Noughtpad vs Notion
Notion and Noughtpad are built for different jobs. Notion is an online workspace for teams: documents, wikis, databases and projects, shared in the cloud. Noughtpad is a private notebook on your own computer, for thinking on your own.
The short version
- Choose Notion if you work with other people, need databases, project boards or a team wiki, or want the same pages on every device and in a browser.
- Choose Noughtpad if you want a private place to think, with your notes as files on your own computer, and help finding your way back through them.
What Notion does better
- Working together. Shared pages, comments, permissions and real-time editing. Noughtpad is for one person.
- Databases and structure. Tables, boards, calendars and linked databases. Noughtpad has labels and nothing more structured.
- Everywhere. Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android, all in step. Noughtpad is desktop only, with sync in beta.
- Templates and integrations for all kinds of work.
What Noughtpad does differently
- Your notes are files you own. Plain Markdown in a folder on your computer, readable by any app, with no account. Notion keeps your pages on its servers; you can export them.
- Private by default. Search by meaning, related notes and ideas over time run on your computer. Chat can use a free model on your computer too.
- Made for writing, not organising. A blank page with nothing to set up.
- Shows how your thinking changes. Ideas over time and related notes bring back notes you'd forgotten.
- AI without a subscription. Use a local model for free, or your own provider account. Notion AI is fully available on Notion's Business plan and above; on Free and Plus it's a limited trial.
Side by side
| Noughtpad | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Where notes live | Markdown files on your computer | Notion's cloud |
| Account needed | No | Yes |
| Price | Free | Free plan; Plus $10 and Business $20 per member a month (billed yearly); Enterprise on request |
| AI | Optional chat with a local model (free) or your own provider | Notion AI: full use on Business and Enterprise, limited trial on Free and Plus |
| Working with others | No | Yes |
| Devices | Mac (Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux | Web, Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad, Android |
| Databases, boards | No | Yes |
| Finds related notes for you | Yes, on your computer | Through Notion AI |
Using them together
Plenty of people keep work in Notion and their own thinking somewhere private. Notion can export pages as Markdown; put the exported files in your Noughtpad folder and Noughtpad will read them.
Prices and features of Notion as listed on notion.com, November 2026.
Try Noughtpad
It's free, it works without an account, and your notes stay plain Markdown files. If it isn't for you, the files open in any other Markdown app.
For Mac (Apple Silicon), Windows and Linux. No account needed.
More comparisons: all comparisons.