Heptabase vs Tana Outliner

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

Tana Outliner

• People who want structured notes built from typed objects with fields
• Outliner users who want meeting and voice transcription in the same tool
• Building a personal system around daily notes and live queries

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.

Tana Outliner

• AI features run on monthly credits (500 on the Free plan), and Free users cannot top up.
• Google Calendar sync and unlimited workspaces need Plus; the Readwise integration and Input API need Pro.
• The Free plan is limited to 3 workspaces, 0.5 GB of file storage and 5 MB per upload.
• The name Tana now also refers to a separate meeting platform from the same company at tana.inc, with its own pricing.

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.

Tana Outliner

Outliner with supertags

Everything is a node in an infinite outline. Applying a supertag turns a node into a typed object with a template of fields.

Day nodes

Each day has its own page, called a day node, which serves as the place for daily notes and quick capture.

Views and search nodes

The same nodes can be shown as an outline, table, cards, calendar or list. Search nodes are live queries that find and display matching nodes.

Meeting notetaker and voice memos

The notetaker records audio from your computer and transcribes it in real time, and voice memos are transcribed too. Both draw on the monthly AI credits.

AI chat and custom workflows

AI chat, command nodes and image generation are built in. Custom AI workflows with a choice of models need the Plus plan.

Capture, publishing and apps

Any node can become a public web page. A desktop app for Mac, Windows and Linux works offline, and iOS and Android apps capture text, voice and photos.

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.

Tana Outliner

• Free$0

  500 AI credits a month, up to 3 workspaces, 0.5 GB of file storage and a 5 MB upload limit.

• Plus$8

  per month, billed yearly

  2,000 AI credits a month, unlimited workspaces, Google Calendar sync, meeting notifications, custom AI workflows and password-protected shared pages.

• Pro$14

  per month, billed yearly

  5,000 AI credits a month and everything in Plus, plus the Readwise integration, Input API access and template publishing.

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.

Tana Outliner

• Annual discount

  Save 22% with yearly billing

  The Tana Outliner pricing page labels yearly billing as saving 22% compared with paying monthly.

• Education

  50% off for students and academics

  Students and academics get a 50% discount: Plus costs $5 per month or $48 per year, and Pro costs $9 per month or $84 per year.

• Nonprofit

  50% off for NGOs

  NGOs receive the same 50% discount: Plus costs $5 per month or $48 per year, and Pro costs $9 per month or $84 per year.