This perfectly sums up my relationship with Evernote as well. A while back I even commented on this very forum why Evernote is the app for me, and in a lot of ways what I wrote there is still true.
But now that my subscription is up for renewal, I’m having second thoughts.
Like you, I’ve been taking a hard look at what’s actually in my Evernote account, how useful it is to me, and where and how I’m likely to need it in the future. Just because I can forward every project-related email into my EN account doesn’t mean I’ll have a need for it later and frankly, even if I do, Gmail has a phenomenal search function.
As I go through my notes collection, I’m having similar conversations with myself over many of the things I’ve saved.
I also strongly dislike the home page, and don’t use the tasks feature, so I’ve been on the hunt for something simpler, but that still has many of the features I love about Evernote–like being able to easily clip a webpage or save an email or snap a photo of something I want to buy later.
What keeps me with Evernote is the (rather irrational) thought that I need access to all of those things in all places, and that I must be able to search within PDFs and handwritten notes. The reality is, I almost never use EN anywhere but my computer, I never save handwritten notes, and I rarely use the search function.
I’m glad you brought this up. It’s helped me clarify my thoughts around whether or not to renew.