Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Notion VS Exist

Compare Notion VS Exist and see what are their differences

Notion logo Notion

All-in-one workspace. One tool for your whole team. Write, plan, and get organized.

Exist logo Exist

Track everything in one place, understand your life.
  • Notion Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • Exist Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-07-19

Notion features and specs

  • All-in-One Workspace
    Notion combines note-taking, task management, databases, calendars, and collaboration features in a single platform, reducing the need for multiple tools.
  • Highly Customizable
    Users can tailor Notion to fit their specific workflow with customizable templates, pages, and databases, making it versatile for various use cases.
  • Collaboration Features
    Notion offers seamless collaboration with real-time editing, comments, mentions, and shared workspaces, enhancing teamwork and productivity.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Notion is available on multiple platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile, providing flexibility and accessibility from anywhere.
  • Integration Capability
    Notion supports integrations with various third-party applications like Google Drive, Slack, and Trello, allowing for a more interconnected workflow.

Possible disadvantages of Notion

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive features and customization options, new users might find Notion challenging to learn and navigate initially.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report that Notion can become slow or experience lag, especially with large databases and complex pages.
  • Offline Limitations
    While Notion offers some offline capabilities, its functionality is significantly reduced without an internet connection, which can be inconvenient for some users.
  • Pricing for Teams
    Though Notion offers a free version, its premium plans can be expensive for larger teams, which may be a constraint for startups or small businesses.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with any cloud-based service, there are potential privacy and data security concerns, especially for users handling sensitive information.

Exist features and specs

  • Comprehensive Data Integration
    Exist integrates data from various services such as fitness trackers, social media, sleep monitors, and more, allowing for a wide range of data collection and analysis.
  • Personal Insights
    It provides personalized insights and correlations based on the data collected, helping users to better understand their habits and improve their lifestyle.
  • Custom Tracking
    Users can create custom tags to track specific activities or behaviors that are important to them, offering a high degree of personalization.
  • API Access
    Exist offers an API, enabling users to create custom integrations and extend the platform's functionality.
  • Mobile App Availability
    Exist is available as a mobile app, making it easy for users to input and check their data on the go.

Possible disadvantages of Exist

  • Subscription Cost
    Exist requires a paid subscription after the initial trial period, which may be a barrier for some users.
  • Privacy Concerns
    Collecting and integrating a wide range of personal data can raise privacy concerns, especially if the service is ever compromised.
  • Data Overload
    The sheer amount of data available can be overwhelming for some users, making it challenging to identify the most relevant insights.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may face a learning curve as they try to navigate the platform and make the best use of its features.
  • Limited Free Features
    The free version offers limited functionality, which may not be sufficient for users looking to fully explore the platform before committing to a subscription.

Notion videos

The Most Powerful Productivity App I Use - Notion

More videos:

  • Review - I switched to Notion for a week... Here's what happened!
  • Review - Notion is Truly an All-in-One Productivity Tool (App Review)

Exist videos

Exist - Board Game Review

More videos:

  • Review - Exist Review
  • Review - Daiwa Exist Spinning Reel [Review & Unboxing]

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Notion and Exist)
Productivity
97 97%
3% 3
Habit Building
0 0%
100% 100
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
Task Management
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Notion and Exist. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Notion and Exist

Notion Reviews

  1. jk22
    · consultant at GFI ·
    Notion has helped in documenting our business

    It's been very very helpful to streamline different people on our team, especially remote workers to help them understand what's going on in our business without 100s of meetings.

    👍 Pros:    Ui is very attractive|Easy to use|Great for collaboration|Good customer service|Free to use
    👎 Cons:    Steep learning curve
  2. Ramesh Kumar
    · Product Manager at Aerial ·
    Extremely helpful- made life easier

    My remote-first start-up has eliminated more than 200+ hours of meetings and 1000s of mismanaged documents because our entire communication happens through Notion.

    👍 Pros:    Clean ui|File sharing|Modular
    👎 Cons:    Learning curve
  3. Boyd Richardson
    · Writer at SE ·

    As someone who's always on the lookout for the perfect productivity app, I was excited to try out Notion. It promises to be an all-in-one tool for everything from note-taking to project management to personal wikis.

    From the moment you open Notion, you can tell that it's different from other productivity apps. The interface is sleek and modern, and it's easy to navigate. The app is divided into pages, which can be customized with different templates to fit your needs. You can create to-do lists, databases, wikis, calendars, and more.

    One of the things I love about Notion is the ability to create relationships between pages. For example, you can create a database of your favorite books and then link to a page with your book reviews. Or you can create a to-do list and link to a page with notes about the task. This feature makes it easy to keep all of your information in one place and to connect related items.

    🏁 Competitors: Microsoft Loop
    👍 Pros:    Highly customizable|All in one|Collaboration|Cross platform
    👎 Cons:    Steep learning curve

Top 10 Productivity Apps for MacOS 2025
Okay, I know, I know. Notion is probably the most predictable pick for a productivity app list. But here’s the thing: It’s popular for a reason. Notion’s flexibility, customisation, and overall smooth user experience make it a standout, no matter how many times it pops up on productivity lists. Whether you’re organising tasks, taking notes, or creating databases, Notion lets...
Source: dev.to
Top 10 Notion Alternatives for 2025 and Why Teams Are Choosing Ledger
If you're looking for a Notion alternative that supports real, scalable teamwork, you're not alone. Whether you’ve outgrown Notion or are just exploring more robust, team-friendly platforms, here’s a breakdown of the top 10 alternatives in 2025—and why Ledger is becoming the go-to choice for modern teams.
How Tight-Knit Teams Get More Done with Innovative Project Management Tools
Notion: More than a task manager, it acts as a knowledge base. You can store guidelines, references, wikis, and to-do lists all under one roof.
Source: medium.com
11 Popular Knowledge Management Tools to Consider in 2025 
Notion AI (Optional Add-on) – $8 per user/month (billed annually). Available for all plans (including the free plan)
Source: knowmax.ai
11 Best Google Keeps Alternatives for 2024
Unlike other note-taking apps, Notion stands out for its endless customization. It’s like an all-in-one workspace structured by pages and blocks.
Source: upbase.io

Exist Reviews

We have no reviews of Exist yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Notion seems to be a lot more popular than Exist. While we know about 441 links to Notion, we've tracked only 43 mentions of Exist. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Notion mentions (441)

  • Cool SHIT you can do with docker
    Two of the most popular open source note taking app are affine (basically notion but open source) and obsidian (which stores notes in markdown). - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2024)
    Notion | https://notion.so | Android Engineer | SF | hybrid (in office 2x a week) | Full time
      Level: Mid/Mid+ (4-6yrs experience).
    - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • Karyam: Simples everyday writing app
    Advanced Notion and Google Doc writing editor. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • My blog post workflow
    I manage my non-work and work-adjacent tasks in Notion. Whenever I have an idea, regardless of how big or small or silly or achievable it is, I'll add it to Notion, and use labels to categorise it by type of output (e.g. blog, silly project, website update). Today I wanted to write a short post for my site. I clicked on the filtered blog post view, and selected this one (because I hoped it would be a quick one!). - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • 6 AI tools that feels illegal to know🤖
    Notion.so redefines workspaces. With its intelligent organization and collaboration features, it's more than a productivity tool—it's a digital haven. Discover the art of streamlined and efficient teamwork. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

Exist mentions (43)

  • Apple courier may have stolen 2 MacBooks, () Apple is not going to help
    As someone who has been on and off the Degoogle train (I ran full LineageOS without Google Play at one point) and is now pretty deep in iOS territory, I'd say the main thing for me has been email. I've used https://www.fastmail.com for a great deal of years now, which is also home to my calendar as well so there's nothing much of value tied to my Google account. YouTube subscriptions would be annoying to lose but... - Source: Hacker News / 7 months ago
  • Ask HN: Tell us about your project that's not done yet but you want feedback on
    You may want to look into https://exist.io/. It's a very indie developer duo out of Australia (IIRC). And also IIRC they were looking for a buyer on Twitter some time ago. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: Anyone using or working on a life dashboard?
    I have used this previously when tracking health metrics and I couldn't much else that had integrations. https://exist.io/. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Tracking Apps
    Hey guys, thinking of tracking wellness metrics such as sleep water intake etc to a dashboard/app. The main tools I have found are Exist.io, Gyrosco.pe, and conjure.so. For those of you who have tried them I would love to know what are the pros and cons with each one? Or if you have any better ones any help is greatly appreciated! Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Best apps to use
    Hey guys, thinking of transporting my quantified self journey to a dashboard/app. The main tools I have found are Exist.io, Gyrosco.pe, and conjure.so. For those of you who have tried them I would love to know what are the pros and cons with each one? Source: almost 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Notion and Exist, you can also consider the following products

Trello - Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

Gyroscope - Gyroscope is a personalized dashboard for tracking your life.

Asana - Asana project management is an effort to re-imagine how we work together, through modern productivity software. Fast and versatile, Asana helps individuals and groups get more done.

Habitica - Habitica is a free habit building and productivity application.

Evernote - Bring your life's work together in one digital workspace. Evernote is the place to collect inspirational ideas, write meaningful words, and move your important projects forward.

HabitBull - HabitBull