Coppice vs TheBrain
We give Coppice a 2.6 GPA and TheBrain a 3.4, out of 4.0. Coppice grades higher on value for money. TheBrain grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Coppice
Mac app for linking notes together on a spatial canvas
TheBrain
Visual knowledge network linking notes, files and web links
How we grade them
| 2.6GPACoppiceGood | 3.4GPATheBrainVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BCoppice Pro is $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year, which is cheap for this category. But the vendor doesn't say what it unlocks, so we can't tell you what you'd be paying for. Cheap but unclear gets a B from us, not an A. | CPro Service is $15 a month billed at $180 a year, or $16 monthly. That's more than twice what note apps typically start at. It buys unlimited private sync, 30 GB of online storage and the full daily AI allowance. Sharing a brain with a team means TeamBrain, at $299 a person a year. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe Mac App Store download is free. What you can do with it before Pro comes up is a mystery, because neither the listing nor the site says which features or limits apply. This is the grade we give when a free plan's limits can't be stated. | AThe complete app is free with no account: every feature, unlimited thoughts, brains and local attachments. Public brains are unlimited too. The caps are on private sync, at 1,000 thoughts and 100 MB of synced storage, and on AI, which is a small daily allowance. |
| Features | BA focused tool that does its one thing properly: canvases that grow in every direction, pages that sit on several canvases, links that open as branches, auto-linking and hotspots on images. A page holds rich text or an image, though, and nothing is listed for sync or sharing. | AEvery note, file or link is a thought with as many parents and jump links as you like, shown in a network view called the plex. It also browses as an outline, mind map, cards or a tree. Notes are stored as Markdown, any thought can become a web page, and the Cerebro AI agent answers questions from your brain. |
| Ease of use | BDrag text and images onto a canvas, link them, and click through. Open Quickly finds a page by name. There's no App Store rating on record to go by, so a B is as high as we go. | BNo rating on record, so a B is our ceiling. There's no account to make before you start. It does ask you to organise by links instead of folders, which is a different habit. |
| Platforms and integrations | DMac only, and it needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later. There's no iPhone, iPad, Windows or web version, and the listing shows no integrations. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, and a local API lets scripts and AI agents create and query thoughts. No ready-made integrations with other apps are on record, though. |
| Best for | following linked ideas across a canvas on a Mac | seeing your notes, files and links as one network |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Coppice and TheBrain. How we grade
Where they differ
- Coppice starts at $1.99 per month, or $19.99 per year. TheBrain starts at $15 per month, billed at $180 per year (Pro Service).
- Only TheBrain lists a web app.
- Only TheBrain lists Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- Coppice also covers whiteboard.
- TheBrain also covers Markdown and mind mapping.
At a glance
| Coppice | TheBrain | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $1.99 per month, or $19.99 per year | $15 per month, billed at $180 per year (Pro Service) |
| Free plan | The Mac App Store download is free. Neither the listing nor the site says which features need Coppice Pro. | Free App: every feature, unlimited thoughts, brains and local attachments, no account needed. Private sync stops at 1,000 thoughts, synced storage at 100 MB, and AI use is a small daily allowance. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | High Caffeine Content | TheBrain Technologies LP |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | thebrain.com |
| Checked | Oct 9, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Coppice
- Mapping out linked ideas for a project on a Mac
- Planning a tabletop roleplaying session, a use the vendor names
- People who think by spreading notes out and following connections
TheBrain
- People who organize ideas as a network instead of folders
- Large personal knowledge bases mixing notes, files and web links
- Teams that want one shared, visual knowledge map (TeamBrain)
Worth knowing
Coppice
- It runs on the Mac only and requires macOS 15 Sequoia or later.
- The vendor does not say which features need Coppice Pro. The former maker's site listed unlimited canvases, page folders and automatic linking as Pro in the earlier version.
- Coppice Pro is sold only as a subscription, at $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year; no one-time purchase is listed.
- The app changed hands with the 2026 version, and M Cubed Software's site has purchases of the earlier direct-download version disabled.
TheBrain
- Free private sync stops at 1,000 thoughts and 100 MB of synced attachments; going past either needs Pro Service.
- The free AI allowance is a small daily amount, and the vendor says AI services may be unavailable in some countries.
- Multi-user editing and shared brains need TeamBrain, at $299 per person per year.
- Cloud services run only for the paid service period, and on-premises deployment is sold separately through sales.
Key features
Coppice
- Canvases
- A canvas is a space for laying thoughts out visually and seeing how they connect. It expands in every direction as more pages are added.
- Pages
- Each thought is a page of text or an image, at any size. A page can sit on several canvases, or fill the window when one thought needs the focus.
- Links and branches
- Pages link to other pages, and clicking a link opens the linked page on the canvas as a branch. A closed branch is remembered with its pages and their arrangement.
- Auto-linking
- Coppice can connect thoughts by automatically adding links between pages. Image links can use oval and polygon hotspots for more precise targets.
- Drag and drop
- Text and images can be dragged onto a canvas from the sidebar or from other apps.
- Folders, colors and Open Quickly
- Pages can be kept in folders and given any color to stand out on the canvas. Open Quickly finds a page by name.
TheBrain
- The plex and linked thoughts
- Each note, file or link is a thought that can have several parents and jump links to other thoughts, shown in an animated network view called the plex.
- Outline, mind map, tree and card views
- Besides the plex, a brain can be browsed as an outline, a mind map, cards, or a tree that shows thoughts with more than one parent.
- Cerebro AI
- An AI agent that answers questions from a brain, creates thoughts and notes, summarizes attachments and suggests links. Free use is a small daily allowance.
- Markdown notes editor
- Notes are written in a visual editor and stored as Markdown, with tables, math, spellchecking and PDF export.
- Sync and Light Attachments
- Cloud sync keeps brains current across devices, and Light Sync leaves large attachments online until they are needed. Unlimited private sync is paid.
- Shared pages and local API
- Any thought can be published as a web page that needs no account to view, and a local API lets scripts and AI agents create and query thoughts.
Plans
Coppice
Free$0
The app as downloaded from the Mac App Store. The vendor does not publish which features or limits apply without Coppice Pro.
Coppice Pro (Monthly)$1.99
per month
In-app subscription, billed monthly through the Mac App Store. The listing does not describe what it unlocks.
Coppice Pro (Yearly)$19.99
per year
The same Coppice Pro subscription billed once a year.
TheBrain
Free App$0
The complete app with unlimited thoughts, links and brains, unlimited public brains, private sync up to 1,000 thoughts and 100 MB of synced storage.
Pro Service$15
per month, billed at $180 per year; $16 billed monthly
Unlimited private sync, the full daily Cerebro AI allowance, 30 GB of online storage, encrypted backup and one-on-one support.
TeamBrain$25
per person / month, billed at $299 per year; $29 billed monthly
Everything in Pro Service plus multi-user editing and sync, unlimited shared brains, 100 GB of storage and per-user reporting and auditing.
Max Service$40
per month, billed at $479 per year; $48 billed monthly
Everything in TeamBrain plus 4x the Cerebro AI allowance, 250 GB of storage, unlimited sync devices and early access to new features.
EnterpriseCustom
On-premises server deployment, arranged through the sales team.
Ways to pay less
Coppice
- Annual discount
About 16% off with yearly billing
Coppice Pro costs $19.99 a year against $1.99 a month, which comes to $23.88 over 12 months, a saving of about 16%.
TheBrain
- Annual discount
Save 7% to 20% with yearly billing
The store labels yearly billing as saving 7% on Pro Service ($180 a year against $16 a month), 16% on TeamBrain and 20% on Max Service.
