Notion Pricing Guide for 2023: Is Paying for Notion Worth It?

Notion is a multi-purpose software solution that combines note-taking, task management, knowledge organization, and project management into a single, unified platform. Originally an app only for taking notes, during the years, Notion has grown into a powerful project management tool for individuals, small teams, and companies.

This article explores Notion’s features and pricing, including its free plan and paid options starting at $8 per user per month.

How much does the app Notion cost?

Notion provides a variety of pricing options to meet the diverse needs of its users, regardless of their team size or specific requirements. Whether you’re an independent freelancer in need of personal organization or a large enterprise requiring advanced features and controls, Notion has a plan designed to suit your needs.

You have the option to select from several plans: 

• Free plan, 
• Plus plan at $8,
• Business plan at $15, 
• Enterprise plan, which requires requesting a customized offer. 

The Plus plan is the most favored choice, particularly suitable for smaller teams. It is priced at $8 USD per user per month when billed annually or $10 USD if billed on a monthly basis. 

In practice, if your team comprises 50 users, the annual cost would be $400 USD, or $500 USD if you opt for monthly billing. This amount would double for a team of 100 users, resulting in an annual expense of $800 USD or a monthly cost of $1,000 USD for all users.

Notion’s pricing plans explained

Now let’s delve into Notion’s pricing plans, explaining distinct feature sets and requirements of various user categories.

The Free plan

Notion’s Free plan is an excellent choice for individuals seeking to manage household tasks, personal endeavors, or freelancers looking to organize their tasks and projects. It offers many useful features, such as unlimited page creation and basic collaboration for up to 10 contributors. 

However, it comes with some limitations, including a 5MB file upload limit, a 7-day page history, and a cap of 100 rows for databases. Advanced features, analytics, and custom domains are not available in the free plan. 

While it’s a great starting point, larger teams and businesses with more complex needs may find the free plan’s limitations challenging.

What are the limitations of Notion’s Free plan?

While the Free plan is a good starting point for individual users and small teams, it may not fully meet the needs of larger teams or businesses with more complex project requirements due to these limitations:

• File Upload Limit: File uploads are capped at 5 MB, which can be limiting for tasks involving larger files.
• Page History: Page history is retained for only 7 days, making it impossible to access older versions of your content.
• Collaboration Limits: While it allows up to 10 guest collaborators, the Free plan lacks advanced collaboration features like commenting, tagging, and setting page permissions.
• Database Size: Notion’s Free plan restricts database size to a maximum of 100 rows.
• Export Options: You can export content in HTML, Markdown, CSV, and PDF formats, but more advanced export options are not available.
• Security Features: Advanced security features like SAML Single Sign-On (SSO) and user provisioning (SCIM) are not included.
• Administrative Tools: The free plan lacks features such as workspace analytics, granular admin roles, and detailed audit logs.
• Support: Priority support and a dedicated customer success manager are not part of the free plan.
• Custom Domain: Creating a custom domain for websites is not possible in the free plan.

The Plus plan

The Notion Plus plan is ideal for small teams or groups seeking improved collaboration and organizational features. It extends page history to 30 days, allows up to 100 guest collaborators, and offers unlimited file uploads and synced databases. Priority support — which you don’t get in the Free plan — is included for timely assistance.

An interesting perk of the Plus plan is that it allows you to publish pages on the Internet, enhancing discoverability through search engines. This is particularly useful for sharing résumés, portfolios, job listings, startup pitches, and fundraising campaigns.

Moreover, the Plus plan permits unlimited page and block creation for all workspace members, not just the owner.

Additionally, there are no constraints on syncing databases, and each database can store up to 20,000 rows of data. You can export data in HTML, Markdown, CSV, and PDF formats.

The Plus plan enhances security with SAML Single Sign-On (SSO), but advanced security controls, user provisioning (SCIM), workspace analytics, detailed admin roles, and audit logs are not part of this tier. While you do receive priority support, a dedicated customer success manager is not included. 

Overall, the Notion Plus plan is a balanced choice for enhancing collaboration and organization for small teams. However, it may not meet the needs of larger businesses with more complex requirements.

The Plus plan promotes more extensive project collaboration, offering improved access management through permission groups and open/closed teamspaces. However, full website ownership and advanced SEO optimization require the Business plan.

The Business plan

The Business plan is designed for companies seeking to unify multiple teams and tools within Notion. This comprehensive plan encompasses all the Plus plan features, with some added benefits. It extends the page history to a substantial 90 days, enhances project tracking, and introduces advanced page analytics for data-driven decision-making. 

Moreover, it accommodates up to 250 guest collaborators — making it perfect for small to medium sized business owners. In addition, the Business plan allows you to create private team spaces, offering enhanced privacy for sensitive information like performance reviews, budgeting, and company planning. You gain the capability to export workspaces as PDF documents, for convenience, and get secure access management at scale, through single sign-on (SSO) meant to ensure better network protection. 

While the Business plan incorporates a diverse set of powerful features, some limitations exist when compared to the Enterprise plan, such as audit log and unlimited page history. Though priority support is available, a dedicated customer success manager for personalized assistance is still not part of this plan.

The Enterprise plan

The Notion Enterprise plan is designed to meet the specific needs of larger organizations by providing advanced features that streamline workflows, collaboration, and project management while enhancing security measures. 

This plan offers robust administrative controls, dedicated customer success manager and unlimited page history for access to historical page versions over multiple years. It introduces user provisioning (SCIM) to automate user onboarding and offboarding processes and includes a dedicated customer success manager for personalized assistance. 

Additionally, it features advanced administrative and security elements such as granular admin roles, detailed audit logs, workspace analytics, and control over external page sharing. 

The Enterprise plan is a comprehensive solution for organizations with sophisticated requirements, and its pricing is negotiable to accommodate specific organizational needs.

Optional add-on: Notion AI

Notion AI is an optional add-on that enhances productivity and writing quality within the Notion workspace using artificial intelligence. It automates tasks like summarizing meeting notes and generating action items while providing writing assistance. 

However, just like any other, this AI-generated content may require user review for quality and context. 

Notion AI is cost-effective compared to other AI writing services and integrates seamlessly into your notes and projects. Users can request trials and compare plan features to find the best fit for their needs, ensuring a membership level for every team size.

Is the paid version of Notion worth it and is it the right solution for you?

Whether it’s worth getting a paid plan for Notion depends on your specific needs and preferences. 

Notion’s paid plans offer a range of advanced features and benefits, making them a valuable choice for individuals and teams looking to maximize their productivity and organization. These features can be especially beneficial for larger teams or businesses with more complex requirements.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the common user experience with this software, we can examine the prevalent feedback provided by users. 

The most widespread positive feedback from the average Notion user centers around the software’s versatility, allowing it to adapt to a wide range of use cases, from personal note-taking to collaborative project management. Users appreciate the customization options provided by Notion, enabling them to tailor their workspaces to their unique needs with ease. The user-friendly interface and real-time collaboration features are often commended, making it a practical choice for both individuals and teams. Notion’s cross-platform compatibility, accessible on web, mobile, and desktop, adds to its appeal. 

On the downside, some users note a learning curve, particularly for newcomers, and pricing concerns may arise for larger teams. While Notion generally offers offline access, it may not be as robust as some users desire. Performance issues, especially with larger databases, have been reported, and the mobile app may have limitations compared to the desktop version. It’s worth noting that individual experiences can vary.

In the end, the decision to go for a Notion’s paid plan should be weighed against your budget and the availability of similar tools on the market. Some other productivity and project management tools do offer extended features even in their free plans. You may find that these alternatives meet your needs without the necessity of a paid plan. 

What is Notion’s alternative, Plaky?

For instance, let’s take a detailed look at Plaky — one of the most flexible, visually appealing, and user-friendly project management tools on the market that offers a robust free plan without any restrictions on users, projects, tasks, or files. Plaky caters to a wide range of small to medium-sized businesses in different sectors, helping them improve operational efficiency and boost overall productivity.

With its highly customizable features, it can adapt to the needs of different teams and industries offering ways to arrange and visualize project’s data so that it’s easily accessible and manageable. In Plaky, you can streamline project workflows with ease and promote seamless collaboration among team members. You have the option to start from scratch or utilize pre-designed project management templates tailored to specific industries like software development, marketing, sales, HR, and more.

How do Notion and Plaky compare?

Plaky and Notion — while both valuable in the field of project management and collaboration — have notable distinctions. 

Plaky is primarily tailored for project and task management, featuring customizable boards. It’s renowned for streamlined team collaboration. Notion, on the other hand, is an adaptable all-in-one workspace, covering note-taking, knowledge management, and task management. Its versatility allows for creative customization and serves a broader spectrum of use cases. 

Plaky offers structured project management with a simple interface. It has robust task and board management features, including customizable boards and tasks and countless tailored views to visualize and manage work, while Notion’s flexibility and extensive feature set may pose a steeper learning curve. 

Regarding collaboration, Plaky emphasizes it with features like file sharing, team communication, comments, mentions and instant notifications. It’s designed for teams to work together seamlessly. Notion also supports collaboration but with a broader focus, including note-sharing, document collaboration, and knowledge sharing.

Additionally, a noticeable distinction lies in the visual presentation. Plaky boasts a more contemporary and streamlined design compared to Notion, complete with a default dark mode that can be easily switched to a light version with a simple button press.

On the Free plan of Notion, you can upload images, videos, and file attachments up to 5MB each, while Plaky extends this limit to 10 MB per file in the corresponding FREE plan.

While Notion has limitations on the most essential feature, such as the number of users limited to only one, Plaky stands out by providing an unlimited number of users, projects, tasks and files even in its free plan. 

Plaky allows you to create as many teams as necessary for free, simplifying the organization of your company into departments or different projects. In contrast, Notion’s Free plan does not offer this capability. Besides this, Plaky allows you to create an unlimited number of views, (Table or Kanban) for better and more tailored organization of your projects data, to communicate with teammates, share files, receive notifications and track the activity history all for free.

Plaky also provides 24/7 world-class customer support to all of its users, including those on the free plan. In contrast, Notion offers this service starting from the Plus plan and upwards.

How do Notion’s and Plaky’s paid plans compare?

Pricing structures also vary. While Notion provides a free plan with limitations and paid plans that are priced per user, making it potentially more cost-effective for smaller teams, Plaky’s paid options on the other hand are exceptionally affordable, starting at just $3.99 per user per month, and they offer fantastic value. 

Both the Pro and Enterprise plans not only encompass all the features available in the free version but also provide greater storage per file, custom field options, and extended activity log history. Moreover, these paid plans offer advanced board and workspace permissions, granting you precise control over user access to modify and manage project structure, permissions settings, and content. 

In contrast to Notion, where paid plans commence at $8 per user per month, Plaky stands out with its highly competitive pricing and a robust feature set, making it an appealing choice for teams seeking an economical yet powerful project management solution.

As a quick comparison, if you have a team of 50 users, opting for Notion’s most popular PLUS plan would incur a monthly expense of $400 (when billed annually) — as we mentioned earlier. In contrast, by opting for Plaky, you can achieve significant cost savings by securing an equivalent number of user seats for just $199.5 when billed annually, which is half the price of Notion. When managing a team of 100 members, your expenses with Notion would total $800, whereas with Plaky, the cost would be just $399, signifying substantial savings for your company.

Recap

In summary, Notion is a versatile platform known for its customization and flexibility, serving various purposes such as note-taking, project management, and knowledge organization. It offers several paid plans to meet different user requirements. The Plus plan is suitable for small teams and includes extended page history and advanced analytics. The Business plan enhances security and collaboration features, while the Enterprise plan is designed for large organizations and offers extensive customization and support. Notion’s free plan is sufficient for many users, but paid plans provide additional features and benefits for a wider range of needs. Notion is a robust platform and it can be a bit overwhelming for small and medium-sized teams seeking efficiency and user-friendliness. 

In comparison, Plaky as Notion’s best alternative, shines as a straightforward and flexible project management tool that comes at a much lower cost. Plaky offers an extensive feature set even in its free plan, making it a cost-effective choice. If you’re in search of a tool to streamline work processes and maximize savings, Plaky is certainly worth considering.