The 10 best Notion alternatives for 2026

If you’re looking for a Notion alternative that better fits your project management workflows, then it means you’ve already run into some walls. Based on user reviews, Notion may not be the perfect tool for every team—some find its learning curve too steep, while others need stronger project management features, deeper integration with other tools, or an open-source solution with local hosting.

There’s now a great deal of overlap in features and functionality between collaboration, project management, and productivity tools, so it can be difficult to find that unicorn fit. This guide brings you the 10 best Notion alternatives available today, along with a brief summary of each tool’s standout features. The one that’s best for you depends on your specific needs and use case.

What makes the best Notion alternative?

The best Notion alternative depends on what you’re looking for and the features you prioritize. Platforms that promote all-in-one functionality, like Notion, typically offer a range of functionality, though not necessarily at the same level of depth. Notion, for example, offers note-taking, knowledge management, project management, and collaboration features—but so do several other options. The tools included in this article sometimes excel in specific areas that users seek, but lack in other areas.

That said, while Airtable and Notion are quite different, both solutions can accomplish many of the same outcomes. Airtable is a great Notion alternative because its powerful database capabilities and automation features make it ideal for teams managing complex workflows and large datasets. Airtable offers more sophisticated integrations than Notion and places more emphasis on cross-functional collaboration than long-form documentation, providing a scalable and mature solution for growing teams.

Project management Notion alternatives comparison table

Unless otherwise specified, starting prices are based on monthly billing plans. If billed annually, most plans offer a discounted rate per month.

Top 10 best Notion alternatives and competitors

This list represents a range of solutions and is not inclusive of all competitors. Some tools not listed include Evernote, the note-taking app, or Trello, which sits within the project management category, both of which rival Notion’s capabilities in their respective areas but are simpler solutions overall. This curated list aims to take a broad view of what users are mainly looking for when they’re looking past Notion.

1. Airtable – Best for AI-powered workflows

Airtable is an AI-native platform that lets anyone build custom workflows and apps that transform business processes—no coding required. The flexible project management tool enables teams to collaborate in real-time, connect complex projects to business outcomes, and automate workflows in minutes. It’s easy to use and scales to support use cases that go beyond project management, including marketing, product, and operations. Companies use Airtable to connect projects, resources, teams, and timelines in a single, flexible system—within and across departments—and to view progress in the view that works best, whether it’s Gantt, Kanban, a calendar view, or via the mobile app.

Airtable’s expert AI app builder Omni and AI agents are built directly into the platform, and work within the context of your data to summarize updates, flag risks, automatically allocate resources, instantly generate project plans, and surface insights. Field Agents help with automated workflows, and Omni helps build tailored dashboards.

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Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $20/user/month

2. Obsidian – Best for knowledge management and secure note-taking

Obsidian stores notes as plain Markdown files on your device (available for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android). This local-first architecture gives users ownership of their data and lets users work in offline mode. The tool can be used for anything from personal journaling to knowledge bases to project management, and comes with a plugin ecosystem that allows for a high level of customization so that users can build and view their notes in the way they want—although some technical skill is required, as there isn’t a visual editor.

Obsidian charges a syncing fee to store your data in the cloud or to publish on the web. For teams, there's no built-in database or project management functionality, so it’s less a solution for teams needing real-time collaboration or structured task management and more a tool for mind-mapping by brainstorming, documenting, and visualizing how ideas connect.

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Pricing: Free for personal use; optional sync service at $5/user/month; $50/user/year for commercial use

3. Coda – Best for document-based project management

Coda is an all-in-one doc platform, marketed to project managers. The solution reimagines documents as applications, blending docs, spreadsheets, and apps into a single canvas for teams wanting to build custom tools and workflows without code. Teams can create simple to-do lists, product roadmaps, or even custom CRM systems.

Applications are built to have a document interface, similar to Notion, but with more powerful automation and customization capabilities. The platform enables teams to create interactive docs that include tables with relational data, buttons that trigger automations, and integrations that pull live data from external tools directly into your docs through their Packs feature. Coda AI serves as an AI assistant for document creators.

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Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $12/user/month for document creators

4. ClickUp – Best for all-in-one functionality

ClickUp markets itself as "one app to replace them all," providing a customizable platform where teams can manage projects, documents, goals, and communication in one place. The platform offers task statuses, custom fields, multiple view types, and the ability to tailor workflows to match team processes. ClickUp leans more towards project management, while Notion leans more towards knowledge management.

ClickUp combines project management features like Gantt charts and Kanban boards with resource management like time tracking, along with docs, wikis, whiteboards, and built-in chat. ClickUp Brain is an AI-powered assistant embedded in the platform to help answer queries, generate content, and automate workflows. For those looking specifically for project management and collaboration software, the platform may offer more than you need.

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Pricing: Free plan available; paid plans start at $10/user/month

5. AppFlowy – Best for open-source productivity

AppFlowy is an open-source, privacy-first workspace designed to give users complete control over their data with the option to self-host on their own infrastructure or sync to the cloud. The solution is built on Flutter and Rust to speed development, improve performance, and provide cross-platform compatibility—aiming to provide a secure, customizable alternative to Notion, where users own their data and can extend functionality through community-built plugins.

AppFlowy emphasizes transparency and user control while offering familiar workspace features like databases, Kanban boards, and rich text editing. This is a more developer-focused tool with offline access, whereas Notion’s features are more developed, include pre-built templates, and are designed for the cloud. AppFlowy allows users to run local AI models on their machines and provides an AI teammate to collaborate with you.

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Pricing: Free plan available; $12.50/user/month for Pro plan

6. Monday.com – Best for visual project management

Monday.com is a work operating system that enables teams to run projects and automate workflows through visual, color-coded boards. Each board contains tasks, deadlines, and files, and dashboards ensure that project status is always visible.

The platform is customizable, offering low- or no-code automation for repetitive tasks like notifications, status changes, or task assignments. The dashboard can aggregate multiple boards into executive views. Users can also use the platform’s template library as a starting point for use case-specific projects.

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Pricing: Free plan available; $14/user/month for Standard plan

7. Anytype – Best for offline, private knowledge management

Anytype is a data privacy-focused space for digital productivity and collaboration. The open-source platform uses a graph database structure that allows for flexible relationships between different types of content, enabling users to create custom object types and connections that mirror their thinking. The architecture also gives users complete sovereignty over their data through local-first, encrypted storage.

Anytype emphasizes offline-first functionality, fast peer-to-peer synchronization on local networks, and open protocols. A block-based editor allows for creation without coding, and data can be viewed using a graph, table, Kanban, or gallery view. Some users find it superior to Notion, though not necessarily for team collaboration or cloud-based knowledge management.

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Pricing: Free plan available; $5/user/month for Plus

8. Microsoft Loop – Best for teams invested in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem

Microsoft Loop is a collaborative app that introduces "Loop components" that can be shared and edited across Microsoft 365 apps like Teams, Outlook, and Word while staying in sync everywhere they appear. Loop workspaces provide flexible canvases where teams can organize content, collaborate in real-time, and bring together everything from meeting notes to project plans in one connected space.

Built into Microsoft 365, Loop leverages Copilot AI to help teams brainstorm, draft content, and synthesize information directly within their Loop workspace. Notion is considered the more powerful option, but Loop natively integrates with other Microsoft apps.

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Pricing: Included with Microsoft 365 subscriptions

9. AFFiNE – Best for collaboration with whiteboard capabilities

AFFiNE describes itself as an all-in-one KnowledgeOS that brings planning, sorting, and creating together in one platform. The workspace combines fully-merged docs, whiteboards, and databases.

AFFiNE is an open-source tool that emphasizes its privacy-first design and local-first architecture, so that you’re always in charge of your own data. Cloud sync options are also available. AFFiNE's unique approach allows users to switch between page mode and edgeless (whiteboard) mode on the same canvas, enabling smooth transitions between structured documentation and creative visual thinking. AFFiNE can perhaps be viewed as a replacement for both Notion and Miro.

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Pricing: Free plan available; $7.99/month for Pro

10. Asana – Best for task and project management

Asana is a work management platform designed to help teams orchestrate their work, from daily tasks to strategic, cross-functional initiatives. The platform provides project management capabilities that include intake forms, multiple project views (list, board, timeline, calendar, workload), workload management, and portfolio tracking.

The platform allows users to create custom workflows with detailed task and subtask tracking, and timelines can be automatically adjusted based on dependencies. Task ownership is clearly represented, providing transparency into responsibilities, and user comments on projects, tasks, and subtasks are updated in real time.

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Pricing: Free plan available; $13.49/user/month for Starter

How to choose the best Notion alternative

Selecting the best alternative depends on your specific needs and workflow. Consider the following:

Making the switch from Notion

Once you've selected an alternative, here's how to transition smoothly:

1. Export your Notion data: Use Notion's export functionality to download your workspace as Markdown and CSV files. This provides a backup and migration starting point.

2. Start with a pilot project: Rather than migrating everything at once, test your chosen alternative with a single project or team to identify potential issues.

3. Map your workflows: Identify how your Notion databases, templates, and automations translate to the new platform. Some features may require different approaches.

4. Leverage integrations: Use tools like Zapier to maintain connections between your new platform and existing tools during the transition period. Alternatives like Airtable also offer native integrations and an API that make it easy to leverage existing processes and systems.

5. Provide training: Ensure your team understands the new tool's capabilities and best practices and how it will help them to ensure adoption.

Why Airtable is the best Notion alternative

Airtable is a great Notion alternative for teams seeking AI-powered project management with real-time collaboration features, scalable workflow automation, and the ability to connect work to business outcomes and shared OKRs. Airtable provides the power, flexibility, and scalability needed for managing complex projects, tracking multiple workflows, and coordinating cross-functional initiatives with structured data. The platform's ability to grow from simple task tracking to enterprise-wide workflow orchestration—while maintaining performance and usability—makes it the most versatile choice for teams ready to move beyond Notion's limitations.