Coda vs Notion: Which Should You Use?

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Think Coda and Notion. They stand out as all-in-one productivity tools.

I say this not because of what I've heard people say, but because of what I experienced firsthand.

I’ve spent a good time experimenting with both tools so, if you're unsure which to pick, I'll make it easier for you by comparing them with zero bias.

Let's go…

Coda vs Notion: Overview

Both tools have similar features and functionalities. They combine the power of Google docs, spreadsheets, and apps. You can use them for collaboration, project management, team management, knowledge management, and organizing your workflow.

However, they have their differences and the core of it is that:

Coda has robust use cases and features designed to challenge your creativity. Hence, if you like to start things from scratch and have control over your process, Coda has the features to help you.

Notion is a simpler alternative and easier to get started with. It’s great for someone who just wants to get the job done - take notes, analyze data, and collaborate with teams and isn’t in for anything complex.

Something to note to help you flow with this article is the differences in how the two tools name their features.

• Databases are called “tables” in Coda.

• Docs are called “pages” in Notion.

• Those who can edit and create pages are called “workspace members” in Notion. In Coda, they are called “doc makers”.

• Integration feature in Coda is called Pack.

Before I share a more detailed comparison between Coda and Notion, here's a table that briefly compares their key features.

Detailed Comparison of Notion and Coda

Coda is for Captains, Notion is for Passengers

It doesn’t matter if you want to drive your boat or stay back and watch someone drive it for you. What's most important is that you get to your destination.

If you want to drive your boat, Coda can spark your creativity. It supports customization and with features like packs, automation, buttons, and a powerful formula, you can create docs that match your specific needs. If you’re ambitious, you can create mini-apps.

In fact, for coda’s co-founder, Shishir Mehrotra, starting Coda docs with a black page and blinking cursor isn’t because it’s usual with docs. It’s a symbol of possibility.

Here are his exact words:

And did he achieve that?

Reviews on G2 say it all. The common theme around what people like about Coda on G2 is flexibility, versatility, and customization.

What if you just want to be a passenger?

cool!

Passenger, in this case, means you have less to worry about; you simply want to take notes, create your company wiki, assign tasks, and manage projects.

Hence, you should pitch your tent with Notion and avoid the complexity of Coda. Also, Notion has lots of free templates to support you.

Coda Docs has More Unique Features for Note-Taking

Docs are where everything happens. This is where you get access to all the features you need to bring your ideas to life. Text editors, databases, and templates are all here.

If you're familiar with Google docs, then you'll find Coda docs and Notion pages interesting. They give you access to features you can use to create engaging documents similar to web pages. You can publish them on the web and anyone with the link can view them.

For note-taking, Coda and Notion can do the job well.

However, Coda has native features like "content alignment", “last seen” and “author name” that aren't available in Notion. And it also has interactive features like reactions, buttons, and control.

A plus for Notion is that it has 3 font options while coda has 2.

Coda Table has More View Options

Source: Coda

Databases resemble spreadsheets. However, they're easier to understand because they use actual entities like date, number, checkbox, and emoji as opposed to spreadsheets that use letters and numbers to denote columns and rows.

A database can be as simple as a list of tasks to do and as complex as an app.

The best part is the flexibility of viewing. It allows anyone in your team to view the table as they like without changing the data.

However, Notion has 6 viewing options (table, kanban board, timeline, calendar, list, and gallery) while Coda has 9 (table, cards, detail, calendar, chart, kanban board, form, timeline, and word cloud).

Coda's shining light is the “form” view. You can create a custom form on Coda, publish it on your website, and collect visitor data directly into Coda.

Notion is Best for Freemium Users, Coda is Best for Large Teams

Both tools have four pricing levels.

For the free plan, Notion is better than Coda.

Reasons are…

One, if you're on Notion free plan, you can pay for additional workspace members without migrating to a paid plan. This doesn’t apply to free users in Coda.

Two, Notion doc size for the free version is unlimited while Coda allows only 50 objects per doc. This is little if you create large documents.

For the paid plans;

Unlike Notion, which charges per user, Coda charges per doc maker. This means on Coda, you can have one doc maker and an unlimited number of team members to edit and create more pages. If you have lots of users with only a few doc makers, you'll find Coda's paid plan cheaper.

Notion is Easier to Use

It’s easy to navigate both tools and find features. On doc, the slash command makes it easy to see the features available and access what you need.

However, as a beginner, you can easily get overwhelmed, especially with Coda, which is more feature rich. How and when to use some features can be challenging. Though, Coda’s walkthrough videos and texts that pop up when you open some features are helpful.

My advice for you, if you’re a starter, is to use templates and focus on the features you need to get your job done. With time, you’ll uncover more of the use cases and how to better use the features to realize your goals.

Coda has a Better User Experience

For all-in-one tools like Coda and Notion, design is an important factor to help you enjoy your experience.

Both tools have impressive designs. But based on my experience, I'll give more credit to Coda.

Reasons are;

One, unlike Notion, each main doc in Coda has a dedicated sidebar where you can easily see and open all the layers of pages and sub-pages under it.

Two, Notion lacks a home page. Even though this makes the interface simple and easy to see what you can do with the tool at a glance, I prefer the idea of a homepage to return to like in Coda.

Coda’s homepage is called “my workspace”. It includes templates and your existing docs. The best part is that it displays your docs in segments to help you stay organized. You can also sort your docs based on “modified’, “created’, “viewed”.

Notion has More and Better Templates

Templates save you the stress of always creating from scratch and help you be more efficient. As a new user, templates will help you get started quickly.

Both tools have good templates for different categories. They allow you create custom ones that match your needs and can sell.

The community templates or gallery, as Coda calls it, is where you’ll find templates made by community members. However, to access most of them, you need to pay.

Within the app, Notion and Coda have free templates. They're cool as well but are not as sophisticated as the community templates.

However, Notion has more and better in-app templates than Coda. So, if you have no money to spend on templates, you should consider Notion.

Coda vs Notion: Which Should You Use?

You must have noticed that your personality and aim for using a productivity tool will strongly influence which of them you should choose.

Choose Coda if you:

• Love flexibility and control.
• Want a feature-rich tool to automate and create mini-apps.
• Have a large team with few doc makers and lots of editors.

Choose Notion if you:

• Get easily overwhelmed by too many features.
• Only want to take notes, create wiki, manage teams, and organize your workflow.
• Want a freemium plan.