Notion is frequently discussed as a tool for many Focused-related tasks. I’m a user of the service and I was stoked to find out that it went free for personal use today!
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Pretty cool. Don’t know that I would use it much.
I wonder if this is in anyway related to Evernote being 40% off right now… If so, good idea. If not… also a good idea.
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The free basic personal tier is very generous. The $48/yr Personal upgrade gives you versioning of some kind, more than 5 users, and access to the upcoming API, which if done well would considerably expand the app’s integration with other apps/services.
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I wonder is Evernote being 40% off right now is in anyway related to OneNote being free. 
Honestly, Notion is a barely noticeable speck compared to Evernote’s userbase.
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Maybe. I have no clue. Seems like maybe Evernote does a sale around this time of year every year, now that I think about it. Maybe it’s a Memorial Day sale? Who knows.
I was considering switching all of my notes and research to Notion but it seems like it’s got a steeper learning curve. Not sure I have the time to really research it.
I’m always tempted to dig into it, but I stop myself because I’m unsure if it’ll become a distraction.
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Evernote’s special has been running for several months. It ends on Saturday, May 23.
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Apparently I’m late to the game on this. Whoops.
I started using Evernote 10 years ago this month, but stopped for a while when it looked like they were in trouble. I started again last September and got the 41% discount (as I recall).
They’ve still got the best web clipper, IMO, and are reworking their back end databases and all clients so I plan to stick around this time to see how the makeover turns out.
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Notion is an intriguing app but its wide-open (lack of) design makes it easy to get overwhelmed, or to spend way too much time customizing the app. It’s a pretty nice personal wiki, but not a lot of people need this type of app. People who already need this type of data storage are probably using something already, so there’s friction in switching, and people who just use task managers (a much larger market) aren’t going to switch without reminders, deadlines, or assignment collection across projects - all of which Notion lacks.
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Maybe more related to the fact that RoamResearch is about to start charging $15 a month sometime soon?
Edit: I know they are not the same, but often the mention of one invokes the other. As I have just demonstrated 
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I tried my hands at Notion. But it both felt too much and too little at the same time. First of all, I hate the web-page feel of the app. It never feels like I am using a native Mac or iPhone app. I have seen people doing great things with it, but I found it more of a distraction.
It’s also not good as a repository of data and PDF files. I find Evernote to be far better at handling PDFs. I am happy that they have removed the 1000 block limit of the free tier, but that is not going to change my mind. I am hoping someday they will make the app feel more native to Apple platforms, and maybe then I will give it a try.
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Evernote does not offer that discount to existing members who want to extend their subscription for another year. Bad. Time to switch the Evernote bandwagon.
It’s hard for me to wrap my mind around Notion. I want to use it but I guess I’m missing some basic understanding of what it does and how it stores your information.
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This is a great description. It all feels little…subdued too? I don’t know, it’s weird.
Also, I feel like I get lost easily in the app. Like a maze of mirrors, many ways to get in, and you can’t really find your way back without fumbling around and bumping into things.
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You’re not alone. It’s very open-ended, perhaps too much so for you and me. Forum posts on Reddit and elsewhere asking to see how other have configured the app, questions about workflow and maintenance, and a crazy variety of shared templates. For some that’s great, though.
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While Notion does market itself as an Evernote replacement, I agree that it doesn’t deal with PDFs as well. And the Notion API is still to be released.
Where I think Notion excels is in the wiki, note-taking, to-dos, writing, and collaboration spaces. I’m also very interested to see how powerful the API is and what integrations it might enable.
Overall I think it’s a great product. But it’s not the place to store all your OCRed PDFs like Evernote.
I agree that the barrier to entry for the UI is high. The new free tier finally made me dedicate time to exploring Notion this week. Glad that I have, but there is a learning curve.
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Yeah but I’m sure people once said that about Twitter to Myspace, or Google to Yahoo. The best and worst thing about online products is the potential for rapid change