Recommendations you can check.
Author of Building a Second Brain and founder of Forte Labs; writes about productivity and personal knowledge management at fortelabs.com.
7 things
Claude ConnectorsSoftware Anthropic
This is why I recommend ignoring the vast web of custom and “community-built” MCP servers you can find out there, and focusing your attention on the two safer bets instead
A guide to Claude's official Connectors; his advice on which MCP servers are safe to trust.
2026-06-29·fortelabs.com ↗
How to Switch From Evernote to ObsidianOther Nick Milo
I recommend checking out Nick Milo’s video How to Switch From Evernote to Obsidian if that’s you.
A post in which he used Obsidian, Tana and Mem each as his daily driver for about two weeks and evaluated whether any could replace Evernote as his Second Brain.
2023-11-20·fortelabs.com ↗
SuperhumanSoftware Superhuman
I wanted to connect to Superhuman, the email program I’ve used for years, since that is where all my custom inboxes, shortcuts, and settings live.
A guide to Claude's official Connectors, in which he audits every app his own data lives in.
2026-06-29·fortelabs.com ↗
EvernoteSoftware Evernote
If you look at the sheer number of different methods for getting content into Evernote, it becomes clear how difficult it will be to replicate this functionality.
A post in which he used Obsidian, Tana and Mem each as his daily driver for about two weeks and evaluated whether any could replace Evernote as his Second Brain.
2023-11-20·fortelabs.com ↗
ObsidianSoftware Obsidian
Depending on your goals, needs, and tolerance for customization, Obsidian might be the perfect choice for you.
A post in which he used Obsidian, Tana and Mem each as his daily driver for about two weeks and evaluated whether any could replace Evernote as his Second Brain.
2023-11-20·fortelabs.com ↗
TanaSoftware Tana
I encountered much the same experience as I did with Obsidian: too much complexity, most of it front-loaded and unavoidable, making it difficult to get to the task of writing.
A post in which he used Obsidian, Tana and Mem each as his daily driver for about two weeks and evaluated whether any could replace Evernote as his Second Brain.
2023-11-20·fortelabs.com ↗
MemSoftware Mem Labs
I liked Mem’s editing experience within notes because it resembled word processing, without extra steps getting in the way. But I found the app otherwise surprisingly lacking in basic functionality, despite its polished appearance.
A post in which he used Obsidian, Tana and Mem each as his daily driver for about two weeks and evaluated whether any could replace Evernote as his Second Brain.
2023-11-20·fortelabs.com ↗
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.