Heptabase vs xTiles
We give Heptabase and xTiles the same GPA: 2.4 out of 4.0. Heptabase grades higher on platforms. xTiles grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features and ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Heptabase
Visual notes app that arranges linked cards on whiteboards
xTiles
Visual workspace of tiles for notes, projects and daily planning
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAHeptabaseFair | 2.4GPAxTilesFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DPro is $8.99 a month billed yearly ($107.88), or $11.99 month to month, where notes apps here sit around $6 in the middle and $8.25 in the dearer quarter. And Pro is the thin version: unlimited PDF uploads, GPT and Claude models and AI Tutor all sit on Premium at $17.99 a month, three times the category's middle. | DPlus is $12.42 a user a month billed yearly, $19 monthly, past where the dearest tenth of note apps starts. That buys unlimited spaces and uploads, recurring tasks and your full planner history. Unlimited shared spaces need Pro at $24.92. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's no free plan to sign up for. You get a 7-day trial with unlimited PDF uploads and the Premium AI credits, and nothing in the listing says it asks for a card, but a week is all there is before a subscription is required. | BFree has unlimited pages and projects, 3 personal spaces, Google and Outlook calendars and 1,000 AI credits, which one person could live on. The caps: 5 MB per upload, 2 weeks of planner history and 1 shared space. |
| Features | BCards on whiteboards, links in both directions, PDF highlights, AI that explains PDFs and YouTube videos, a daily journal with to-dos, offline access and real-time collaboration. Nothing's missing from the note-taking job itself; what's rationed is AI credits and models by plan, and that's what keeps it off an A. | BTiles of notes, tasks, images and files on pages, grouped into projects, plus a daily planner, a web clipper with AI summaries, real-time editing, comments, published pages, forms and a timeline. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the notes job; some AI integration features are still to come. |
| Ease of use | CYou're picking up a way of working, not just an app: cards, whiteboards, links in both directions and a block editor with slash commands. No App Store rating is on record to go by, so that learning curve is what we go on. | CNo rating on record, and a blank page of tiles leaves the layout to you, which is why the template gallery is there. Spaces, projects and pages are three levels to get your head round. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android and a browser extension, which is the full set, with Readwise highlights and Zotero sources coming in. Notes and files stay readable with no connection too. | BWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone, Android and a web clipper, so every device but Linux. What it talks to is short, though: Google Calendar, Outlook, ChatGPT and Claude, with no API on record. |
| Best for | learning a hard topic by laying notes on a board | laying out notes and plans visually |
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: Heptabase and xTiles. How we grade
Price against what you get
Heptabase starts at $8.99 a month and scores 3.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. xTiles starts at $12.42 a month for each person and scores 2.7.
Heptabase scores higher and starts $3.43 a month lower. Of the other note-taking apps on the chart, 15 score higher than Heptabase for less, and 28 score higher than xTiles for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Heptabase starts at $8.99 per month, billed yearly ($107.88). xTiles starts at $12.42 per user / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly).
- xTiles has a free plan. Heptabase does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Heptabase lists a Linux app.
- Heptabase also covers linked notes, whiteboard and daily notes.
- xTiles also covers web clipper, templates and tasks.
At a glance
| Heptabase | xTiles | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $8.99 per month, billed yearly ($107.88) | $12.42 per user / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) |
| Free plan | None | Unlimited pages and projects, 3 personal spaces and 1 shared space, file uploads up to 5 MB, 2 weeks of planner history and 1,000 AI assistant credits. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial with unlimited PDF uploads and parsing and the Premium plan's AI credit allowance. | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Hepta Platforms, Inc. | xTiles |
| Price read from | heptabase.com | xtiles.app |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 18, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
xTiles
- People who like to lay out notes and plans visually on one page
- Combining a daily planner with project notes in the same app
- Students, coaches and small teams starting from ready-made templates
Worth knowing
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.
xTiles
- The free plan stops at 3 personal spaces, 5 MB file uploads and 2 weeks of planner history.
- Free and Plus include one shared space each; unlimited shared spaces need Pro.
- Several AI integration abilities, such as editing project structure and access rights, are marked as coming soon.
- There is no Linux desktop app, and SAML single sign-on is only on the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
Key features
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.
xTiles
- Tile-based pages and projects
- Notes, tasks, images, files and links are placed as tiles on a page, and pages are grouped into projects inside personal or shared spaces.
- Daily planner
- Plan the day with tasks, reminders and Google or Outlook calendar events. Free accounts can view and edit 2 weeks of planner history.
- AI assistant and AI integrations
- The built-in assistant has 1,000 credits on Free and no cap on paid plans. Through MCP, ChatGPT and Claude can create projects and tasks, with full editing on Pro.
- Web clipper
- Clip web pages into xTiles as a task, a note or part of a project, with AI summaries of long pages.
- Sharing and collaboration
- Real-time editing in shared spaces, comments and mentions, private or public project sharing, published pages, forms and a timeline view.
- Template gallery
- Free templates for planning, work and study, including planners aimed at people with ADHD, plus 100+ premium templates on paid plans.
Plans
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.
xTiles
Free$0
Unlimited pages and projects, free templates, Google and Outlook calendars, 3 personal spaces and limited AI integrations.
Plus$12.42
per user / month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly)
Unlimited personal spaces and uploads, 100+ premium templates, recurring tasks, full planner history, linked pages and unlimited AI assistant.
Pro$24.92
per user / month, billed annually ($35 billed monthly)
Unlimited shared spaces and AI integrations that can edit any project, including shared workspaces, plus two 45-minute onboarding sessions.
EnterpriseCustom
Everything in Pro, plus SAML single sign-on, organization spaces, a dedicated account manager and premium support.
Ways to pay less
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.
xTiles
- Annual discount
Save up to $121 a year with annual billing
Annual billing brings Plus from $19 to $12.42 per user a month (saving $79 a year) and Pro from $35 to $24.92 (saving $121 a year).
- Education
50% off Plus for students and educators
Students, campus leaders and educators can get 50% off the Plus plan for one year by applying through xTiles.
- Nonprofit
50% off for non-profits
Non-profit organizations can apply through a form for 50% off for one year.
