Skyward no pricing is published anywhere, so the only way to learn what a district of your size pays is to enter a sales cycle, and comparative quotes across vendors are hard to obtain before a board meeting deadline.
- They diverge on capability: Evernote covers Note creation and organization, Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Evernote and Skyward actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Education).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Evernote
- Note creation and organization
- Web clipper
- Document scanning
- Handwriting recognition
- Audio notes
- Templates
- Tags and notebooks
- Advanced search
Only in Skyward
- Qmlativ SIS
- School Business Suite
- Position control
- Family and student access
- State reporting packs
- Municipality edition
- Data mining and reporting
- Employee access
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Evernote
- Cross-platform note-taking and organisationnot Skyward
- Web clipping and content capture with web clipper extensionnot Skyward
- Task management and calendar integrationnot Skyward
- Document scanning with OCR capabilitynot Skyward
- Real-time collaboration with team membersnot Skyward
Skyward
- A district of 8,000 students that wants payroll, position budgeting and the SIS on one vendor contract instead of paying an integrator to reconcile employee records nightlynot Evernote
- A Wisconsin or Texas district where state submission deadlines are the dominant compliance burden and prebuilt state packs remove weeks of extract worknot Evernote
- A district still on the older PaC client-server product deciding whether to migrate to Qmlativ or replace the SIS outrightnot Evernote
- A county government buying the finance and HR half on its own, separate from any school usenot Evernote
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Evernote
- Free tier limited to 50 notes, 1 notebook, 5 spaces; 20GB storage with Single device sync
- AI features (AI Assistant, Semantic Search, Transcription) only available in Advanced plan
- Advanced and Enterprise plans require custom pricing for enterprises
- Note limit constraints in Starter plan: 1000 notes vs unlimited in Advanced
Skyward
- No pricing is published anywhere, so the only way to learn what a district of your size pays is to enter a sales cycle, and comparative quotes across vendors are hard to obtain before a board meeting deadline.
- State reporting depth is uneven: the packs are excellent in the states where Skyward has a large installed base and thin elsewhere, so a district in a low-penetration state inherits reporting work the vendor absorbs for others.
- The third-party integration ecosystem is much smaller than PowerSchool's, so an edtech tool your teachers want may support the market leader first and Skyward months later or not at all.
- Two product generations are still live and the migration from PaC to Qmlativ is a project in its own right, meaning a district can be paying for a modernisation programme rather than new capability.
- Buying SIS and ERP from one vendor concentrates risk: a pricing increase, an ownership change or a product direction you dislike affects enrolment, payroll and the general ledger simultaneously, and unpicking that is a multi-year replacement rather than swapping one system.
Pricing, plan by plan
Evernote
Free- FreeFree
- 50 notes
- 1 notebook
- 1GB storage
- Starter$null/mo
- 1,000 notes
- 20 notebooks
- 5GB storage
- Advanced$null/mo
- Unlimited notes
- Unlimited storage
- Unlimited device sync
Skyward
On request- Student Management Suite$undefined/year
- Enrolment, scheduling, attendance and grading
- State reporting
- Family and student portals
- School Business Suite$undefined/year
- Finance, payroll and HR
- Position control
- Usually quoted alongside the SIS as a bundle
- Municipality Edition$undefined/year
- Finance and HR for local government
- Quoted per organisation
Which should you pick?
Choose Evernote if
- You need note creation and organization.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Safari.
- You also want web clipper.
Choose Skyward if
- You need qmlativ sis.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want school business suite.
Questions people ask
- Is Evernote or Skyward better?
- Neither clearly leads. Evernote starts at Free and Skyward at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Evernote or Skyward?
- Evernote has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Evernote and On request for Skyward.
- Does Evernote or Skyward run on more platforms?
- Evernote runs on Web, Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox, Safari. Skyward runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Evernote for free?
- Yes. Evernote has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Skyward starts at On request.
- What is Evernote best used for?
- Evernote is most often used for cross-platform note-taking and organisation, web clipping and content capture with web clipper extension, task management and calendar integration, document scanning with ocr capability. Of those, cross-platform note-taking and organisation and web clipping and content capture with web clipper extension are not what Skyward is typically brought in for.
- What can Evernote do that Skyward cannot?
- Evernote covers Note creation and organization, Web clipper, Document scanning, Handwriting recognition. Skyward covers Qmlativ SIS, School Business Suite, Position control, Family and student access.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Evernote: Does Evernote publish specific pricing for its paid plans?
No. Evernote's pricing page displays plan tiers (Starter, Advanced, Enterprise) with different features but does not disclose any dollar amounts, subscription costs, or pricing information.
SourceSkyward: Was Skyward bought by PowerSchool?
No. Skyward remains an independent company based in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and competes directly with PowerSchool in the K-12 SIS market. It is one of the few SIS vendors of scale not owned by a private equity roll-up.
Evernote: What storage limit comes with Evernote's free plan?
The free plan includes 1GB of storage, 50 notes, 1 notebook, 5 spaces, and 20 tags with access limited to 1 device.
SourceSkyward: Is pricing per student?
Yes, the student system is generally quoted per student per year with the finance suite priced separately, but no rate card is published and discounts vary heavily by district size and term length.
Evernote: What are the key differences between Evernote's free, Starter, and Advanced plans?
Free includes 1GB storage and 50 notes. Starter adds 5GB storage and 1,000 notes. Advanced provides unlimited storage, notes, and devices with full AI features.
SourceSkyward: Can we buy just the finance and HR suite?
Yes. School Business Suite is sold on its own, and there is a municipality edition for city and county government with no school component.
Skyward: What is the difference between Qmlativ and PaC?
PaC is the older client-server generation and Qmlativ is the current browser-based product. New districts buy Qmlativ; existing PaC districts are being migrated.
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