What is Notion?
Notion is a hosted workspace rather than a note app: pages, databases, kanban boards, wikis and calendars are all built from the same blocks, so a project tracker and a document can reference each other. It has a genuine free tier for individuals, and paid plans add collaboration limits, page history and AI. The Mac desktop app is a client for the hosted product, and offline access is a paid feature. It suits teams that want one tool for documents and lightweight databases rather than several.
Verified product facts
- Type
- workspace appEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Apple Silicon
- Yes
- Pricing
- FreemiumDeveloper-stated
- Developer
- Notion Labs, Inc.Developer-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Current version
- 7.36.1Developer-stated
- Official website
- www.notion.com/
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What Notion does at a glance.
Block-based pages and documents
Databases
With table, board, calendar and gallery views
Wikis and teamspaces
Forms
Write into databases
Notion Calendar
Web publishing
With custom domains
What you can use Notion for
- Building a team wiki or knowledge base
- Tracking projects in a database with table and board views
- Writing and sharing documents and notes
- Publishing a page to the web on a custom domain
- Collecting form responses that write into a database
Who is Notion for?
- Teams that want documents and lightweight databases in one tool rather than several
- Individuals who want a free workspace with unlimited pages for personal use
- Teams whose project trackers and documents need to reference each other
Who is Notion not for?
- Anyone who needs offline access on the free plan — offline access is a paid feature
- People who want their notes stored as local files they own rather than in a hosted database
- Teams that need SAML single sign-on without buying the Business tier
Limitations
- The minimum macOS version is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks
Strengths and trade-offs
What Notion does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- The free plan covers individuals with unlimited pages for personal use, not a time-limited trial.Developer-stated
- Pages, databases, forms, calendars and wikis are built from the same blocks, so they can reference one another.Developer-stated
- Publishes separate macOS Universal, Apple Silicon and Intel x64 desktop builds.
- The whole workspace can be exported as HTML, Markdown and CSV, which limits lock-in.Developer-stated
Trade-offs
- The free plan caps file uploads at 5 MB each and page history at 7 days, and limits pages once a workspace has two or more members.
- Offline access is not available on the free plan.
- The desktop app is a client for a hosted product, so content lives in Notion's cloud rather than in local files.Editorially reviewed
- SAML single sign-on and audit logs start at the Business and Enterprise tiers respectively.
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Download a .dmg from notion.com/desktop — Universal, Apple Silicon and Intel builds are published.
- First launch Developer-stated
- Sign in or create a Notion account; the desktop app loads the workspace from the server rather than a local file.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Registers as a handler for notion.so links and can capture the current page through a browser extension.
- Apple Silicon
- Supported
What it does
Notion is a hosted workspace. Pages, databases, kanban boards, calendars, forms and wikis are all assembled from the same blocks, which is why a project tracker and a written document can reference each other rather than living in separate tools. The Mac desktop app is a client for the hosted product.
Free versus paid
The free tier is real but bounded. Knowing where the boundaries sit is more useful than the plan names:
| Limit | Free | Plus and above |
|---|---|---|
| Pages and blocks | Unlimited for individuals, limited with 2+ members | Unlimited |
| File uploads | 5 MB per file | Unlimited |
| Page history | 7 days | 30 days (Plus), 90 days (Business), unlimited (Enterprise) |
| External guests | 10 | Unlimited |
| Offline access | Not included | Included |
| SAML SSO | No | Business and above |
Prices are billed per member per month and are displayed in local currency, so Nuanyue records the tier structure rather than quoting one region’s figure as if it were universal.
Desktop builds
Notion publishes three macOS variants — Universal, Apple Silicon and Intel x64 — alongside several Windows packages. The link on this page points at the universal build.
Data portability
A whole workspace can be exported as HTML, Markdown and CSV, with PDF export on higher tiers. That matters for an app whose content lives in someone else’s database: the export is what makes the hosting a choice rather than a commitment.
Questions about Notion
Is Notion free?
Yes for individuals. The free plan has unlimited pages for personal use, but caps file uploads at 5 MB, keeps 7 days of page history, and becomes limited once a workspace has two or more members. Paid plans are billed per member per month.
Does Notion work offline?
Only on paid plans. The free plan does not include offline access; on paid plans, Recents and Favorites download automatically and you can choose further pages.
Does Notion have an Apple Silicon build?
Yes. The desktop download offers macOS Universal, Apple Silicon and Intel x64 variants.
Can I export my data out of Notion?
Yes. The entire workspace can be exported as HTML, Markdown and CSV, and PDF export is available on higher tiers.Developer-stated
Alternatives to Notion
Apps that could replace this one — the same job, a different trade-off.
Craft
Block-based docs, notes and tasks for Mac, with AI and publishing built in.
Both are hosted, block-based document tools for Mac; Craft focuses on documents and Notion on databases and workspaces.
Joplin
Open-source markdown notes with end-to-end encryption and sync you control.
Both organise notes and tasks, but Joplin is open source and local-first rather than hosted.
Compared with
Head-to-head comparisons Nuanyue has published.
Obsidian
Local-first Markdown notes, with optional paid sync.
Both are general-purpose note workspaces, but Obsidian keeps Markdown files on disk while Notion stores everything in a hosted database.
Works well with
Not a replacement — apps commonly used alongside this one.
Slack
Team messaging with channels, huddles and integrations.
Notion connects to Slack for notifications and unfurling links, and the two are commonly used together rather than interchangeably.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
- Notion — official websiteGrade B
- Notion Labs, Inc. — developer websiteGrade B
- Notion — documentationGrade C
