What is Notion?

A brief introduction to Notion

Notion is a flexible and highly accessible workspace that combines note-taking, project management, and collaboration tools. It offers an intuitive block-based no-code structure that allows users to create organized pages and databases.

As far as business software is concerned, Notion is best suited to text-based tools and content management systems, such as company wikis, CRMs, documentation, social media planning, and note-taking, but it can also serve for team and project task management. Generally, Notion is an approachable platform for creating beautiful organizational systems that can be a great replacement for a platform like Google Drive for more organized documentation and content management, with much greater visual appeal.

One of Notion's key strengths is its ability to centralize information effectively. Its intuitive interface and feature set have made it popular among individuals, teams, and businesses, and particularly for proactive no-coders.

However, like any platform, Notion has its limitations when it comes to building out internal business tools and processes. This is felt particularly in areas such as offline functionality and advanced permission settings, the latter of which will be a key requirement for many businesses. The platform works well across desktop, web, and mobile devices.

Generally, Notion's popularity can be attributed in part to its strong community focus: Notion has leveraged its community to position itself as an approachable yet satisfying tool, offering templates, ambassador programs, solution partners, and consultants that expand its reach and utility and enhance its overall accessibility to no-code builders.

Key features & limitations of Notion

Notion is a very flexible tool for no-coders, with a good range of capabilities. Using these features strategically can enable any user (even the least technical) to create useful organizational systems.

Building and organizing pages with Notion

The details: Perhaps the most celebrated advantage of Notion is the ability to create beautiful documentation pages, with dynamic databases, images, and multi-media elements, as well as more complex functionality such as synced blocks, AI blocks, and even charts.

Notion empowers users to construct these dynamic pages using its 'digital LEGO blocks' system. These blocks are activated through two primary methods: the forward-slash command for multimedia blocks and the space bar for AI blocks.

The forward-slash command opens up many possibilities. Users can access a wide array of multimedia blocks. As you type your needs after the slash command, Notion searches through its extensive list of options. These include basic blocks such as pages, checkboxes, headings, bullets, tables, quotes, and callouts. For media-rich content, you can also easily insert images, videos, audio, web bookmarks, or files.

It’s really simple to format text to create highly engageable and digestible content. You can also easily transform and adapt blocks without redoing your work. If a bullet point becomes significant enough to warrant its own space and be a ‘mentionable item’, for example, you can turn it into a sub-page or a toggle, to help manage large amounts of information.

Collaboration and discussion are also easily facilitated within pages: simply using "@", you can mention people, dates, and pages and they'll receive a notification.

Notion's embed feature is particularly useful for integrating content from other platforms. Many apps and sites, including Spotify, YouTube, and (most notably for internal tools) Airtable, have links that create widget embeds directly in Notion. For example, if you are tracking live data in Airtable, you can centralize information by embedding a view of it in Notion amongst other related text-based information, such as feedback or guidelines. 

Recent developments have seen Notion integrating more closely with other applications, most notably Google Calendar through Notion Calendar. While not yet a full two-way sync, this integration allows for updates in selected Notion databases and Google Calendars to be reflected in Notion Calendar’s bookings, and vice versa. 

For more advanced needs, Notion offers blocks like table of contents, synced blocks, toggle headings, columns, inline equations, and code blocks. Blocks like the synced block are particularly useful for creating data integrity across your environment and reducing duplicated content by allowing you to update commonly-used content simultaneously across different parts of your workspace.

Finally, the space bar command opens up Notion's AI capabilities, which are a paid addition to any Notion plan. This menu allows you to write prompts for various AI-powered tasks. There are pre-made prompts for creating action items, flow charts, or tables from the page information. You can also create custom AI blocks, which act as 'living sections of AI' that can be refreshed and updated based on the surrounding information in your workspace. It’s also pretty cool that Notion AI can ‘read your system’ to help you answer questions about it e.g. “what am I working on?”.

While Notion's page-building capabilities are extensive, there are a few limitations to consider. The 'DIY' nature of building pages in Notion can take some getting used to for non-technical users. Some users may find the level of customization overwhelming at first, and the range of options can lead to messier, inconsistent page building. When it comes to document management, a key limitation with Notion is the lack of an offline mode, which can be a fundamental limitation for some users.

Furthermore, while it's easy to pull information into Notion, there are limitations with porting information away from the platform. Content produced in Notion is formatted using Markdown, and therefore, if you are using Notion-specific formatting features such as toggles and callout blocks, you will have trouble migrating the information directly into traditional word processing tools like Google Docs. It's essential for companies to consider the vendor lock-in with a platform like Notion when considering possible future uses of the information they're inputting into the platform.

Sharing Notion Pages: permissions, publish to web and more

The details: Notion offers flexible sharing options for your pages. You can share via email and grant edit, view, or comment access to other users but as a content collaboration platform, it's generally more limited than a robust legacy platform like Google Docs. It's worth noting that recipients will need to create a Notion account if they wish to edit or comment on the shared content.

Notion also provides a 'publish to web' functionality. This feature is similar to the 'anyone with the link can ___' option in Google Drive, essentially allowing you to use your Notion page as a website. When publishing, you can set permissions for users to edit, comment, or view the content. You also have the option to set expiration dates for the live link.

Published pages can be 'indexed', allowing them to appear in Google search results. You can also create a navigation bar for these pages, enhancing its purpose as a site. For users on paid plans, Notion offers increased SEO capabilities, such as attaching a domain, allowing for better optimization of your published content.

Since it’s so easy to make beautiful and organized content with Notion, this is a great way to share information publicly, such as with clubs and organizations, or even new clients. This option isn’t quite as advanced as building your own site, but it’s an incredibly easy and affordable way to get information online quickly.

Data management in Notion: databases, automations, charts & forms

The details: Notion databases are useful tools for organizing and managing small data sets. They offer a range of property types, including static options like text, number, select tags, and formulas, as well as dynamic properties such as creation and edit timestamps. This functionality generally matches some of the basic functionality of spreadsheets or a platform like Airtable, though with much more visual appeal and a simplified table structure for non-technical users. For instance, you are able to perform formulas that calculate or perform 'if statements', as well as summaries that directly calculate database columns. 

However, it's worth noting that Notion's formula language has a learning curve and has been compared to a simplified javascript as opposed to the formula styles of spreadsheets. You are currently unable to use cell references in formula calculations, instead you are required to use relations and rollups to reference linked data, which adds an additional step.

Relations and rollups are a way of connecting different datasets in Notion. Relations let you connect two datasets together, such as tasks & projects or tasks & meetings. Rollups let you summarize the data that has been connected to each record e.g. performing an auto-calculation of completion based on the status of tasks connected to a particular project or meetings. This is particularly useful for connecting information that would usually be siloed in spreadsheets and documents into your wider process.

One of Notion's strengths in terms of its databases is its ability to create multiple views of the same data. Users can filter, sort, and group information based on various properties, creating team-specific, date-based, or location-specific contexts. View types include traditional tables, Kanban boards, galleries, lists, calendars, and timelines, catering to different visualization needs. This is a feature that provides a notable upgrade from Google Sheets for most users. 

For no-coders, Notion offers all kinds of other great options to present data and tables in different ways that go way beyond the standard spreadsheet interface. This is particularly useful for managing tasks and small projects, where data can be easily filtered into different views for users working on the same thing, whilst allowing an overview into the overall tasks.

Notion offers both inline and full-page database views for this data. Inline databases can be embedded within a page, allowing for seamless integration with other content and creating dashboard-like experiences. This is great for keeping your task management as well as your extended notes in the same place. Full-page databases, on the other hand, provide a dedicated space for data management. 

Data can be input directly into the database in a new row, but Notion's form feature also enables direct data collection into databases. This functionality is particularly useful for tasks such as client intake or user research, streamlining the data gathering process. Nevertheless, these native forms are relatively basic; for more advanced features like conditional questions, users may need to integrate with third-party apps such as Tally, Typeform, or Fillout.

In terms of in data analysis, Notion offers various chart types including horizontal and vertical bar charts, line charts, and donut charts. These visual representations help users gain insights from their data, such as tracking open tasks per team or visualizing revenue trends over time.

Linked databases in Notion allow users to display synced information from a central database across different parts of their workspace. Users can choose which database to reference and even use pre-existing views, built on the original database, as starting points. This functionality is particularly useful for teams with different data visualization preferences or when management needs an overview of all tasks while individual teams focus on their specific responsibilities. 

Nevertheless, while it can be suitable for smaller datasets, Notion has some limitations in data management. Fundamentally, the platform lacks complex permissions, meaning that users with access to a filtered view of a database can potentially see other parts of that database. This is a critical issue in the database system that makes Notion an insecure platform for storing any kind of sensitive data that cannot be seen by the entire team. This makes it much more suitable for company-wide information and task management or for smaller teams that don't require complex security or permissioning provisions.

While Notion doesn't publish a specific record limit for databases, proper view management can help handle large datasets. However, importing large volumes of data can be challenging and may require a piecemeal approach. Notion's databases are inherently suited to organizing small datasets and are not to be used like a traditional database, as they lack the security and scalability for complex data management.

Finally, Notion's database automations help streamline workflows by automating standard operating procedures. Users can set up triggers based on page creation or property edits within a database. These triggers can initiate actions such as property edits, page creation in other databases, or sending notifications to team members via Notion or Slack. 

This feature is great for maintaining consistency and efficiency in project management and other workflows and should be implemented systematically when dealing with more complex setups. Although, it's worth noting that Notion's internal automation toolkit is not as robust as dedicated software such as Make or Zapier.

Collaboration in Notion: cloud, teamspaces and permissioning

Summary: Notion offers many tools for collaboration on the platform, including commenting, some version control options, and basic permissioning. Nevertheless, there are some fundamental security issues and permissioning is typically underdeveloped for companies with greater access control and compliance needs.

The details:

Cloud-only

Notion's cloud-based platform ensures real-time updates, keeping all team members synchronized. This feature promotes collaboration and avoids version control issues, as everyone always has access to the most current information. Something to be aware of when choosing your Notion plan is that unlimited page edit history is only available on the Enterprise plan. In any case, Notion does not offer a self-hosted version of the platform, which would be a key security limitation for many enterprise-grade businesses.

Teamspaces and permissioning

https://www.notion.so/help/guides/how-workspace-owners-can-set-up-teamspaces-for-their-organization

Notion allows users to organize their top-level sidebar navigation pages into distinct “Teamspaces”, each containing its own relevant pages. A common application of Teamspaces is to create separate areas for different departments within an organization. This feature streamlines workspace organization and improves navigation. 

Permissions can also be set for each Teamspace on an individual or group level. Each Teamspace will have Teamspace owners who have full access and can set the permissions for Teamspace members - ‘Edit’, ‘Comment’ or ‘View’. Additionally, you can create default Teamspaces, to which everyone has automatic access when they sign in to Notion, as well as invite-only Teamspaces. 

Finally, private Teamspaces, which are not discoverable unless a user is invited, are only available on the Business Plan. This restriction may impact budget-strapped teams requiring more privacy on lower-tier plans.

While flexible, it's important to recognize that the ease of building pages and systems in Notion often introduces a decentralized and uncontrolled approach to documentation. When it comes to working in teams, it's incredibly easy to double-up content with Notion's flexible, free-form approach, thereby making it difficult to ascertain the most recent and accurate information.

For teams that need rigid organization within their documentation (for instance for SOWs or SOPs), they might find that the limitless nature of Notion leads to more disorganized workflows with worsened data integrity. To avoid confusion coming as a result of Notion's free-form approach, large teams working on Notion will need to set internal rules and systems to maintain organization (such as always adding new information to the bottom of pages). 

To stop non-technical users from disrupting system structure, permissions, at both the database and page level, need to be set accordingly. Given this requirement, and the inability to hide database information from specified users, Notion is easier to manage with smaller teams working with documentation where data integrity and security is less essential, such as company wikis, or onboarding docs and procedures.

Who is Notion best for?

Notion is a versatile tool that caters particularly to less-technical users, thanks to its flexible, simple, block-based structure. Businesses in product development, marketing, agencies, startups, and content creation find it particularly useful, while students rely on it for managing their course load.

For those stuck in spreadsheets and a mess of Google docs, it's a real game-changer to not be constantly switching between multiple tools and spreadsheets. By allowing users to build custom solutions where all elements work together, Notion helps save time and money, while boosting productivity.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), who are rapidly changing their processes and may not have a dedicated engineering team may find Notion particularly helpful for project management and operations, as they can easily modify their workspace and workflows, unlike traditional tools with fixed features. This flexibility enables faster scaling and helps avoid the hassle of switching between applications as the business grows.

For companies handling sensitive data, mapping out permissions is essential - especially as the number of users grows and permission structures become more nuanced. This becomes even more apparent at the enterprise level. Notion has addressed this with advanced permissions in its Enterprise tier, but effective implementation often requires dedicated management, similar to how large teams eventually evolved to need admins for other tools such as Salesforce. Notion also offers HIPAA compliance at the Enterprise level, for particularly sensitive data.

Despite these potential challenges, there's solid evidence of Notion being successfully used by enterprise teams. According to their website, Notion is trusted by teams at major companies such as Toyota, Figma, Spotify, and Discord. This shows that Notion can indeed scale up and meet the needs of large, complex organizations in the right use case. It's likely these enterprise organisations aren't using Notion for all aspects of their operations, particularly not mission-critical ones.

What use cases is Notion good for?

Using Notion for project management

Notion's project management features are impressive and flexible, offering a comprehensive solution for teams of all sizes. The platform seamlessly connects tasks, projects, and sprints, providing clear visibility of deadlines and resources. It also includes dependencies and charts for enhanced tracking and visualization. A standout feature is Notion Home and Calendar, which centralizes selected dated information from across your workspace, ensuring nothing important is overlooked, from tasks to invoice due dates.

Compared to static spreadsheets, Notion offers more interactivity and overall aesthetic appeal. Users can add tasks directly from meeting pages and pre-loaded database templates, for example, meetings, with necessary information, which drastically reduces set-up time. The wide range of customization options - including colors, header images, and icons - allows for the creation of an engaging, branded UI that encourages system adoption.

One of Notion's strengths lies in its ability to integrate various documentation into project management. Budgets, meetings, campaigns, and vendor information, normally divided in spreadsheets, can all be incorporated into one cohesive system, eliminating the need for time-consuming updates and reducing errors. This integration streamlines workflows and improves overall efficiency.

Simple automation is another feature of Notion's project management capabilities that can boost task management productivity.  When a new project is added, for instance, Notion can automatically create a kickoff meeting, link it to the project, use a pre-loaded template, and even notify specific team members with dynamic messages. These automated processes are easy for even non-technical users to set up, save time, and ensure consistency across projects.

While Notion offers numerous task management benefits, it's important to acknowledge some challenges. Like any new system, time should be invested in training so that everyone is using it effectively. Its flexibility, while a strength, can again lead to overly complex setups if not managed properly. It's crucial to keep things simple and build only what's necessary to avoid overwhelming users or creating unnecessarily complicated systems.

Another point to consider is that, as we mentioned above, database permissions in Notion aren't currently as sophisticated as some other tools, which can present challenges in certain project management situations. Currently, if a user has access to part of a database, they can access all of it. This is generally manageable in small teams but requires careful consideration in more complex situations, such as enterprise teams or larger projects where not all stakeholders should have access to all elements. Despite these limitations, Notion's project management features offer a powerful and adaptable solution for many organizations - especially small and transparent teams.

Using Notion to build client & partner portals

Notion is quickly becoming a go-to for keeping external contacts in the loop during a project, especially for smaller businesses. Using Notions blocks, you can build portals bespoke to your needs. They can include all sorts of useful information and trackers like tasks, timelines, project roles, and feedback. You can even easily upload deliverables and files. The best part? This approach really helps cut down on lengthy email chains and reduces the chances of miscommunication. Plus, you can reduce project set-up time by creating templates for these portals.

When it comes to sharing portals, it’s as easy as sharing the portal page with the correct email address. You can fine-tune permissions for your clients, giving them the ability to view, comment, or edit as needed. Additionally, thanks to the ability to customize the UI to match your brand, it's a great way to impress your clients and create a professional experience.

As above, one thing to be aware of when choosing Notion to build client portals are limited database permissions. If someone has access to part of a database, they can see the whole thing. This means you might want to think twice before syncing these portals with your internal task lists. 

Using Notion to build landing pages & proposals with personality

Notion offers a variety of features that make it an excellent tool for creating engaging landing pages and proposals. Its multimedia block options allow you to incorporate various types of content, while the column feature enables you to create visually appealing layouts. This flexibility in design helps to capture and maintain the audience's attention, but perhaps its most notable benefit is the ability to inject real creativity and fun into your pages to better capture your brand message and personality.

https://www.notion.so/templates/small-business-website

One of Notion's strengths is also its ability to integrate content from popular apps. This feature is particularly useful for showcasing past work or demonstrating your expertise. For instance, web design agencies can embed websites directly into their proposals, providing your potential clients with immediate examples of what you could offer.

Notion is also great for creating lightweight websites or public pages. You can publish pages to the web, making it simple to share your content with a wider audience. For users on paid plans, there's the added benefit of customizing SEO elements - specifically using a custom domain, page title, meta description and URL slug - which can make your website easier to find and more visible online. One area you may see this is start-ups hosting their job boards on Notion, as a much cheaper alternative to other job hosting platforms.

However, it's important to note some limitations when using Notion for landing pages and proposals. While Notion excels in digital presentation, it has some constraints when it comes to print or PDF output. If you plan to provide a printed version of your content, be cautious with extensive formatting. The translation of Notion's rich digital format into a clean print or PDF format is currently somewhat limited, which may affect the final appearance of your document.

Using Notion to build wikis & guides

Notion excels as a platform for creating and maintaining wikis and guides, offering numerous benefits for teams and individuals alike. This would be the most likely use case we would recommend Notion for when it comes to larger businesses or Enterprise companies, albeit with strict controls. 

For teams, Notion provides an excellent way to keep track of processes and procedures - when used correctly. By centralizing information in an easily accessible format, team members can quickly reference important details which reduces the need for repetitive questions and boosts overall accountability. You may choose to use simple pages to store information, or organize them in databases with categories to help you easily filter through information and create custom views that can be synced and viewed across the workspace.

Furthermore, a further layer of functionality is added by Notion AI, which allows users to ask questions about their workspace, making it easier than ever to find and utilize information.

Notion also offers opportunities for creators. If you're a content creator or coach, for instance, you can use Notion to create interactive worksheets based on your frameworks or methodologies. These can then be packaged and sold, providing an additional revenue stream.

However, as with any knowledge management system, there are some considerations to keep in mind when using Notion for wikis and guides. Many of these are common to other apps as well. It's crucial to establish good naming conventions and general editing guidelines to ensure that information can be easily located. Regular updates and version control are also essential to maintain the relevance and accuracy of your wiki or guide. 

What use cases is Notion not so good for?

Building complex business tools and workflows

Depending on your needs, Notion may not offer rigorous enough data management, permissioning, or integration capabilities to create complex business tools and custom automations that can sustain critical operations. For non-coders looking to build user apps, a web app builder like Glide might be more suitable, and for companies with an engineering team, a code-focused platform like Retool would be much more customizable and security compliant.

Pages and data that requires enhanced security through user permissions

This is arguably one of Notion's critical flaws. Their current permission structure for databases is currently flat - if a user has access to part of a database, they can access the entire database. This can be challenging for organizations dealing with sensitive information that requires granular access control. It's particularly noticeable in larger teams or when working with external collaborators. 

While Notion has addressed some of these concerns with advanced permissions in its Enterprise tier, effective implementation in complex situations often requires dedicated management. However, for smaller teams with more transparent policies, this should not be a problem. 

Systems that require offline functionality

Unlike some competitors that offer comprehensive offline modes, such as Google Docs, Notion does not yet offer offline mode, which is a significant drawback for users who frequently work without internet access. This limitation can be particularly disruptive for travelers and remote workers in areas with unreliable internet. For users who prioritize consistent access to their work regardless of internet availability, this aspect of Notion may be a dealbreaker. 

Producing PDFs in Notion: reports, proposals and more

Notion falls short when it comes to producing high-quality PDFs. Notion's rich digital format doesn't translate well into print or PDF output, which can be a significant drawback for users who need to create polished print documents for external use. 

This limitation is particularly noticeable when dealing with extensive formatting or complex layouts. For instance, if you're creating proposals or reports that need to be shared in PDF format, you might find a lot of trial and error is required to create a polished output. 

Producing diagrams in Notion

While you would think a system like Notion, that has grown in popularity for its productivity resources, would contain sophisticated diagram capabilities for producing mindmaps and flowcharts, but this is not yet the case. 

For those on plans which include AI access, or who happen to be familiar with mermaid code, it is possible to create flowcharts (though this is limited in functionality). Although this might be a drawback for projects and teams that frequently require this functionality,  flowcharts can be implemented through other tools such as Miro or Whimsical, which easily embed into Notion pages.

Notion pricing: How much does Notion cost?

Notion offers several tiers in its pricing plans. The main things that scale through the tiers are guest allowance, file size, security permissions and analytics. Some features, such as charts and automations are only available on paid tiers.

Notion’s Free Plan

Notion’s Free Plan is suitable for most people starting out. You have access to the majority of Notion’s blocks and features, however there are some dealbreakers that may force you onto the paid Plus Plan: if you need more than 10 guests in your workspace, more than 7 days of page edit history, or need to upload large files. Nevertheless, the Free Plan does allow you to share unlimited individual documents with guests below the 10 user limit, it just means sharing each page individually and as such, isn't as seamless.

Additionally something to be very cautious of are block limits if you have multiple ‘members’ across your workspace. While guests are invited to individual pages in your Notion workspace, members are more permanent parts of the team that you invite at the system level who, for instance, would see when a new page is added to your sidebar and thus have a more birds eye view of your pages.

If you invite a member to your workspace while on the Free Plan, Notion will assume that you are part of a team and limit you to 1,000 blocks (i.e. text block, image, embed, etc). Once you go over the block limit, you won’t be able to add anything else to your Notion workspace unless you upgrade. 

In the grand scheme of things, this is quite arbitrary and makes you wonder why Notion allows you to create members on the free plan in the first place, luring you in with this sneaky upgrade pattern. Of course, you could get around this by individually inviting your collaborators to individual pages as guests, instead of members, though this becomes unsustainable and annoying as your system grows.

Notion’s Plus Plan

Notion's Plus Plan offers significantly more freedom than its Free Plan: up to 100 guests, unlimited members, synced databases from third party apps, custom websites, database automations and charts. At $10/month, on the monthly plan, this is relatively affordable. Based on these features, you can easily put together a picture of a revenue-generating team that values systems, automation, and collaboration. This plan is ideal for small to medium-sized businesses or freelancers who need more advanced features to manage their workflows and frequently work with external collaborators.

While you can achieve a lot on Notion’s Plus Plan, more established businesses may need more than 100 guests, even more advanced analytics and longer than a 30-day page history, which would move you onto the Business Plan.

Notion’s Business Plan

There isn’t much difference between Notion’s Plus Plan and Business Plan except that you can do what you could do on the Plus plan, but just more of it. Instead of 100 guests, you can have up to 250 (more than double!). Similarly, instead of the 30-day page history that you get on the Plus Plan, you get triple the amount at 90 days. 

There are some specific new features on the Business Plan that do differ from the Plus Plan.

• Private teamspaces - a secret area that cannot be found in the system unless you’re specifically invited e.g. Board area
• SAML SSO - allows users to access multiple applications, such as Notion or HR tools, with one set of login credentials
• Bulk PDF export - lets you export your entire workspace as a PDF (useful for compliance & legal issues)

While these features do start to take more sophisticated companies into consideration, where the stakes are even higher and need more surveillance, it’s worth upgrading to the Enterprise Plan which includes features such as an audit/activity log and unlimited page history.

Notion’s Enterprise Plan

Notion is catering for wealthier companies and start-ups with advanced security needs in the Enterprise Plan - logs, workspace analytics, and even more advanced security and controls. Notion also throws in a dedicated Customer Success Manager at this level. System software is high stakes in established businesses, so even if the additional security and permissions capabilities weren’t appealing, dedicated attention and support from the Notion team might just be worth upgrading for. The price Enterprise Plan is custom quoted by the Notion Sales team on a case by case basis, although there are reports of starting at $20/person.

Notion’s AI Add-On

Most tools integrate AI to boost productivity these days and Notion is no different. While an AI add-on is relatively affordable, starting at $8/month, something to be aware of is that you can’t grant AI access to specific members of your workspace - you have to pay for everyone. While in principle it’s great for everyone to utilize the power of AI, this could have large financial implications. For example, for a team of 50 on the Plus Plan, adding AI adds $500 to their monthly invoice - a twofold increase from $500 to $1000.

Who are Notion’s competitors? How does it compare to other tools?

Notion vs Airtable: Databases

Notion and Airtable both offer no-code relational database functionality. While Airtable excels in areas such as extensive record management and permissions, Notion has the ability to produce intuitive dashboards and systems with its databases. If you’re looking for pure database functionality, with advanced database permissions and better security, Airtable would be the suitable solution, however, if you are looking for visually appealing dashboards and templates as well as integrated notes and more, Notion is more suitable.

Notion vs ClickUp: Project Management

Both Notion and ClickUp offer project management capabilities such as status tracking and dependencies. ClickUp, however, is dedicated to project management with out-of-the box specialized features. Notion, on the other hand, offers greater customization, which may work better for teams with more niche processes and a desire to integrate with other internal documentation.

Notion vs Coda: Dashboard & system design

Both Notion and Coda offer powerful no-code dashboard and system building capabilities. Notion performs better in its usability, speed, community, and support resources surrounding the product, whereas Coda has a wider range of integrations and more powerful databases.

Notion vs Glide

For those looking for something slightly more complex and with greater permissioning controls, Glide may offer a better alternative. Glide allows builders to create more secure web apps for a low price tag, but requires a steeper learning curve to get used to the platform.

Summary

Overall, Notion offers a simple solution as an all-in-one workspace tool with customizable blocks, basic databases, and integrations. Compared to competitors, Notion stands out for its adaptability for no-coders, making it popular for those who need to move fast and strive to see all their information in one place. It’s also very affordable compared to similar platforms. There’s also no doubt that Notion pages are much more visually appealing than most competitors, and it’s easy to make your work look really cool.

While it is a very flexible platform, this is a blessing and a curse, and many users can find themselves in disorganized, uncontrolled systems unless they implement strict constraints from the offset. Notion also has limitations in its lacks of offline mode and basic permissions system. 

Particularly for no- or low-coders, Notion is a great solution for task management, building out portals and simple public pages. It’s also a great and scalable option for all kinds of companies to store company documentation, like Wikis or project scopes. With all use cases, it’s important to map out a structure and approach that ensures proper organization, particularly when there are multiple contributors. 

Hire an expert

Notion is a powerful tool for organizing knowledge, managing projects, and streamlining workflows. Whether you need a custom dashboard, team collaboration setup, or advanced database functionality, a Notion expert can help you build a system tailored to your needs.

We can help with:

• Custom workspace design
• Database structuring and automation
• Team collaboration and permissions
• Integration with other tools

Fill out the form below to get connected with a Notion specialist.