What Notion is
Notion is a cloud workspace made by Notion Labs in San Francisco. Everything is a page, and every page is built from blocks: text, headings, to-dos, images, embeds, code, and databases. Databases are the heart of it. A database is a collection of pages with properties (status, date, person, tags, relations to other databases), and you can view the same data as a table, board, calendar, timeline, gallery, list or chart.
Because of that, people use Notion for almost anything: company wikis, meeting notes, product roadmaps, content calendars, CRMs, reading lists and personal journals. Around the core app the company has added Notion Calendar, Notion Mail, forms, public websites (Sites) and a large AI layer, which we cover in our separate Notion AI review.
Key features
- Pages and blocks. Drag-and-drop editing with nested pages, toggles, columns, callouts and synced blocks that appear in several places at once.
- Databases. Properties, filters, sorts, formulas, relations and rollups, subtasks and dependencies, with many views of the same data.
- Templates. A large gallery of official and community templates for wikis, trackers and planners.
- Collaboration. Real-time editing, comments, mentions, page sharing with guests and teamspaces for departments.
- Forms and Sites. Collect responses straight into a database, or publish pages as a public website (custom domains cost extra).
- Notion Calendar and Mail. Separate apps that connect your Google calendar and Gmail to your Notion workspace.
- Automations and connections. Database automations, and connections to Slack, Google Drive, GitHub and more (more connections on Business).
- Notion AI. Writing help, Q&A over your workspace, Notion Agent for multi-step tasks, AI Meeting Notes and enterprise search, in full on Business and Enterprise.
Notion pricing (as of October 2026)
From Notion's pricing page, in US dollars per member per month.
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | Main limits and additions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 5 MB per upload, 7-day page history, 10 guests, AI trial only | |
| Plus | $10 | $12 | Unlimited uploads (up to ~5 GB a file), 30-day history, unlimited guests, custom forms and sites; AI trial only |
| Business | $20 | $24 | Notion AI and Notion Agent, AI Meeting Notes, enterprise search, SAML SSO, private teamspaces, 90-day history |
| Enterprise | Custom | SCIM, audit log, advanced security, zero data retention with AI providers, unlimited history | |
Custom Agents (AI agents that run tasks on their own) are billed separately in Notion credits: free to try, then $10 per 1,000 credits a month. A custom domain for a Notion Site is $8 a month per domain billed yearly, or $10 monthly.
Strengths
- Flexibility. Few apps let you build a wiki, a task tracker and a CRM in the same place and link them together.
- Databases are genuinely powerful without needing a spreadsheet or a developer, and relations let one database feed another.
- Great for team knowledge. Wikis, verified pages and permissions make it a common choice for internal documentation.
- Generous free plan for individuals, including databases, forms and sites.
- Huge template ecosystem, so you rarely start from a blank page.
- AI is built into the place your work already lives, on Business, rather than in a separate chat window.
Weaknesses
- Learning curve and blank-canvas fatigue. A recurring complaint is that people spend more time building systems than using them.
- Speed in large workspaces. Users regularly report sluggishness with big databases and long pages, especially on mobile.
- Cloud first. Offline access exists but is limited compared with local-file apps, and your data lives on Notion's servers.
- Not end-to-end encrypted. Fine for most work content, but not the place for secrets.
- AI pushes you to Business. Full Notion AI and AI Meeting Notes need the $20-a-seat plan, double the price of Plus.
- No official Linux app. Linux users rely on the web version.
- Project management is lighter than dedicated tools. There is no built-in time tracking or workload planning like ClickUp or Motion offer.
Privacy and security
Notion encrypts data in transit and at rest and offers SAML SSO on Business and SCIM, audit logs and data controls on Enterprise. Content is not end-to-end encrypted, which is normal for a collaborative cloud app but means Notion could technically access it.
For AI, Notion's AI security page says customer data is excluded from model training by default and its contracts bar AI providers from training on it. On Free, Plus and Business, AI providers keep data for up to 30 days before deleting it; Enterprise gets zero data retention for most models. Notion uses a mix of models from different providers and lists them on its subprocessor page.
Platforms
- Desktop: Windows and macOS apps.
- Mobile: iPhone, iPad and Android.
- Web: any modern browser, which is also how Linux users get in.
- Companion apps: Notion Calendar and Notion Mail, plus a web clipper.
Who should use Notion
Notion suits small and mid-sized teams that want one home for documentation, meeting notes and simple project tracking; freelancers and students who like to design their own systems; and anyone who thinks in tables and boards. Teams already paying for Business also get AI that can answer questions across their wiki.
Look elsewhere if you want notes that are private and stored as files on your own computer (Obsidian), a straightforward to-do list (Todoist), or full project management with workloads and time tracking (ClickUp).
Which Notion plan do you need?
- Free is enough for most individuals: unlimited pages and databases, forms and sites. The limits you are most likely to notice are the 5 MB upload cap and the 7-day page history.
- Plus ($10 a member per month billed yearly) is for small teams and freelancers who share a workspace, upload larger files or want 30 days of page history and custom forms and sites. It does not include full Notion AI.
- Business ($20 billed yearly) is where Notion AI, AI Meeting Notes, enterprise search, SAML SSO and private teamspaces live. Most companies that want AI end up here.
- Enterprise adds SCIM provisioning, audit logs, data controls and zero data retention with AI providers, for organizations with compliance requirements.
Because Notion charges per member, count everyone who needs to edit. People who only need to view or comment on a few pages can often be invited as guests instead, which is unlimited on paid plans.
Tips for getting value from Notion
- Start with a template close to what you need (a team wiki, a task tracker, meeting notes) instead of designing a system from scratch.
- Keep databases few and connected. One tasks database with views per project is easier to maintain than a separate list on every page.
- Agree on a home page and naming so a team wiki stays findable as it grows.
- Turn on offline access for the pages you need when traveling, before you lose signal.
- Export regularly (Markdown, HTML or PDF) if you want your own backup outside Notion.
Alternatives
- Obsidian: local Markdown notes with links and plugins. See Notion vs Obsidian.
- ClickUp: heavier project management with docs included.
- Todoist: a fast, focused task manager if Notion feels like too much.
- Confluence, Coda and Microsoft Loop: other team wiki and doc tools, usually picked to match an existing Atlassian, Coda or Microsoft 365 setup.