Alternatives · Note-Taking

The best Notion alternatives in 2026

Seven Notion alternatives matched to the reasons people leave: AI that needs the Business plan, a free plan that tightens once a second member joins and no Linux desktop app. Each pick says who it suits and what it costs.

Updated Oct 4, 2026 · 7 tools · How we pick

Notion does a lot in one place, and its Free plan gives one person unlimited pages and blocks. The reasons people look elsewhere are specific. The AI agent and meeting notes are only a limited trial on the Free and Plus plans; full access starts at Business, which is $20 per member a month billed yearly. The Free plan limits blocks once a second member joins, caps file uploads at 5 MB and keeps 7 days of page history. There is no Linux desktop app. And for offline use, Free users have to pick which pages to download in advance.

No single app replaces all of Notion, so the alternatives split by what you use it for. If that is mostly personal notes, Obsidian, Capacities, Anytype and Tana Outliner each give you linked notes with more say over where they live or how they are structured. If it is documents, Craft is also built from blocks. If it is a team workspace or a set of databases, ClickUp and Airtable are built around those jobs.

The order below runs from the alternatives that suit the most people to the more specialized ones. Prices were read on the date shown on each tool's page, which also names the page each figure came from.

Replacing Notion?Workspace for docs, wikis, databases and projects with built-in AI. Free plan · from $10/mo.

Notion details

The shortlist

1ObsidianBest for notes kept as local filesFree plan · from $4/mo
2ClickUpBest for teams that run projectsFree plan · from $7/mo
3CraftBest for documents you shareFree plan · from $96/yr
4CapacitiesBest for a personal knowledge baseFree plan · from $9.99/mo
5AnytypeBest for privacy and offline useFree plan · from $4/mo
6Tana OutlinerBest for built-in AI and meeting notesFree plan · from $8/mo
7AirtableBest if you mainly use databasesFree plan · from $20/mo

01
Obsidian
Best for notes kept as local filesMarkdown note-taking app that keeps your files on your device
Obsidian suits people who use Notion mainly for personal notes and want them on their own device: every note is a plain Markdown file, readable in other editors and available offline. The app is free without limits on desktop and mobile, needs no sign-up, and runs on Linux as well as Mac, Windows, iOS and Android. Links between notes, a graph view and thousands of community plugins and themes let you build it out.
Worth knowing: There is no web app, and syncing between devices and shared vaults for a team both come with Sync, a paid add-on from $4 per user a month billed annually.
Price
Free plan; paid plans from $4 per user / month, billed annually (Sync Standard add-on)
Runs on
macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension
Obsidian pricing and details obsidian.md
02
ClickUp
Best for teams that run projectsWork platform combining tasks, docs, chat and dashboards
ClickUp fits teams that use Notion to run work rather than to write. Tasks, docs, wikis, chat, whiteboards and dashboards share one workspace, and the same tasks can be shown in more than 15 layouts, including list, board, Gantt and calendar. Its Free Forever plan has no member limit, where Notion's Free plan limits blocks once a second member joins. Paid plans start at $7 per user a month billed yearly, and there is a Linux app.
Worth knowing: The Free Forever plan is capped at 60MB of storage and 5 spaces, and AI is billed separately: Brain AI is listed at $9 per user a month on top of the workspace plan.
Price
Free plan; paid plans from $7 per user / month, billed yearly ($10 billed monthly)
Runs on
Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension
ClickUp pricing and details clickup.com
03
Craft
Best for documents you shareNotes and documents app with tasks, daily notes and whiteboards
Craft is built from blocks like Notion, but its center is the document: styled pages that can be shared or published to the web, with tasks, daily notes, whiteboards and collections of structured data beside them. Its AI writing assistant is included on every plan in metered credits, 50 a month on Plus. Small groups pay a fixed price rather than per member: Family is $180 a year for 2 to 6 accounts and Team is $600 a year for up to 10.
Worth knowing: The free Starter plan stops at 1,500 content blocks, shared spaces come only with the Family and Team bundles, and no Linux app is listed.
Price
Free plan; paid plans from $96 per year ($8 a month), or $10 billed monthly
Runs on
Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Browser extension
Craft pricing and details craft.do
04
Capacities
Best for a personal knowledge baseObject-based note-taking app with daily notes and backlinks
Capacities is for one person's notes rather than a team's. In place of databases it gives you typed objects, such as people, books and projects, with their own properties and templates, linked in both directions and shown as lists, galleries, tables or cards. The free Basic plan includes unlimited objects and blocks, sync across devices, offline support and full-text search, and there are web, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
Worth knowing: There are no team plans and sharing is limited to view-only access, and tasks, the AI assistant and smart queries need Pro at $9.99 a month billed yearly.
Price
Free plan; paid plans from $9.99 per month, billed yearly
Runs on
Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, Browser extension
Capacities pricing and details capacities.io
05
Anytype
Best for privacy and offline useLocal-first, end-to-end encrypted workspace for notes and data
Anytype keeps a structured, database-like approach: every item is an object with a type and properties, and groups of objects can be laid out as a calendar, gallery or kanban board. What changes is where it lives: content is stored on your device and encrypted before it syncs, so it works without a connection, and you can self-host sync or turn it off. The app is free with unlimited private spaces, runs on Linux, and lets you invite people into shared channels as viewers, editors or admins.
Worth knowing: There is no browser version, everyone in a shared space can see everything in it, and in September 2026 the team announced a successor, Anytwo, and said development of the current app will slow down.
Price
Free plan; paid plans from $4 per month, billed yearly ($5 billed monthly)
Runs on
macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android
Anytype pricing and details anytype.io
06
Tana Outliner
Best for built-in AI and meeting notesOutliner with supertags, daily notes and built-in AI features
Tana Outliner puts structure into an outline: a supertag turns any node into a typed object with fields, and the same nodes can be shown as a table, cards, a calendar or a list. AI is included from the Free plan: a meeting notetaker, voice memos and AI chat are built in and draw on monthly credits, 500 on Free and 2,000 on Plus at $8 a month billed yearly. The desktop app runs on Mac, Windows and Linux and works offline.
Worth knowing: AI use is capped by monthly credits and Free users cannot buy more, the Free plan is limited to 3 workspaces and 0.5 GB of file storage, and Google Calendar sync needs Plus.
Price
Free plan; paid plans from $8 per month, billed yearly
Runs on
Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android
Tana Outliner pricing and details outliner.tana.inc
07
Airtable
Best if you mainly use databasesRelational database platform for building team workflows and apps
Airtable is the alternative for people whose Notion is mostly databases. Data lives in bases of linked tables that can be shown as grid, kanban, calendar and gallery views, with custom interfaces and automations built on the same records. The Free plan covers 1,000 records per base and up to 5 editors.
Worth knowing: Paid plans start at $20 per seat a month billed annually, twice Notion's Plus rate, timeline and Gantt views are not part of the Free plan, and no Linux app is listed.
Price
Free plan; paid plans from $20 per seat / month, billed annually ($24 billed monthly)
Runs on
Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android
Airtable pricing and details airtable.com

How to choose

Work out which part of Notion you use

For personal notes, look at Obsidian, Capacities, Anytype or Tana Outliner. For documents you write and share, look at Craft. For a team's tasks, docs and wiki in one place, look at ClickUp, and for databases with views, interfaces and automations, look at Airtable. Choosing by the job you do most matters more than matching Notion feature for feature.

Check Linux, the browser and offline use

Obsidian, ClickUp, Capacities, Anytype and Tana Outliner all list Linux apps; Craft and Airtable do not. ClickUp, Craft, Capacities, Tana Outliner and Airtable have web apps, while Obsidian and Anytype run only as desktop and mobile apps. For working offline, Obsidian and Anytype keep content on your device, Capacities has an offline mode, and Tana Outliner's desktop app works offline. Craft covers only documents you opened earlier.

Just you, or a team?

Capacities has no team plans, and its sharing is view-only. Obsidian shares vaults through its paid Sync add-on. Anytype lets you invite people into shared channels, but everyone in a space sees everything in it. Craft sells fixed-price bundles: Family for up to 6 accounts and Team for up to 10. ClickUp's free plan allows unlimited members, and Airtable's allows up to 5 editors.

Compare what AI costs

Full access to Notion's AI agent and meeting notes starts at Business, at $20 per member a month billed yearly. Tana Outliner includes AI credits on every plan, starting with 500 a month on Free. Craft includes 15 AI credits on Starter and 50 a month on Plus. Capacities puts its AI assistant in Pro at $9.99 a month billed yearly, and ClickUp bills AI separately, with Brain AI listed at $9 per user a month. Airtable's plans include monthly AI credits, 500 per editor on Free.

Common questions

Is there a free alternative to Notion?

Yes. Obsidian is free without limits on desktop and mobile, with sync as a paid add-on. Capacities Basic is free with unlimited objects and sync, and Anytype is free with unlimited private spaces. ClickUp's Free Forever plan allows unlimited tasks and members with 60MB of storage. Craft, Tana Outliner and Airtable have free plans with caps: 1,500 blocks on Craft, 3 workspaces on Tana Outliner and 1,000 records per base on Airtable.

Which Notion alternatives work offline?

Obsidian and Anytype keep your content on your device, so both work without a connection. Capacities has an offline mode for opening, creating and editing content, and Tana Outliner's desktop app works offline. Craft lets you read and edit documents you opened earlier, but creating documents and search need a connection.

Which Notion alternatives have a Linux app?

Obsidian, ClickUp, Capacities, Anytype and Tana Outliner all list Linux desktop apps. Notion itself has no Linux desktop app and points Linux users to its browser version.

What is the best Notion alternative for a team?

ClickUp is the closest fit for a team: tasks, docs, wikis and chat share one workspace, the free plan allows unlimited members, and paid plans start at $7 per user a month billed yearly. Craft's Team plan is a fixed $600 a year for up to 10 accounts. Airtable suits teams whose work is mainly structured data, with up to 5 editors on its Free plan.

Which Notion alternative is best for privacy?

Anytype is end-to-end encrypted and local-first: content is encrypted on your device before it syncs, and you can self-host sync or keep data on one device. Obsidian keeps notes as files on your own device, and its paid Sync add-on is end-to-end encrypted. Capacities says in its own documentation that it is not end-to-end encrypted.

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