Notion vs Roam Research

Notion is a cloud workspace for organising personal projects and coordinating work. Its pages, blocks, and databases support note sharing and real-time collaboration, and offline access is available. It runs on the web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, with a Chrome extension also listed. Connections include Slack, Google Drive, Figma, GitHub, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Notion supports semantic search, AI search or answers, and version history. The Free plan costs $0 per member per month and includes trial AI capabilities and a trial of Notion AI. Free uploads are limited to 5 MB per file, multi-member Free workspaces have a limited number of blocks, and external guests are limited to 10. Plus costs $10 per member per month, and Business costs $20 per member per month; yearly payment saves up to 20%. Paid plans list unlimited guests. Notion says data is encrypted and private, and that Notion AI does not use customer data to train models unless users opt in. Enterprise workspaces get zero data retention with LLM providers.

Roam Research is a note-taking tool for networked thought, designed to connect ideas in Roam Graphs. Its site describes a document-like experience paired with a graph-database model, and says it helps users organize research over the long term. The Pro plan costs $15 a month and includes unlimited private or public graphs, unlimited collaborators, API access, and Apps. Roam supports note sharing and offline access. It is available on the web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, with a Chrome extension also listed. Integrations include the Roam Backend API, Roam Append API, Roam Alpha API, and Roam Depot extensions. The Pro page offers a 31-day free trial to people who have never had a plan, with billing after the trial. There is no free plan.