Curio vs Heptabase

Curio

• Visual thinkers who plan projects on freeform pages
• Students, writers and researchers collecting notes and documents
• Mac users who want project files stored locally and usable offline

Heptabase

• Students and researchers learning complex topics from PDFs and videos
• Visual thinkers who like to arrange notes on a canvas
• Readers who sync highlights from Readwise or sources from Zotero

Curio

• Mac only: Curio 34 runs on macOS 15 Sequoia or later, and the site lists no iPhone, iPad, Windows or web version.
• Free mode restricts a project to 5 idea spaces; larger projects open read-only.
• License keys work only with the website download and subscriptions only with the Mac App Store download.
• A license key includes one year of major updates; later updates need a paid renewal, and academic and volume discounts do not apply to subscriptions.

Heptabase

• There is no free plan to sign up for; a subscription is required after the 7-day trial.
• Pro includes 100 AI credits a month and only Gemini models; GPT, Claude and AI Tutor need Premium.
• Heptabase says it does not currently offer educational, nonprofit or NGO discounts.
• People invited as free collaborators can edit shared whiteboards and cards but get no journal, tasks or AI features.

Curio

Freeform idea spaces

Place text, Markdown, images, PDFs, documents, web links and media anywhere on a page, and divide larger projects into Organizer sections.

Integrated collections

Mind maps, lists, tables, index cards, albums, pinboards, stacks and Kanban boards sit on the same pages and can be nested inside compositions.

Task and project metadata

Items carry checkmarks, percent complete, tags, start and due dates, priorities, ratings and resources, all searchable with queries and filters.

Markdown, wikilinks and backlinks

Markdown text supports equations, tables, checklists and callouts, and wikilinks, backlinks and jump actions connect items across a project.

Local project files

Each project is one local file on your Mac that works offline, with automatic backups and export to PDF, Markdown, HTML, OPML and other formats.

AI services and Curio CLI

The Sleuth research window reaches chat services such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, and Professional adds a command line tool with an MCP server for AI agents.

Heptabase

Whiteboards and cards

Each note is a card, and cards are laid out on whiteboards to work through a topic visually.

Block editor with bi-directional links

Cards are written in a block-based editor with slash commands and can link to each other in both directions.

PDF highlights and source Q&A

Highlight PDFs in several colors and ask AI to explain PDFs, YouTube videos, notes and journal entries. Unlimited PDF uploads and OCR parsing need Premium.

AI agent and AI Tutor

An AI agent helps take notes and organize knowledge, drawing on monthly AI credits. AI Tutor, which runs structured learning sessions, is part of Premium.

Daily journal

A journal entry for each day sits alongside a calendar and to-dos.

Offline access and collaboration

Notes and files stay available without an internet connection, and friends or teammates can be invited to collaborate in real time for free.

Curio

• Free$0

  Standard features for small projects, restricted to 5 idea spaces per project. Larger projects open read-only.

• Standard subscription$5

  per month, billed yearly ($60); $6 billed monthly

  Mac App Store subscription. Everything in Free with an unlimited number of idea spaces.

• Professional subscription$6

  per month, billed yearly ($72); $8 billed monthly

  Mac App Store subscription. Adds Curio CLI and MCP, smart Kanban, table formulas, synced figures, Mermaid diagrams and presentation mode.

• Standard license key$99.99

  one-time, includes 1 year of updates

  Bought from Zengobi's website. The license does not expire, and renewals for another year of updates start at $59.99.

• Professional license key$119.99

  one-time, includes 1 year of updates

  The Professional edition as a one-time purchase. Renewals for another year of updates start at $79.99.

Heptabase

• Pro$8.99

  per month, billed yearly ($11.99 billed monthly)

  Unlimited notes, whiteboards, tags and collaborator invites, 100 AI credits a month and an AI agent limited to Gemini models.

• Premium$17.99

  per month, billed yearly ($23.99 billed monthly)

  Everything in Pro, plus unlimited PDF uploads and OCR parsing, GPT and Claude models, AI Tutor and 1,800 AI credits a month.

• Premium+$53.99

  per month, billed yearly ($71.99 billed monthly)

  Everything in Premium, with 8,100 AI credits a month and a 33% discount on AI credits.

Curio

• Education

  Academic pricing on license keys

  Qualifying students, faculty and staff pay $79.99 for a Standard license key or $99.99 for Professional after academic verification. Subscriptions are excluded.

• Annual discount

  Two or three months free with yearly billing

  Billed yearly, Standard works out to $5 a month instead of $6 and Professional to $6 instead of $8, which Zengobi describes as 2 and 3 months free.

• Other savings

  20% volume discount for 20 or more licenses

  Quantity purchases of 20 or more license keys receive an automatic 20% volume discount at checkout.

• Other savings

  Discounted license renewals

  Renewing a license key for another year of updates costs $59.99 to $69.99 for Standard and $79.99 to $89.99 for Professional, depending on the version owned.

Heptabase

• Annual discount

  Save 25% with yearly billing

  Heptabase's pricing page marks yearly billing as 25% cheaper: Pro is $107.88 a year instead of $11.99 a month, and Premium is $215.88 instead of $23.99 a month.