Table of contents
- Quick comparison table of Notion and Milanote
- What are Milanote and Notion
- Milanote in a nutshell
- Notion in a nutshell
- Key difference between Milanote and Notion
- Milanote vs Notion core features compared
- Visual canvas vs structured databases
- Note taking, docs, and knowledge bases
- Task and project management
- Collaboration, comments, and sharing
- Integrations, automations, and API
- Templates, community, and ecosystem
- AI features and smart workflows
- Pricing and value for money
- Milanote pricing overview
- Notion pricing overview
- Ease of use and learning curve
- Getting started with Milanote
- Getting started with Notion
- Which tool feels easier day to day
- Platform support, performance, and data ownership
- Apps, offline use, and performance
- File limits, export options, and backups
- Security, privacy, and account control
- Choosing between Milanote and Notion
- Who should choose Milanote
- Who should choose Notion
- How Notion with Super gives you more
- Frequently asked questions
- What is the main difference between Milanote and Notion?
- Which is better as an all in one workspace?
- Which is better for creative brainstorming?
- Which is easier to learn Notion or Milanote?
- Do Milanote and Notion work offline?
- Which works better on mobile Milanote or Notion?
- When should I use Super with Notion instead of another site builder?
You probably have ideas scattered everywhere right now. Some sit in a notes app, others hide in screenshots, and a few live in random sticky notes on your desk. When work starts to feel like a shuffle between too many tools, it is natural to look for one place where ideas, files, and tasks can live together. That is usually when people start comparing Milanote vs Notion.
Milanote is a visual workspace that feels a lot like a digital wall. You drag in images, write quick sticky notes, arrange cards, and link ideas together in a way that looks and feels creative. Notion is a flexible all in one workspace built on pages and databases. You can write documents, build wikis, manage projects, and organise information in different views, with extras like Notion AI to speed up writing and research.
In this guide you will see Milanote and Notion compared in a simple way. We will look at features, pricing, ease of use, platforms, and real world use cases so you can decide whether Milanote or Notion fits your work better. Along the way the examples will lean slightly toward Notion, especially if you want one workspace that can grow with you.
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Quick comparison table of Notion and Milanote
Key feature | Notion | Milanote | Notes |
Core style | Page and database workspace that mixes docs and structured data | Visual board workspace for creative layouts | Notion is better for long term structure, Milanote is better for freeform visual thinking |
Best fit | Individuals and teams that want one place for docs, tasks, and knowledge | Designers and creatives who think in mood boards and storyboards | Many people start in Milanote then move organised work into Notion |
Project management | Kanban style boards, timelines, calendars, databases, filters | Simple lists and cards on boards | Notion works better as a light project manager for ongoing work |
Knowledge base | Full wiki style spaces with backlinks and relations | Light notes attached to boards | Notion is stronger for long running documentation and knowledge sharing |
Collaboration | Real time editing, comments, mentions, granular sharing | Shared boards with comments on cards and images | Milanote shines for visual critique, Notion shines for written feedback and specs |
Integrations and API | Many integrations plus public API and automation through third party tools | Limited integrations, no public API focus | Notion connects more easily to the rest of your stack |
Templates and ecosystem | Large official and community template library for almost any workflow | Built in templates mainly for creative projects | Notion templates make setup much faster for most people |
AI features | Built in Notion AI for writing, summarising, and research | Little or no native AI for content | Notion can save time for heavy writing and research work |
Pricing feel | Generous free plan and clear paid tiers for individuals and teams | Free plan with limits then paid upgrades per user or team | Notion often works out cheaper for solo users and mixed teams |
What are Milanote and Notion
Both tools aim to give you one place to organise ideas, projects, and content, but they do it in very different ways. This section gives you a quick picture of each tool before we look at the difference between Milanote and Notion in more detail.
Milanote in a nutshell
Milanote is a visual workspace that feels like a big digital wall. You add cards for notes, upload images, drop in files, draw arrows, and move everything around until the board looks right. It is ideal for things like mood boards, storyboards, campaign maps, and early stage concept work.
Because everything lives on a freeform canvas, you are not forced into a strict layout. You can group ideas loosely, park references on the side, and let the board stay messy while you are still figuring things out. That makes Milanote comfortable for creatives who want a space that looks more like a sketchbook than a spreadsheet.
Notion in a nutshell
Notion is a flexible workspace built on pages and databases. You can start with simple notes, then turn those notes into organized lists, tables, boards, calendars, and more. A single workspace can hold your meeting notes, project plans, personal journal, and content calendar without feeling like separate apps.
Pages can live inside other pages, and databases can be reused in different views. For example, one database of tasks can show as a kanban board for your team, a calendar for deadlines, and a simple list for quick review. On top of that you can use Notion AI for summarising long notes, generating first draft text, and brainstorming ideas inside the same workspace.
Key difference between Milanote and Notion
At a high level, the difference between Milanote and Notion comes down to how they treat information and what kind of work they suit best.
Some key points are:
- Milanote focuses on a freeform visual canvas, while Notion focuses on structured pages and databases
- Milanote feels stronger for short term visual ideation, while Notion is better for long term project and knowledge management
- Milanote has a narrower creative focus, while Notion aims to be a general purpose workspace for many kinds of users
- Many teams are comfortable using Milanote for early brainstorming, then shift into Notion once it is time to plan, track, and document the work
Milanote vs Notion core features compared
Now let us look at Milanote vs Notion feature by feature. This is where you will really see how each tool handles everyday tasks like notes, projects, and collaboration.
Visual canvas vs structured databases
Milanote gives you a wide open board. You drag in cards, images, arrows, and lists, then arrange them in whatever pattern makes sense to your brain. It is perfect when you want to see everything at once, connect ideas visually, and move pieces around while the concept is still fluid.
Notion takes a different approach. Instead of one big canvas, you build a workspace out of pages and databases. A page might hold a brief or creative strategy, while a database holds tasks, content pieces, or research notes. You can still see items in a board or gallery view, but the information under each card is structured and easy to filter and sort.
A visual board is often better when you are ideating, mood boarding, or mapping a story. Structured databases work better when you need clarity, repeatable workflows, and reports. In practice many teams sketch big ideas in Milanote, then rely on Notion once they need reliable lists, status tracking, and handover.
Note taking, docs, and knowledge bases
Milanote can hold notes, but they usually sit on top of a board next to images and links. That makes them great for quick thoughts, copy snippets, and comments that support a visual concept. It is less natural to build a detailed knowledge base or long form documentation inside boards.
Notion handles both short and long form writing. You can keep simple notes, detailed project docs, meeting transcripts, and formal policies in the same workspace. Because pages can link to each other, and databases can store different types of content, Notion is comfortable for building full wikis and internal guides.
If you picture a creative review board covered in sticky notes, Milanote fits that image nicely. If you picture an organised library of documents, guidelines, and how to resources, Notion is the better match. This is one area where Notion compared to Milanote clearly feels more complete for long term use.
Task and project management
Milanote includes basic checklists and simple task cards. You can group tasks on a board, connect them to related images or notes, and get a light sense of progress. For small creative projects that is often enough.
Notion goes further. You can build full task databases with properties like status, owner, due date, priority, and more. Those tasks can then appear in different views such as kanban boards, calendars, or simple lists. Filters and sorting make it easy to see what is due this week, what belongs to one client, or what is blocked.
Compared with dedicated project management tools, Notion still keeps things fairly simple, but Notion compared to Milanote is much more suitable for ongoing project tracking. If your team wants to manage content calendars, sprints, or multi step client work in the same place as docs and notes, Notion will usually feel like the safer choice.
Collaboration, comments, and sharing
In Milanote collaboration happens mostly on boards. Teammates can join the same board, move cards, and leave comments on visuals or notes. This is excellent for creative critique sessions, brand explorations, and layout options, where the visual arrangement is the main thing everyone is discussing.
In Notion collaboration is centred on text and structured content. You can mention teammates, comment on paragraphs or database items, and track changes across pages. Shared workspaces give an entire team one place for meeting notes, specs, and decisions. It is less dramatic visually than a Milanote board, but it is easier to turn discussions into clear documentation.
If your collaboration is mostly about art direction and visual taste, Milanote will feel very natural. If your collaboration is about decisions, processes, and written outcomes, Notion is usually the better option.
Integrations, automations, and API
Milanote can work alone quite well. You pull in files and links, do the creative thinking in boards, and then move finished ideas into other tools manually. That keeps things simple, but it also means Milanote is not usually the main hub of a wider tool stack.
Notion, on the other hand, is designed to connect. It offers native integrations with popular tools and an open API that third party services use for automation. You can sync tasks, send form submissions into databases, mirror events from your calendar, or trigger notifications when certain properties change.
For teams that already rely on a handful of tools, this makes a big difference. When you compare Milanote and Notion for a growing team, Notion tends to win because it slots more easily into existing systems and can become the central source of truth.
Templates, community, and ecosystem
Milanote offers built in templates for things like mood boards, project plans, and user journey maps. These are helpful starting points if you work in a creative field and want ready made layouts.
Notion goes much further. There is an official template gallery plus a very active community of creators who share setups for everything from personal life planners to detailed product roadmaps. You can duplicate these templates into your own workspace, then tweak them as needed.
This ecosystem is one reason many people pick Notion or Milanote only for early creativity. With Notion you are not starting from a blank page. You can borrow proven structures for content calendars, client portals, knowledge bases, and more, which shortens the learning curve and makes it easier to stick with the tool long term.
AI features and smart workflows
At the time of writing Milanote has little or no native AI built in for writing or summarising content. You can still use external AI tools and paste results into boards, but the workflow is manual.
Notion includes Notion AI as an optional add on. You can ask it to summarise long meeting notes, extract action items, rewrite sections in a different tone, or generate first drafts. Because it lives inside the same pages and databases you already use, it feels like a natural helper rather than a separate tool.
For people who write a lot, research often, or handle complex notes, this is a real advantage in Milanote vs Notion comparisons. Notion can help you clean up messy text and highlight next steps without leaving the app, which saves both time and mental energy.
Pricing and value for money
Both tools offer free access with paid upgrades, but they feel different once you look at how those limits affect real work. This section focuses less on exact price tags and more on what you actually get for your money.
Milanote pricing overview
Milanote has a free plan with limits on things like the number of notes or boards you can create. Paid plans remove those caps and are usually charged per user, with options for solo creatives and teams.
In practical terms:
- The free plan is fine for small personal projects or testing the tool
- Paid individual plans make sense if you are a freelancer who lives in visual boards
- Team plans are aimed at creative studios and agencies that collab on shared boards every day
If your work is mainly visual concepting and you do not mind keeping other processes elsewhere, paying for Milanote can be a focused investment.
Notion pricing overview
Notion also has a generous free plan that already supports a lot of individual use. You can build personal dashboards, manage tasks, store documents, and even share a few pages publicly without paying.
Paid tiers introduce more features and controls:
- The entry paid plan is aimed at individuals and small teams that want higher limits and file uploads
- Business focused plans add advanced permissions, security options, and admin controls
- Enterprise plans target larger organisations with strict compliance needs
For many solo users and small teams, the free or first paid tier is enough. When you look at Notion vs Milanote from a value point of view, Notion often feels cheaper per unit of work because it can replace several other tools at once.
Ease of use and learning curve
Both tools try to make work feel lighter, but they approach ease of use differently. One focuses on familiarity, the other on flexibility.
Getting started with Milanote
The first time you open Milanote it feels friendly. You drag cards onto a board, type quick notes, drop in images, and move items around until the layout feels right. There is almost no learning curve if you have ever used a physical whiteboard or pinned things onto a wall.
Templates help you get moving faster. You can pick a mood board layout, a simple project board, or a storyboard and start filling it with your own content. For many creatives this is enough to feel at home within a few minutes.
Getting started with Notion
Notion can feel more complex at first. You see pages, blocks, and databases, and it is not always obvious where to start. The key is to begin small. Create one simple page for daily notes, another for tasks, and get used to typing and rearranging content.
Once that feels normal, you can explore templates for things like project management, content planning, or personal life dashboards. These ready made setups show what is possible without expecting you to design everything yourself. Over time you will likely find your own patterns and build a workspace that matches how you think.
Which tool feels easier day to day
If you care mostly about fast visual sketching and not much else, Milanote will probably feel easier on day one and day ten. You open a board, drop things in, and move on with your work.
If you want one place for ideas, tasks, and documentation, Notion becomes easier over time. There is more to learn at the start, but once your workspace is set up it reduces the need to jump between several different apps. For a lot of people this makes Milanote and Notion feel close at first, but Notion slowly pulls ahead in everyday use.
Platform support, performance, and data ownership
You also need to know where each tool runs well and how it treats your content. This section keeps things simple while still covering the main points.
Apps, offline use, and performance
Both tools offer web apps and dedicated desktop and mobile apps. You can open boards or pages in a browser, or install their apps on your main devices.
Performance will always depend on your internet connection and the size of your workspace. Large Milanote boards full of images can feel heavy, especially on older devices. Large Notion workspaces with many complex databases can occasionally feel slower than a plain text app, although things usually remain workable for most teams.
Offline support changes over time, so the safest move is to check each vendor for the current details. In general, if you often work in places with unstable internet, it is worth testing both apps on your devices before committing fully.
File limits, export options, and backups
Milanote and Notion both let you upload files and images, but the exact limits depend on your plan. Free tiers usually have lower upload limits, while paid tiers unlock larger files and more storage.
Export options matter if you ever need to move away from a tool. Notion allows you to export pages and databases in formats like markdown and HTML, which are easy to reuse elsewhere. Milanote is more focused on keeping content inside boards, though you can still export boards in visual formats.
Whichever tool you choose, it is smart to schedule regular exports or backups of important spaces. That way you are not locked in if your needs change later.
Security, privacy, and account control
Both Milanote and Notion provide basic security measures such as encrypted connections and password protected accounts. Higher paid tiers in Notion introduce more advanced options aimed at larger organisations.
For most individual users and small teams, sensible account hygiene matters as much as the tool itself. Use unique passwords, turn on two factor authentication if it is available, and be careful about how widely you share access to workspaces.
If you handle sensitive or regulated information, always review the latest security and compliance information from each company and involve your own security team where needed.
Choosing between Milanote and Notion
By now you can see that Milanote compared to Notion is less about which tool is good and more about which tool is good for a specific kind of work. This section sums that up so you can make a clear decision.
Who should choose Milanote
Milanote is a strong fit if you recognise yourself in these points:
- You are a visual designer, art director, illustrator, or other creative professional
- Your main need is a place to build mood boards, storyboards, or concept maps
- You care more about exploring ideas visually than tracking tasks in detail
- Your team already has other tools for documentation and project management
In short, Milanote is great as a creative thinking space when pictures and layouts matter more than structured data.
Who should choose Notion
Notion is usually the better choice if you see yourself here:
- You want one main workspace for docs, tasks, and knowledge, both personal and shared
- Your team needs a place for meeting notes, specs, roadmaps, and simple project tracking
- You like the idea of custom databases, filters, and multiple views on the same information
- You want extras like templates, integrations, and Notion AI to simplify your workflows
For many people who compare Notion and Milanote, Notion becomes the long term home for work, while Milanote remains an optional add on for very visual projects.
How Notion with Super gives you more
There is one more angle to consider. If you decide that Notion is the right workspace for you, you can go even further by turning those pages into a live website.
On its own, Notion lets you publish simple public pages. That is useful for sharing a document or a small wiki, but it has limits when you want something that feels like a real site. This is where Super comes in.
Super lets you connect a Notion workspace to a custom domain and present it as a fast, polished website. You still manage content inside Notion, but visitors see a clean site with navigation, themes, and better performance.
Some examples of what you can build with Notion and Super together are
- A personal site or portfolio that you keep up to date straight from Notion
- A client portal where you share project timelines, briefs, and assets
- A documentation hub or knowledge base for your product or service
- A lightweight blog or resource library for your audience
If you are already leaning toward Notion in the comparison between Milanote and Notion, pairing it with Super means your workspace can double as your website. That is something Milanote does not aim to do.
Notion is great for organising your work, and Super makes it just as good at showing it off. Turn your docs, wikis, or client hubs into a fast site that feels professional.
Frequently asked questions
What is the main difference between Milanote and Notion?
The biggest difference between Milanote and Notion is how they treat information. Milanote feels like a big visual board, while Notion organises everything into pages and databases that can grow with your work.
Which is better as an all in one workspace?
For a full workspace that holds notes, projects, and knowledge, it usually ends in a win for Notion. It is easier to keep everything in one place and reuse the same databases in different views.
Which is better for creative brainstorming?
For early idea sketching and mood boards, it usually tips toward Milanote because the freeform boards feel more natural. If you want to move from ideas into tasks and documentation in one tool, Notion starts to feel stronger.
Which is easier to learn Notion or Milanote?
Milanote is easier at the start because it works like a visual board. Notion takes longer to understand, but once you are used to it, it can actually make work simpler because more things live together in one system.
Do Milanote and Notion work offline?
Both tools offer some offline support through their apps, but the details change over time. If offline work is important to you, it is best to test each app on your own devices.
Which works better on mobile Milanote or Notion?
Both tools have mobile apps that are fine for quick checks and small edits. For heavy work and layout, most people still prefer using them on desktop or laptop screens.
When should I use Super with Notion instead of another site builder?
Super is a good fit if you already live in Notion and do not want to manage a separate CMS. It works well for portfolios, documentation hubs, and simple marketing sites that you want to update straight from Notion.
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