Comparing web clipper capabilities between Omnivore, Notion, and Evernote

Discover the differences between Omnivore, Notion, and Evernote web clippers.

With so much content available online, it can take a lot of work to keep track of what we want to save and read through. Web clippers can help as powerful tools for digital productivity and organization. They provide an invaluable service when it comes to saving and curating vast troves of information across multiple platforms such as social media, blogs, and videos.

What is a web clipper?

A web clipper is a piece of software that can extract content from a web page and save it for later use. They are also known as webpage clippers or web page snipping tools. Some can save the entire content of a page, or clip just a selection from it. Some also have the option to add notes or tags to saved information.

In this article we will look at two of the most used web clippers and how they compare with Omnivore.

Notion’s web clipper

Notion is an all-in-one workspace platform with project tracking, task management, to-do lists, and bookmarking. It is a single place to “Capture thoughts, manage projects, or even run an entire company.” Notion’s web clipper will save a link, image, or the text of whatever web content has caught your interest. It is available as a browser extension for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari.

You can save elements with one click, edit the title, and choose its destination. After the content has been saved, the Open in Notion option will open the saved page in Notion, where you can add tags and notes. You can also share the created Notion page with other users.

The company points out that the clipper works best for articles and sites that are pretty straightforward, like The New York Times, Wikipedia, X (formerly Twitter), Substack, and others with similar kinds of content. On iOS and Android, you can use the web clipper in the mobile browser via the standard share options. It only works within a browser, and not from apps, like Instagram or the mobile Wikipedia app. All clipper capabilities are available in Notion’s free plan, including syncing between desktop, web, and mobile.

Evernote’s web clipper

Evernote was one of the first note-taking apps, launched in 2008. It is designed to archive and edit notes with embedded text, images, and audio.

Evernote's web clipper is a versatile tool for clipping web pages, articles, and PDFs, as well as making screenshots.

You can save an article (the Article selection), the full page, or a simplified version of the article (Full Page option). If you need to save only part of the page, you can use the Multi-Select button to choose from multiple elements on the page. Alternatively, you can take a Screenshot. And if you only need to bookmark the link, then the Bookmark button will do this quickly and easily.

Similarly to Notion, it’s possible in Evernote to add tags and edit the location of saved content. But Evernote goes a step further by adding options to add notes and tasks— all on the same screen. It’s worth mentioning that the screenshots made via the web clipper can be annotated, edited, and highlighted.

One of the downsides of Evernote’s web clipper is that it can sometimes be slow in saving the content. Also, the free plan only permits the sync of two devices, and file sizes are limited to 20 MB.

Omnivore’s web clipper

Omnivore is a free and open-source read it later application for every reader. With Omnivore you can save links, subscribe to newsletters and RSS feeds, and make notes and highlights on what you read, including PDFs. With Omnivore’s web clipper, it’s easy to save articles, YouTube videos, blogs, and X (formerly Twitter) posts.

In the saving screen, you can add notes, and tags, and edit the title. A direct link to your Omnivore library is available if you want to read it right away. Omnivore will save the text, the source link, and images, eliminating ads and pop-ups. There are no file limits. The team is working on sharing capabilities, but as of now, you can easily sync to Obsidian and Logseq.

To add a PDF, send an email with a single PDF as an attachment to your custom Omnivore email as the destination. You can also drag and drop a PDF file into the Omnivore web interface. Omnivore will recognize the PDF, add the PDF tag, and you can then read and annotate similar to other saved items.

Omnivore’s web clipper is available on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari.

Takeaway

Choosing a web clipper depends on your needs and the ecosystem you are already using. If you prefer to have everything in the cloud, then Evernote and Notion are more suited.

If you are an Obsidian or Logseq user, or you are more privacy conscious, then Omnivore is the best option. Paired with RSS and newsletter subscription features, PDF import, note, and highlight capabilities, Omnivore can be a great reading companion.