Heptabase vs TheBrain

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

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.