Notion is an app that offers you a workspace with every thing you want: you possibly can plan, write, collaborate, and manage. Normally, Notion is the proper app to handle every thing in a single platform and is nice for enterprise, in addition to private initiatives and content material group. Nonetheless, regardless of its recognition, it will not be one of the best match for everybody.
On this article, we’ll have a look at Notion in additional element. And also you’ll uncover one of the best Notion options and see what works finest for you. Prepared?
Key options of Notion
Let’s first briefly recall what Notion is and who wants it. Principally, Notion is a collaborative note-taking app. You need to use it to take digital notes as an alternative of conventional pen and paper strategies and phrase processing software program. With Notion, you possibly can work along with anybody on one doc concurrently or at completely different instances.
Word-taking is just the start. You possibly can benefit from Notion for journaling, managing initiatives, and a lot extra. It could even turn into your organization wiki! General, it has tons of options that make it helpful for nearly something you want in a productiveness instrument. For instance:
- Notes & Duties: Create wealthy textual content docs with photos, embedded tables, code snippets, and extra. Arrange your work into nested blocks that you could reorder or convert to different kinds, comparable to a guidelines or spreadsheet.
- Wikis & Databases: Create customized information bases, linking pages in an intuitive hierarchy of subjects and subtopics. Leverage Notion’s database function to create collections of associated data comparable to contact lists, product inventories, or venture timelines.
- Integrations: To streamline your workflow, your Notion workspace will be built-in together with your present instruments. For instance, Google Drive, Trello, Figma, Slack, and extra.
- Templates: Get pleasure from 1000’s of pre-designed templates that aid you make your notes higher and quicker.
- Collaboration: To shortly share sources with the remainder of your group, every Notion process has a file add and sharing system. You may also enhance collaboration with feedback and mentions and monitor your duties, so that you always remember to do something.
Why you want a Notion different
Notion has a number of strengths: it’s versatile, it’s customizable, and you’ve got management over the data you share. It’s not good, although. So what are the drawbacks making customers search for options to Notion?
In case you’re utilizing the desktop model, you possibly can’t work offline, which is a limitation when you’re somebody who does a number of commuting.
On prime of that, some customers have complained about glitches that trigger knowledge loss. With a instrument that shops your entire necessary data, you actually don’t wish to be susceptible to system failure. Additionally, Notion’s knowledge is saved within the US, which makes it much less engaging to European corporations, who are likely to choose to retailer their data regionally.
Notion’s promoting level is its customizability. You possibly can tweak your paperwork on a project-by-project foundation to get one of the best out of them. However, this openness can be a priority. Most inexperienced customers discover this intensive customizability daunting, making onboarding troublesome.
What is healthier than Notion app?
We all know Notion as a well-liked all-in-one workspace. On the identical time, some customers use only one or a number of app’s options. So it’s onerous to say for positive which app is healthier than Notion, as a result of the reply will rely in your particular wants and preferences. Nonetheless, there are a number of apps like Notion price contemplating. Listed here are just a few nice choices:
Craft – the proper alternative for creatives
Many individuals select Notion to create well-structured paperwork. Nonetheless, there are areas the place different apps shine and make the case to ditch Notion for good. Let’s check out Craft. The app offers you a spot for all of your notes and writing in a contemporary phrase processor. Because it was designed with creatives in thoughts, it’s not troublesome to create actually engaging paperwork with its assist. You need to use the completely different model blocks to point out who you’re, and work in both darkish or gentle mode, relying on what you want. You may also enhance your notes by including footage, movies, and information. A number of templates make it even simpler to realize nice-looking paperwork.
The app makes it easy to do every thing from including a hyperlink to a earlier venture you labored on to making a grasp doc that hyperlinks your entire present and/or accomplished initiatives. To remain organized and ensure nothing will get misplaced, use multi-level folders or hyperlink your notes collectively.
The clever AI assistant helps you write quicker, brainstorm concepts to recover from author’s block, summarize lengthy paperwork, rephrase a paragraph, write social media posts based mostly on any context, proofread textual content to take away errors, and translate into any language.
Moreover, Craft makes it tremendous straightforward for different individuals to entry your information, perceive your thought, and elaborate on it. Simply create a brand new workspace and let others work with you.
The very best factor: Craft works each on-line and offline, so that you don’t have to fret about shedding your inventive move when you don’t have Wi-Fi. Additionally, in comparison with Notion, Craft is quick, intuitive, and simple to onboard.
Confluence – the great previous software program documentation instrument
Confluence is a web-based work administration platform designed to assist groups collaborate on important initiatives. This different to Notion permits customers to share assembly notes and venture updates in a safe and dependable manner. Consequently, it improves communication between group members, groups and clients, and completely different departments.
Confluence integrates seamlessly with Jira and different Atlassian merchandise. In case your group is already utilizing Jira, Jira Service Desk, or BitBucket, then Confluence might be a pure match on your workflow.
As an equal to Notion, Confluence is a little bit bit much less versatile and versatile. Alternatively, Confluence is far simpler to make use of. It has a easy and easy interface that doesn’t overwhelm new customers.
One of many major downsides of Confluence for us is that it may’t work offline (identical to Notion). Nonetheless, when you began creating your doc in Confluence and the web connection disappeared, you received’t lose the written textual content. Confluence caches every thing you write within the browser and might hold it for days (don’t restart the pc). And when the web seems, every thing might be synchronized.
NotePlan – write, plan, and monitor duties in a single place
Though Notion is a well-liked general-purpose workspace, some customers choose a extra centered instrument to take notes and handle duties. On this case, NotePlan, a calendar app for organizing your notes and duties, is likely to be an acceptable different.
Serving to you seize duties shortly is the primary job of a process supervisor. Sadly, Notion fails at this. In accordance with a number of evaluations, Notion buries your duties, and it’s nearly not possible to get a chook’s eye view of what must be completed with out customization and a number of effort. This, mixed with the slowness of including new duties, makes us not suggest Notion as a process supervisor.
NotePlan means that you can handle notes, a calendar, and duties. For a lot of customers, that is essentially the most handy mixture.
On the coronary heart of all of it are notes. In comparison with different setups out there in to-do managers, they offer the person extra freedom in organizing initiatives.
By creating notes in NotePlan, it is possible for you to to unify your duties and reminders and add them to your initiatives. Notes are saved in a Markdown format. This has turn into very handy for a lot of customers. The purpose is that the Markdown syntax is sort of easy, and you may create complicated hyperlinked paperwork if you wish to. Along with hyperlinks, you too can use #hashtags and @point out different customers. One other good thing: Markdown textual content will be simply moved between apps, permitting you to mix NotePlan with different instruments that assist Markdown.
We additionally like that NotePlan is appropriate with numerous extensions that can aid you automate duties, enhance search, make the interface extra usable, and extra.
Structured – an uncomplicated technique to monitor duties and bear in mind appointments
Some individuals plan their days, weeks, and months to create well-rounded routines, construct habits, and obtain targets. With Notion planner templates, you possibly can simply map out the occasions, duties, and targets you wish to accomplish and return to them everytime you want a reminder.
If it’s your case for utilizing Notion, you may additionally wish to attempt Structured.
At first look, Structured’s easy person interface makes it much less intimidating to create duties and plan your day than it might be in an app full of overwhelming options. Open your inbox and get a fast overview of all of your duties. Additionally, you possibly can add sub-tasks inside a process, which is ideal for lists. For instance, you possibly can create a buying process and enter the buying listing as a subtask.
One in every of its most notable options is its inclusiveness in terms of each language and time. The app is out there in over 30 languages. The language modifications robotically with system settings. You may also change time zones throughout process creation, eliminating confusion when you’ve got conferences with individuals positioned across the globe.
Structured integrates seamlessly with built-in apps on Apple gadgets, comparable to Reminders and Calendar. If an merchandise from Reminders doesn’t have a time or place related to it, it’s imported into Structured’s inbox, the place you possibly can assign a date and time to finish it.
Last ideas: is Notion nonetheless one of the best?
As you possibly can see, it’s onerous to say for positive if Notion remains to be one of the best. Many customers complain that the app is overwhelming for inexperienced persons and troublesome to onboard. It additionally takes them an excessive amount of time to arrange duties. Normally, Notion isn’t intuitive to navigate and will be fairly gradual at instances.
After studying this text, a few of Notion rivals. Some are all-in-one instruments like Notion. Others are extra centered on a particular process. Which one to decide on?
If you’d like well-structured, lovely paperwork with the choice to collaborate on them and the power to work each on-line and offline, select Craft.
In case your group is already utilizing Jira, Jira Service Desk, or BitBucket, then Confluence might be a pure match on your workflow. Though it’s a little bit bit much less versatile and versatile than Notion, it’s a lot simpler to make use of.
And when you use Notion to handle duties, you would possibly like Structured and NotePlan. Each are straightforward to make use of and do the job a lot better than Notion.
The excellent news is that you simply don’t must go all in and purchase Craft, Structured, and NotePlan to see how they work. All three apps can be found to you on a free seven-day trial from Setapp – a platform with dozens of hand-picked Mac, iPhone, iPad, and internet apps, the place every one is one of the best for a specific process.
Other than Notion options, Setapp has apps like CleanMyMac X to hurry up your Mac, Nitro PDF Professional to create and edit PDFs, CleanShot X to take higher screenshots, Bartender to personalize your menu bar, and lots of extra.
