Top 10 Free Notion Alternatives in 2024

Tired of Notion’s pricing policy and limited collaboration capability? Looking for Notion alternatives? You have come to the right place!

Notion is a popular AI-powered productivity app, known for helping users with everything from note-taking and brainstorming to data organization and collaboration. However, Notion’s pricing model and limited collaboration capabilities have left many users searching for alternatives.

According to reviews on G2, some common issues with Notion include:

• AI functionality not living up to expectations, and only available in paid versions
• A steep learning curve, with users spending too much time customizing templates
• Frequent crashes and performance issues

If you’re tired of Notion’s limitations and looking for free or better alternatives, we’ve got you covered. Here’s a list of the top 10 Notion alternatives for 2024 that can better meet your needs.

10 Best Notion Alternatives in 2024

1. Nifty: Best Notion Alternative

When it comes to collaboration and detailed project management, Nifty outperforms Notion with its powerful suite of features designed to boost team productivity and project visibility.

Why Nifty is a Great Notion Alternative

Feature #1 – Docs: Centralize Your Files and Work

Create and manage documents just like you would in Notion with Nifty Docs. This feature serves as your collaboration hub, enabling real-time editing and sharing. Enjoy multiple sharing options:

• Share as a public link
• Attach to tasks
• Export as PDF

Plus, Nifty Docs integrate seamlessly with Google Docs, Sheets, and Presentations, automatically syncing with Google Drive—something Notion can’t match. Share documents with just one click!

Feature #2 – Calendar: Get a Clear Overview of Deadlines

Stay on top of your tasks with Nifty’s Calendar feature, which offers both Team and Personal views. Easily switch between month, week, or day views to manage deadlines and focus on what matters most.

Feature #3 – Task Management: Customize with 5 Unique Views

Nifty makes task management a breeze with five visually engaging formats:

• Kanban View for collaborative feedback
• List View for grouping and filtering tasks
• Swimlane View to visualize task-milestone intersections
• Timeline View for tracking project timelines
• Calendar View to plan and adjust tasks with drag-and-drop ease

Feature #4 – Discussions: Real-Time Team Collaboration

Nifty’s Discussions feature lets you integrate video conferencing tools like Zoom and Webex to drive real-time collaboration. You can also tag team members with @ mentions and share files from Dropbox, Google Drive, and more—all in one platform, something Notion doesn’t fully support.

Feature #5 – AI Template: Build Full Workflows Using Prompts

Harness the power of Nifty’s AI Project Builder feature to design comprehensive project workflows using just a single prompt. Simply input a custom prompt or paste entire specifications, and Nifty AI will generate your entire project layout, simplifying workflow creation.

Why Choose Nifty?

With these robust features, Nifty stands out as a superior alternative to Notion, especially for teams seeking enhanced collaboration, flexible task management, and advanced project planning.

Pricing:

• Free forever plan: $0 (unlimited users)
• Starter plan: Starts at $7/user
• Pro plan: Starts at $10/user
• Business plan: Starts at $16/user

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2. Nuclino 

A lightweight alternative to Notion, Nuclino is a useful tool for note-taking, creating in-depth knowledge bases, and using the Kanban Board for agile project management. 

What makes Nuclino a good Notion alternative?

• Simple project management tool with a cleaner, more intuitive interface 
• Offers performance-driven essential features such as collaborative editing, search, content management, etc.
• Lower learning curve than Notion
• Offers visual organization tools such as mind maps, lists, tables, boards, and graph views
• AI-powered assistant Sidekick generates images such as 2D and 3D versions, abstracts, and so on

Pricing:

• Free: $0/user/month
• Standard: $5/user/month
• Premium: $10/user/month

3. Asana

If you are not well-versed with project management software, Asana is a simpler AI-powered work management platform that allows you to manage tasks easily.

Asana allows you to scale your project workflows without putting in as much time and effort (which cannot be said for other dedicated project management tools such as Notion).

Most users complain about spending too much time setting up and using the documentation process within Notion.

What makes Asana a good Notion alternative?

• Asana is a great alternative to Notion as it offers multiple project views and visual tools to organize your tasks, such as List, Board, and Timeline views
• While Notion serves multiple purposes with its docs, wikis, and databases, Asana focuses more traditionally on project management and team productivity
• Asana offers advanced project management features that Notion lacks, such as workflow automation, dashboards, and forms, which simplify managing complex and large-scale projects

Pricing:

• Personal: $0, free forever
• Starter: $10.99/user/month, billed annually
• Advanced: $24.99/user/month, billed annually

Asana is a good tool, but it’s expensive! Try Nifty, it’s free

4. Trello 

If your main goal is project management, Trello might be a better fit than Notion. Notion offers a broad range of features, but Trello excels in Kanban-style project planning thanks to its specialized focus. This dedicated approach has made Trello a top choice for Kanban enthusiasts. 

What makes Trello a good Notion alternative?

• Trello is extremely simple and easy to use in comparison to Notion. Its intuitive design means anyone, regardless of their technical expertise, can quickly become proficient 
• Trello also offers more integrations with handy apps like Gmail, Zapier, etc.

Pricing:

• Free: $0
• Standard: $5/user/month, billed annually
• Premium: $10/user/month, billed annually
• Enterprise: $17.5/user/month, billed annually

5. Obsidian

Obsidian is a versatile note-taking and knowledge-base management tool. Its stand-out USPs are its high degree of customization and extensibility. You can use its Markdown feature to organize notes and link them to create a dynamic knowledge graph. If your team loves presenting ideas in all things visual, Obsidian is a great Notion alternative.

What makes Obsidian a good Notion alternative?

• Obsidian stores all notes locally on your computer, giving you complete control over your data 
• The tool supports offline use—a rare feature among Notion alternatives
• It offers a variety of first-party plugins to boost utility, such as Kanban boards, calendars, to-do lists, etc.

Pricing:

• Personal use: Free
• Commercial use: $50/user/year

6. Confluence + Jira

Notion works well for individuals and small teams. But if your team is scaling, you need to leverage the powerful combination of Atlassian Confluence and Jira. Although Confluence and Jira are separate tools, their integration offers a cohesive experience that functions as a unified platform.

Having been developed and refined for over 15 years, Confluence and Jira are mature, enterprise-ready solutions. As part of the Atlassian suite, these tools collectively offer extensive capabilities and security features that surpass what Notion provides.

What makes Confluence + Jira a good Notion alternative?

• Confluence is great for managing team communications, meeting notes, and decision logs, fostering better collaboration and organization. When paired with Jira, you unlock its full potential, enabling robust project management. This duo serves as a comprehensive repository for all project-related materials—from documents and meeting notes to change logs and project requirements

Pricing: Both Confluence and Jira have separate pricing plans but can be used together as they are owned by Atlassian. Contact the sales team for pricing details.

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7. Quip: One of the Best Notion Alternatives

Quip is a collaboration platform that’s perfect for Salesforce users. Similar to Notion, this tool integrates documents, spreadsheets, checklists, presentation slides, and chat features into a single platform. Owned by Salesforce, it excels when paired with the Salesforce CRM.

What makes Quip a good Notion alternative?

• Quip is a hyper-collaborative tool—the equivalent of Slack, Google Sheets, and Google Docs rolled into one
• Is great for sales teams within large organizations

Pricing:

• Quip Starter: $10/user/ month, billed annually
• Quip Plus: $25/user/ month, billed annually
• Quip Advanced: $100/user/ month, billed annually

8. Notejoy

Notejoy is a collaborative notes and document management platform that improves team productivity through streamlined information sharing and organization. It offers a clutter-free and intuitive user interface.

What makes Notejoy a good Notion alternative?

• Notejoy’s user-friendly interface requires minimal training, so your teams can adopt it more easily as compared to Notion, which has a steeper learning curve 
• Notejoy is helpful in setting up Notebooks, which you can share with teams
• The tool can be easily integrated with Trello to merge tasks with notes

Pricing:

• Free: $0
• Solo: $4/month, billed annually
• Plus: $8/user/month, billed annually
• Premium: $12/user/month, billed annually

9. Airtable

Combining the usefulness of a spreadsheet with the depth of a database, Airtable helps you to manage tasks and projects with ease. With diverse field types and adaptable views—such as grids, calendars, task lists, and Kanban boards—Airtable is versatile enough to meet a wide range of data organization requirements.

What makes Airtable a good Notion alternative?

• Airtable is considered to be an upgrade to Notion in terms of inventory management and data organization
• It boasts robust automation capabilities so you can set up notifications, eliminate repetitive tasks, execute custom code, and so on

Pricing:

• Free: $0
• Team: $20/seat/month, billed annually
• Business: $45/seat/month, billed annually
• Enterprise: Custom pricing

10. Microsoft Onenote

If multi-format note-taking is high on your list of priorities, Microsoft OneNote is an ideal Notion alternative. It enables you to take notes in audio, video, and text formats. Part of the Microsoft Office suite, this tool can be used in conjunction with everyday apps such as Outlook, Excel, Word, and so on.

What makes Microsoft Onenote a good Notion alternative?

• Unlike Notion, it allows you to set up a password for specific notebooks
• The interface is simpler and easier to use
• It offers useful features such as the ability to annotate, draw, and highlight—another feature missing in Notion
• It’s a free alternative to notion.

Pricing: Free to use

What to Look for in Notion Alternatives?

If you’re looking for free Notion alternatives, bookmark these factors as your checklist:

• Project-friendly functionalities: Given that you’re looking for an advanced and flexible project management tool along with the benefits Notion offers, look for notion alternatives that offer specific features (think: collaboration, task management, time-tracking, etc.) that you need to drive faster and more efficient projects.
• Integration and customer support: If your work is synced to Google Calendar, look for Notion alternatives that integrate easily with calendar apps. Sure, Notion integrates with numerous, but Google Calendar is not one of them—this is perhaps its biggest drawback. In your quest to choose the right Notion alternative, prioritize a tool that is:
  • Easy to understand and customize
  • Intuitive to navigate
  • Power-packed with regularly updated knowledge bases and how-to guides on leveraging the software’s newer features
  • Known for exceptional and prompt customer support
• Cost: Compare costs to see if the tool fits your budget. Notion offers a free plan, and its paid plan starts at $8 a month. So, if you’re on a tighter budget, it’s well worth looking into cheaper Notion alternatives.

Why Is Nifty the Best Alternative to Notion?

Nifty is an all-in-one project management tool that can accommodate the needs of organizations of all sizes and scales, from SMBs and mid-sized businesses to large enterprises.

Another major point that makes it one of the best notion alternatives is that Nifty offers productivity and project management tools into one whereas Notion primarily allows you to manage documents, projects, and more. It is geared towards organizing your work. 

The Bottom Line

There you go. We’ve listed the top 10 alternatives to Notion that you can try and elevate your organizational as well as project management skills. 

Here’s the bottom line: Some apps on this list are task-focused, and others are productivity-driven, but software like Nifty stands at a unique juncture—it offers project-first collaboration features while allowing you to hone your productivity skills at the same time.

Sign up and try the product for yourself.

FAQs about Notion Alternatives:

Is there anything better than Notion?

Several productivity apps are available on the market, each with unique features and benefits. The best app for you will ultimately depend on your preferences, needs, and workflows.

That said, here are a few alternatives to Notion that you may want to consider:

• Nifty: Nifty project management is a web-based tool that allows teams to collaborate on projects and tasks in real time. It offers a range of features, including project planning, task tracking, team communication, and progress reporting.
• Trello: Trello is a popular project management app that organizes tasks and ideas using a card-based system. It is easy to use and allows you to collaborate with team members.
• Asana: Asana is another project management app that is great for organizing team tasks and projects. It offers features such as task dependencies, timeline view, and project templates.
• Evernote: Evernote is a note-taking app that allows you to capture and organize ideas and information in various formats, including text, images, and audio. It is great for personal organization and productivity.

These are just some productivity apps worth considering. Try out a few different apps to see which one works best for your business and its customized needs.

Is there a free alternative to Notion?

Yes, there are several free alternatives to Notion, such as Nifty, Joplin, Zoho Notebook, Google Keep, and more. These are just a few examples of free alternatives to Notion. Each of these apps has its own unique features and strengths, so it’s worth trying a few to see which one works best for your needs.

Is Notion still the best?

Notion is a good tool that comes with a free plan. It offers enough features to help solopreneurs get started. However, if you want something more advanced, consider other Notion alternatives such as Nifty, Asana, Slack, and more.