Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Plain Org VS Notion

Compare Plain Org VS Notion and see what are their differences

Plain Org logo Plain Org

View and edit your org mode tasks while on the go.

Notion logo Notion

All-in-one workspace. One tool for your whole team. Write, plan, and get organized.
  • Plain Org Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-02-18
  • Notion Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

Plain Org features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Plain Org is designed with a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to navigate and manage their information efficiently.
  • Integration Capabilities
    The platform offers seamless integration with various third-party tools and services, enhancing its functionality and allowing for a more versatile user experience.
  • Customization Options
    Users can customize their experience through various settings and configurations, catering to individual or organizational needs.
  • Collaboration Features
    It provides robust collaboration tools that facilitate teamwork and communication, making it ideal for group projects and organizational use.

Possible disadvantages of Plain Org

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While suitable for many tasks, some advanced users may find the lack of certain sophisticated features a drawback for comprehensive use cases.
  • Pricing Structure
    Depending on the complexity and number of integrations used, the cost can escalate, potentially making it less appealing for budget-conscious users or smaller teams.
  • Learning Curve for New Users
    Despite its user-friendly design, some new users might experience a learning curve initially when adapting to its unique workflow and features.
  • Dependence on Internet Connectivity
    As with most online platforms, Plain Org requires a stable internet connection for optimal performance, which can be a limitation in environments with connectivity issues.

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.

Plain Org videos

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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)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Plain Org and Notion)
Task Management
5 5%
95% 95
Productivity
0 0%
100% 100
Note Taking
5 5%
95% 95
Project Management
2 2%
98% 98

User comments

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Reviews

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

Plain Org Reviews

We have no reviews of Plain Org yet.
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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 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
20 Obsidian Alternatives: Top Note-Taking Tools to Consider
Notion is a popular alternative to Obsidian for its simplicity, minimalistic interface, and large community. On top of note-taking, you can use Notion as a task management tool to create simple to-dos or build a personal knowledge base. You can also embed links, images, videos, code snippets, etc. Notion also has bi-directional functionalities enabling you to interconnect...
Source: clickup.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Notion seems to be a lot more popular than Plain Org. While we know about 441 links to Notion, we've tracked only 37 mentions of Plain Org. 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.

Plain Org mentions (37)

  • Orgzly Revived: a community-maintained version of Orgzly
    If you're looking for an iOS counterpart, I built https://plainorg.com. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: What apps have you created for your own use?
    - https://xenodium.com/an-ios-journaling-app-powered-by-org-plain-text - Lately, I'm having a go at building a privacy-focused plain-text-based iOS journaling app. I starte building it for someone important in my life but now using it myself. - https://flathabits.com - After reading Atomic Habits, I wanted a habit tracker but most had more friction than I wanted, required accounts, had distractions, lock-in etc.... - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Can Beorg sync with calendars, reminders and other folders?
    Check out ‘Syncing your data’ in https://plainorg.com for what is supported. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself?
    - A ChatGPT shell that integrates well into my editor of choice https://xenodium.com/chatgpt-shell-available-on-melpa - A scriptable screenshot/video capture utility https://xenodium.com/recordscreenshot-windows-the-lazy-way - An iOS habit tracker that's neither cloud-based, nor needs an account, social, wants my attention, data, etc. https://flathabits.com - An iOS scratch pad that removes further friction than... - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Following id links to parent directory?
    Ah, yes. Currently currently unsupported. The FAQ has a little bit on what is and isn’t supported https://plainorg.com. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

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 / 12 months 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

What are some alternatives?

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

Flat Habits - A habit tracker that's mindful of your time, data, and privacy

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.

Logseq - Logseq is a local-first, non-linear, outliner notebook for organizing and sharing your personal knowledge base.

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.

Orgzly - Outliner for notes, tasks and to-dos

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.