Notion

What it is

Notion is a workspace where documents and databases are the same material. A page can hold text, and a page can be a database of other pages, so a meeting note, a project tracker and a company wiki are built from the same blocks. That is why teams end up running their handbook, their roadmap and their notes in one place.

The AI layer is included in paid plans rather than sold separately, with limited trial access on Free and Plus and full features on Business. Custom agents are free to try and then cost $10 per 1,000 monthly Notion credits. Integrations include Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, Asana, Jira, Box, OneDrive and Salesforce, with premium connections on Business.

Who it's for (and who it isn't)

It fits teams whose knowledge is currently scattered across documents nobody can find, and individuals who want one place for notes, plans and reference. The free plan is unlimited for individuals, which makes it a genuine personal system rather than a trial.

It is a weaker fit for structured operational data at volume, where a database-first tool like Airtable handles views, interfaces and record counts better. It is also not a project management system in the sense that Asana is: you can build a tracker in Notion, and it will not enforce ownership and dates the way a dedicated tool does.

Pricing

Notion is freemium. The free plan is unlimited for individuals, with a block limit for workspaces of two or more members, meaning you can keep editing existing content but not add new blocks past the threshold, and 5MB file uploads. Plus is EUR 9.50 per seat per month and Business is EUR 19.50 per seat per month on monthly billing, with up to 20% saved on annual billing. Enterprise is quoted on request and adds zero data retention with LLM providers. Prices as shown here were quoted in euros.

The detail that catches teams out is the block limit on multi-member free workspaces. Personal use is genuinely unlimited; the moment a second person joins, the free plan has an end.

Set it up

Official guide: Create a page

1. Create a Notion account on the Free plan. The Free plan is unlimited for individuals, but workspaces with 2 or more members get a limited number of blocks (a block is one paragraph, heading or checkbox on a page), so start with one small page. After you sign in, you see a sidebar on the left.
2. Create your first page for something you already write down, such as meeting notes or the document new colleagues keep asking for. Click the new page button at the top of the left sidebar and type a title. You now see a blank page with your title at the top.
3. Type "/" on the page to open a menu of block types. For example, type "/h1" for a large heading or "/todo" for a checkbox. You now see a menu that lists block types, and the one you pick appears on your page.
4. Add a subpage, which is a page that sits inside another page. Open the parent page, type "/page" and select it. You can also select the "+" next to the parent page in the sidebar. The new subpage now appears under the parent page in the sidebar.
5. Turn a list you keep in a document into a database, which is a table where every row is its own page. Create a new page and, under "Get started with", select "Table". Click "New page" to add your first item. You now see a table with your first row.
6. Share your first page with a colleague. Open a page listed under "Private" in the sidebar and click "Share" at the top right. Enter their name or email address, choose an access level and click "Invite". An address outside your workspace joins the page as a guest. Your colleague now has access to the page at the level you chose.

When this works, you have one real page with a subpage, one database, and a colleague who can open the page you shared. Next, move the document your team asks for most into Notion and share it the same way.

On Plus (EUR 9.50/seat/mo billed monthly): Notion AI is included, as in all paid plans.

Strengths and limitations

The strength is flexibility with a low floor. Writing a document is as easy as any editor, and the same tool scales up to a structured wiki without a migration.

The limitations are structure and performance. Freedom means workspaces sprawl, and a Notion nobody can search is a common end state rather than a rare one. Large databases feel slower than a dedicated database tool. The multi-member free plan is capped in a way that surprises people. And AI credits for custom agents are a separate variable on top of seats.