The cloud-based note-taking app Evernote has been a staple of my mobile life since 2008. I’ve used it on six different mobile platforms and hundreds of devices ranging from desktop computers to smartphones to wearables. Evernote has been an indispensable component of my work and personal lives, a crucial sidekick for scheduling everything from editorials to theatre rehearsals.

1. Is Evernote Plus Still Available
2. How Much Does Evernote Cost Per Month

And for the first time in seven years, I’m seriously considering a switch.

My problem with Evernote isn’t its awkward UI, its feature bloat, or its bizarre transition to a backpack-selling “lifestyle brand.” Those were distractions I could live with in exchange for the awesome convenience the service offered – namely, the ability to sync nearly any piece of text or graphical information across any mainstream mobile platform. What I can’t live with, I’m discovering, is being pestered to upgrade to Evernote’s new Premium service every other time I open it. And what I really can’t stand is being summoned to the Evernote app in my MacBook’s dock by a bouncing icon, thinking I’ve got a sync error, only to be presented with the commercial in the title image above. And earlier today I discovered I’m not alone.

With Evernote’s Plus tier no longer available, Evernote has three levels of pricing: Basic (free) Premium ($7.99 per month) Business ($14.99 per user, per month) Evernote’s Basic plan will probably be fine for casual users. For even moderate use, however, it’s not really viable due to Evernote’s upload restrictions. Also available from Evernote: EVERNOTE PREMIUM. 10 GB of new uploads each month. Unlimited number of devices. Access your notes and notebooks offline. Unlock additional Home widgets and customization options-Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account.

Dock icon just bounced to show me this. Fuck you so hard, Evernote. I’m tired of ur bullshit & long for a replacement pic.twitter.com/ghlo4jQoMd

— Lisa Brewster (@Adora) July 24, 2015

The behavior referred to above is hardly unique to Evernote. Companies give you free software to hook you on its functionality, then try to convert you to a paying customer by rolling out new features (or locking existing features behind a paywall, which Evernote has also recently done). That’s the way “freemium” software works, and part of the contract has always been dealing with annoying “upgrade to unlock” notifications; I don’t have a problem with that. But when it gets too aggressive or too frequent, the company starts to look a little desperate. And the users start to get restless.

Evernote has gotten really annoying. It updates every week, never seems to get any faster, and now bugs you to upgrade every other day. Autocad for mac 2019 torrent. — Steven Vance (@stevevance) July 23, 2015

#Evernote is getting annoyingly eager to upgrade me to a payed plan. Multiple popups per day! Time to switch? 🙁

— Andrew Crookston (@acr) July 23, 2015

.@evernote please stop asking me to upgrade. I’m this close to switching to a different product. — Andrew Brinkman (@AndrewBrinkman) July 23, 2015

.@evernote’s upsell in its desktop app is getting more aggressive. 2 modal alerts every time i launch it

— bunnyhero (@bunnyhero) July 23, 2015

@evernote Trying to make evernote more part of my usual workflow, but it popping up for me to upgrade is annoying. Closing it now. — Jay Pozo (@jaypozo) July 23, 2015

Had to uninstall @evernote today, too many upgrade nags. Docker with conda. Checked how much space I was using, 9kb-I must of really been a drain on the server

— Paul Haile (@Tyrael) July 15, 2015

@evernote basically is telling me not to use them anymore with all the popups and limiting features to push me Premium — Jordan Kasteler (@JordanKasteler) July 15, 2015

@evernotehelps Sorry, I sadly don’t have the time to follow your process. Just get rid of these frequent popups: pic.twitter.com/4s7Sd41fNp

— Jaime Rivera (@Jaime_Rivera) July 24, 2015

To its credit, Evernote does seem to be actively addressing the complaints. The @evernotehelps Twitter account has been busily responding to users all day, often with an explanation that the frequent upgrade invitations are the result of a software bug, not a deliberately aggressive sales tactic. (We’ve reached out to Evernote for comment and will append it to this piece should the company respond.)

@jasonhall_ca On what platform, OS and EN version do you see this? How often are you seeing it?

Is Evernote Plus Still Available

— Evernote Helps (@evernotehelps) July 24, 2015

How Much Does Evernote Cost Per Month

For my part, I sure hope the “technical difficulties” explanation turns out to be true. But given the company’s recent CEO swap and its enhanced focus on becoming an enterprise player, the timing seems fishy. And with similar apps like Microsoft’s OneNote now available on all three major mobile platforms, this is a “bug” that Evernote should squash quickly – no matter what side of the business it comes from.