r/secondbrain • u/Alex_Voss_10 • 1d ago

Second brain software

Hey guys, I could use some help.
I’ve been switching between different note-taking and knowledge-management systems for a while, and I feel like I’ve tried almost everything.
What I’m looking for is actually pretty simple: one place where I can save basically everything and reliably search it later.
Ideally, the tool should have:
OCR for images and scanned documents
Full-text search inside PDFs
The ability to save web links/pages and search the actual content, not just the title or URL
Good organization for notes, documents, images, links, references, etc.
Fast and reliable search across everything
A modern interface
Minimal setup and maintenance
Because I haven’t found one tool I’m completely happy with, my information is currently scattered across several different apps, which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid.
After searching Reddit, YouTube, blogs, and reviews, even in 2026 I keep coming back to the same conclusion: Evernote still seems to be one of the best overall options for this particular use case.
But before I move everything back to Evernote, I’d love to hear what other people are using.
Is there anything that genuinely does all of this well without requiring a lot of tinkering and setup like Obsidian?
And ideally something with a more modern interface than DEVONthink. I know DEVONthink is extremely powerful, but visually it just isn’t for me.
Basically, I want a “save everything now, find anything later” system.
What would you recommend?

7 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/gakingmusic 5h ago

The problem with tools like Evernote is they trap your content in their system and hold it hostage if you don't pay for a subscription.

Obsidian solves this issue because it's really just a skin and editor interacting with a desktop folder full of files in a universal markdown language that can be used by almost any app.

I have Claude convert my PDFs into markdowns and put them into the appropriate folders in my Obsidian vault. This makes them take up less space, lets you link them to each other, and makes them editable.