"Miss Misery" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1998 Academy Awards, and was performed at the televised ceremony in an abridged version by Smith, backed by the house orchestra, briefly propelling him into the international spotlight.

The album's style has been described as "a bridge between the lo-fi darkness of Roman Candle and Elliott Smith and the studio sheen of XO and Figure 8.

Following this appearance, Smith was signed to major label DreamWorks and started work on his fourth studio album, XO.

As of March 2017, Either/Or is Elliott Smith's best selling release (it still has never charted) and has sold 429,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

[29] The poll's supervisor, Robert Christgau, was less enthusiastic about the album, finding Smith "tuneful if depressive"[30] and believing that, "he could too be popular—he just doesn't want to be, that's all".

[31] In its retrospective review, Tiny Mix Tapes opined: "Simply put, the songs on Either/Or are Elliott Smith's best".

[32] The album inspired Gus Van Sant to invite Smith to contribute to the soundtrack of the film Good Will Hunting.

Smith was briefly pushed to the forefront of popular culture after performing "Miss Misery" from Good Will Hunting at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony.