Notion Review 2023: Is the Notion.so Software App Any Good?

You've probably heard about Notion, the tool that is said to replace platforms like Google Docs and Evernote. But is it as good as people say it is? We’ll try to answer that question in this detailed Notion review. 

Notion is a fantastic platform that is widely recommended by productivity experts worldwide. 

The beauty of Notion is that it can fulfill multiple needs of a business, such as documentation, knowledge base, project management, task tracking, roadmap planning, and more. It's even great for personal use as well.

So, let’s dive in and see how good Notion actually is!

Notion review 2023: Is Notion good?

We started writing this Notion app review without any preconceived opinion and ended up being convinced that the app is really, "the Swiss army knife of business applications." It's a user-friendly tool that helps you do multiple activities under one roof. It's incredibly easy to use, and it's highly flexible. 

Notion works for any organization and team to manage things like internal documents, wikis, and even projects. It's also very practical for personal use, for managing things like notes, ideas, side hustle, etc. 

You'll have easy accessibility to all the features and tools with convenient shortcuts, which speed up work. There's even a dark theme if you prefer that type of mode. You can create as many documents as you like and quickly style them and add to them. The use of emojis, colors, and visual elements makes pages a lot more colorful and memorable.

Notion is such a powerful tool that it made it to our top 23 list of project planning software. If you’re a project manager, you may want to take a look. 

Notion pricing plans

First of all, how much does Notion cost? Let’s first review Notion.so prices:

How much does Notion cost for nonprofits?

Notion offers a 50% discount on its Team Plan to 501(c)3 organizations. If your organization is a certified 501(c)3, you can use all team features for $4 instead of $8 per user per month.

Are there any Notion coupon codes or promo discount vouchers?

We did the research, and it seems there are no Notion coupon codes or discount vouchers at this time.

Notion free vs paid: what’s the difference?

Notion has a free version and three paid plans. The free plan is quite generous and a good option if your budget is tight and your needs are more basic. This plan is designed for personal use, but you can invite up to five guests to collaborate with you privately on any page. 

You'll also get an unlimited number of pages and blocks, 50+ starter templates, wikis, docs, notes, and more. Another perk is that you'll have access to all types of views, including kanban, list, and table. 

There are some limitations, though. For instance, file uploads can only be up to 5 MB in size. Other features that are only available with the paid plans include collaborative workspaces, version history, team spaces, advanced permissions, and priority support. 

If you subscribe to the Personal Pro Plan, you can invite unlimited guests for private collaboration. With the Team Plan, you can add members to your workspace, so you all work on the same content. This plan unlocks more permission and admin controls so that you and your team can work together more securely.

Notion overview: what is Notion.so & what is Notion used for?

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that you can use for everything from task management and project management, CRM, to database management. It's probably the most versatile tool on the market that combines the best parts of platforms like Airtable, Google Docs and Sheets, and Apple Notes in one well-designed app. 

But what is the main difference between Notion vs Airtable vs all those other tools?

The idea behind Notion is not to overwhelm users with a variety of different productivity tools and features, each involving a learning curve. Instead, it provides a few easy-to-use features that can be mixed and built upon in modular ways according to individual users' needs. There are various ways to use Notion: to store ideas, take notes, manage tasks, collaborate with people, and more. 

The power of the app lies in its flexibility. For instance, businesses can use it as a "homebase" for all their documents and processes, making it much easier to share announcements, manage employee onboarding, keep track of deadlines, and more. 

But how does Notion work? We’ll take a look at its main features in the following section. 

Notion features list

The main features of Notion are:

• Notion note-taking review

• Notion blocks and pages review

• Notion templates review

• Notion security review

• Notion projects and tasks review

• Notion integrations review
   

1. Notion note-taking review

Notion has some great note-taking features that eliminate the need to use third-party tools like Google Docs, OneNote, and Evernote—or the discontinued Google Keep. Notes are written on pages, which are made up of blocks, and blocks can be anything from plain text to tables. 

Every page is a fresh canvas where you can structure your thoughts and ideas however you want. In addition to plain text, you can put in a to-do list, set reminders, add images and code, make calculations, mention your teammates, set due dates, and pretty much everything else the more advanced note-taking apps can. 

You can add custom fields and views to organize the information and tie those notes to a specific task or project. Everything will be easily available from the left-hand sidebar. You can keep your notes private or share them with your team. 
 

2. Notion blocks and pages review

The platform’s main feature are the blocks. These are anything from a to-do item on a list, an image, an uploaded document, a blog post, or a contact lead. These blocks are put on pages—for example, a project, a planner, a wiki database—and become workspaces that can be shared with teammates for collaboration. 

There are as many as 500 block types in Notion, including text, image, bullet point, board, list, mentions, etc. Any block in Notion can be transformed into any other type of block in order to view that information in a new way. You can rearrange and organize blocks on your pages based on your team's needs and add color to text or a block's background.
 

3. Notion templates review

You can choose one of Notion templates to get started or even create your own template from scratch and share it with the community. You can find templates for various purposes, from to-do lists to project roadmaps and team databases. Templates are organized into categories, like design, marketing, personal, school, goals, journal, etc.
 

4. Notion security review 

Notion scores high on security features. It uses TLS 1.2 to encrypt network traffic between users' browsers and the Notion platform. The company also uses AES-256 bit encryption to secure your database connection credentials and data stored at rest. 

All Notion employees complete ongoing security training, including topics like information security, data privacy, and password security.
 

5. Notion projects and tasks review

Notion can also replace apps like Asana, Trello, and Jira. It uses kanban boards, task lists, epics calendars, and sprint organizers for managing, project tracking, and completing tasks. You can keep your information in a table, list, board, gallery, calendar, or timeline layout. 

You can add as many views as you’d like to your already existing database. For example, if you have created a database in a list view, you can display it differently to have another perspective. 

Each item on a task list becomes its own page, which can be assigned to one or more team members. You can insert notes, due dates, tags and priority levels.
 

6. Notion integration review

Notion integrates with third-party apps seamlessly, so you don't need to switch from one platform to another. You can integrate the platform with tools like Jira, Google Drive, and Slack to Notion, to supercharge your workflow. You can also create your own integration with the Notion API. 

Notion pros and cons

Here are the advantages and disadvantages of Notion:
 

Notion platform advantages

Notion is very affordable. Not only does it have a freemium version you can use indefinitely, but its highest monthly plan also costs $8/user/month. That's very cost-effective, considering the plethora of features you're getting. 

If you’re unsure whether the platform is right for you, you can try out the full functionality of the platform using the free trial. And get this: the free trial doesn’t have a time limit. The only limitation is the block storage limit; once you get to 1,000 blocks, you won’t be able to add more content blocks. 

You can even be productive on the go as Notion is available as a mobile app for iOS and Android. Although the app for iPhone and Android users might not be an equal counterpart to the browser version, it still lets you perform basic actions. 

In addition to the mobile apps, Notion also has a web clipper. This feature can be very handy when you’re browsing the internet and need to save a web page and add it to your workspace so you can read or edit it later. The Web Clipper browser extension is available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari. 
 

Notion platform disadvantages

Notion is not the most intuitive app. You can’t just log into your account and start your productivity streak without any challenges—unless you’re a very intuitive person and a tech pro. Learning how the app works requires watching videos and reading help articles. 

Another downside is the free plan. It's a great thing it's available, but it limits you in terms of collaboration tools. You can only invite up to five guests, which is not enough if you need to share your files with more than five people. 

But the good news is that the Personal Pro plan unlocks an unlimited number of guests for only $4 per month. If you want to collaborate with your teammates, you must add them as members, which is only possible with the Team and Enterprise plan.  

Although Notion has excellent document editing capabilities, it's still behind tools like Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. If your needs are more complex, you'll still need the Office products for external presentations, complex spreadsheet databases, or word documents.

Notion complaints & praise (Notion app reviews from real customers)

We looked at various Notion.so reviews on different review sites and noticed some common praise and complaints. Users seem to like how they can use Notion for remote work collaboration. They say the productivity app comes with all the features they need to sync up on ongoing projects and share information in real time. 

Other customers love how Notion eliminates the need to use a million different apps, each with relevant information on them. With Notion, they can organize everything that’s relevant in one central location and update the information directly in the app. 

Users are also thrilled that Notion is well-suited for all kinds of scenarios, like personal note-taking, project management, product roadmaps, journals, blog posts, and so much more. They are fans of the templates library that contains a good deal of pre-made templates for any type of use case scenario to get started quickly. 

However, there are a few negative Notion reviews. Users say that the calendar and other integrations can be improved. Other users would like to see more tutorials for less tech-savvy customers, especially for the Team and Enterprise plans.

In other user reviews, it’s mentioned that the desktop app is a slower version of the website app. Some users complain about the lack of automation features and poor history view.  If this is a deal-breaker for you, we suggest exploring similar tools, such as Evernote. But before you make a decision, read our Notion vs Evernote comparison.
 

Review of Notion support

If you need to get in touch with customer support, you can reach out via email, send a message to a support agent, and Tweet at Notion staff. There’s also a vibrant Notion community where you can ask questions or help fellow users. 

There’s a community on every platform, like Facebook, Discord, Linkedin, and Reddit. You can even join a Notion group in your city and attend lunch gatherings, coffee meetups, and larger events. 

If you need help with onboarding the platform, there’s an extensive knowledge base that contains hundreds of help articles. 

Is Notion worth it? Final points

After writing this extensive Notion software review, one answer remains to be answered:

Is Notion worth it?

The bottom line is this: Notion is a platform you should consider using if you're searching for an all-in-one workspace with a solid user experience. The app allows you to be creative, productive, and efficient all in one. It's a centralized hub that combines notes, docs, project management, and wikis, making them all customizable.

You can use it as a company wiki to share documentation, instructions, policies, and procedures with your globally distributed team. 

And the best thing is there's a free trial and free plan. The free plan is suitable for personal use, and the highest-paid plans will only cost you $8 per user per month. Not to mention there's no time limit to the free trial; you can use it indefinitely. Even if you use up your blocks storage, you can always delete blocks to free up space.

But hey – we won’t tell you what to do… Feel free to check out our list of Notion alternatives and see how they stack up against Notion!