Notion Sites Pricing and Return on Investment

Table of contents

• Notion Sites for free plan users
• Features available with free plan
• Features not available with free plan
• Notion Sites for Paid plan users
• Features available with paid plans
• Features not available with paid plans
• Opportunity cost of using Notion Sites
• Notion site builder that offers better ROI - Super
• 1. More features in the free plan
• 2. Lower cost for custom domains
• 3. Enhanced branding capabilities
• 4. Superior SEO optimization
• 5. Improved website performance
• 6. Advanced integration options
• 7. Built-in conversion optimization
• 8. Comprehensive analytics
• 9. Better uptime
• 10. Custom code support
• 11. Diverse templates
• 12. Advanced features
• 13. Community and support
• 14. Monetization options
• FAQs
• Are Notion Sites free?
• Can I subscribe to a monthly plan for Sites if I have paid annually for my Notion plan?
• Can I add a custom domain in the middle of my current plan?

The Notion Sites product module supports creating websites for users on a paid plan. Notion users on the free plan will experience a new UI for the page publishing workflow but no new capabilities.

Notion paid plan users can access all Notion Sites features at no extra cost. This includes the ability to set up a homepage, site customization, and integrating with Google Analytics.

They can claim up to five .notion.site domains at $10 per seat per month in addition to their original plan to connect their site with a custom domain.

The minimum monthly cost for connecting the site to a custom domain is $22 per seat per month for — $12 for the Plus plan and another $10 for custom domains. It comes down to $18 when paid annually: $10 for the Plus plan and $8 for connecting custom domains.

Prices are higher for Business and Enterprise plan users because their base plans are more expensive.

Here’s how much Sites can cost based on your current Notion pricing plan.

Notion Sites for free plan users

Notion Sites is available in a limited capacity for Notion users on a free plan.

Features available with free plan

1. Publishing Notion pages and folders

This feature supports making Notion folders and pages public. Anyone with the link to the page access it with the level of permissions set by the owner. Shared content may not necessarily appear as a functional website, but it makes sharing easy nevertheless.

2. One .notion.site domain

Users can set a custom domain name but not a custom extension. The only extension allowed is .notion.site. Domain extensions such as .com, .co, and country-based extensions are not supported for free site users.

Users can access the Notion settings screen and set a preferred domain name - sample-domain-name, for example. Their Notion Sites instance would appear as sample-domain-name.notion.site.

3. Search engine indexing

Notion users on the free plan can feature their websites on search engines like Google. This opens up the opportunity to attract organic traffic.

The toggle for ‘Discoverable on the web’ is enabled in the UI. Users can toggle it on or off.

4. Removing page duplication icon from the navigation bar

Notion users on the free plan can enable or disable the option to duplicate Notion pages in the site’s navigation bar. They just need to turn on or off the toggle for ‘Duplicate as template’.

It’s turned on by default, but free users can turn the toggle off if they don’t want those who access the page to duplicate it.

Features not available with free plan

1. Connecting with a custom domain

Notion users on the free plan can’t connect their Notion site with a custom domain. They can only create and own one free .notion.site domain.

2. Sites in dark mode

Notion’s free site users can’t create sites in dark mode - they are stuck with the default light mode.

3. Custom site logo

The favicon or the site logo is the same as the logo of the page being published. While Notion users on the free plan can add a custom icon to their page, they can’t change it at the site level.

4. Integrating with Google Analytics

The text box to enter the ‘G-’ ID for connecting Google Analytics is disabled for Notion’s free site users. They can embed tools into their pages but can’t integrate with them.

5. Navbar customization

Notion does not support these Navbar customization capabilities for free plan users:

1. Removing Notion branding
2. Omitting breadcrumbs and search icon from the navigation bar
3. Adding more pages to the navigation bar

6. Ability to set up homepage

This feature is available only with paid Notion plans.

7. Design customization

Notion free users can’t:

1. Change the font of their Notion site beyond default Notion fonts

2. Change background color beyond default Notion settings

3. Add custom code to enhance design

8. Conversion rate optimization

Inability to add custom code means free plan users can’t add call-to-action buttons to the navigation bar or page content.

Notion Sites for Paid plan users

Features available with paid plans

Here are some capabilities available to Notion users on the paid plan in addition to features available on the free plan:

1. Using dark mode

2. Uploading custom site logo

3. Site integration with Google Analytics

4. Removing breadcrumbs and search icon from the navigation bar

5. Adding up to 5 pages to the navigation bar

6. Setting up a homepage

7. Connecting site with a custom domain for extra $10 per month per seat.

Features not available with paid plans

1. Integrations with tools other than Google Analytics

2. Custom code

3. Advanced design customization features like navigation bar shadows

4. Fonts other than built-in ones

5. Background colors other than black from the dark mode

6. Conversion rate optimization features like CTA buttons

Opportunity cost of using Notion Sites

Having a custom domain is important for website builders as it helps brand their site better and build trust with visitors. Furthermore, you truly own the site when you connect to a domain and have the liberty to add custom code for design and tool integration purposes. This allows you to track marketing and user metrics better and optimize your site for conversions.

A free Notion site domain with the .notion.site extension is owned by Notion. This means users can’t track site traffic and engagement metrics since they can’t add custom tracking code to a site they don't own.

A custom domain - domain_name.com, for example, provides users full control of their site.

However, the minimum cost of using Notion Sites with a custom domain is $18 per month per seat. And even after paying for that, SEO, tracking, and design features are highly limited. These shortcomings can negatively impact businesses relying on their sites for lead generation. They also impact personal sites like portfolios, resumes, and landing pages.

Businesses can get a much higher return on investment in the long run by investing in a full-featured CMS or a more robust website builder. The initial cost would be quickly offset by improved search engine rankings and increased conversions.

In short, you pay Notion $18 per month per seat but miss out on using advanced Notion site builders that offer many more features at a lower price point.

Notion site builder that offers better ROI - Super

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Notion site builder that offers better ROI - Super

Super works seamlessly with Notion, allowing users to keep their content in Notion while leveraging Super's advanced website-building capabilities. This integration offers a better Return on Investment (ROI) in the following ways:

1. More features in the free plan

Notion's free plan limits website features to basic page publishing. Super's free plan, however, offers advanced capabilities like customizable designs, SEO features, and analytics, providing immediate value at no cost.

2. Lower cost for custom domains

Super’s Plus plan costs $12 per month (when paid annually) and is the cheapest plan supporting custom domains, compared to Notion's $18. This 33% cost saving adds up significantly over time, especially for small businesses and startups. The Plus plan also supports password protection, custom code, and many other features.

3. Enhanced branding capabilities

Notion's design options are limited to default font and color changes. You can’t change background colors or add personality to your site. Super allows extensive customization in fonts, colors, logos, layouts, and overall design, enabling you to create a truly unique brand identity that stands out from typical Notion Sites. You can customize beyond built-in settings by adding custom code - a feature that Notion does not support.

4. Superior SEO optimization

Notion lacks advanced SEO features, offering only basic page indexing and meta tags. Super provides built-in meta tags, structured data, customizable URLs, and integration with SEO tools, significantly improving your chances of ranking higher in search results.

5. Improved website performance

Super prioritizes speed with faster loading times and a responsive design that adapts to all devices. Notion's performance, on the other hand, can be inconsistent, especially for larger sites, potentially leading to higher bounce rates and lower user engagement.

6. Advanced integration options

Notion has a limited set of native integrations. Super allows for a wide range of tool integrations through custom code insertion, enabling you to use your preferred marketing and analytics tools without limitations.

7. Built-in conversion optimization

Notion offers basic layouts with limited call-to-action options. Super provides customizable CTA buttons, custom navbars, and footer options, along with A/B testing capabilities through integration with tools like Optimizely to actively improve your conversion rates.

8. Comprehensive analytics

Notion's analytics are basic and limited to workspace users. Super’s built-in analytics tool - Super Analytics - offers detailed insights about all visitors, including traffic sources, user behavior, and conversion data, helping you make data-driven decisions to improve your site's performance.

9. Better uptime

Super-powered sites function even during Notion outages, ensuring your website remains accessible to visitors at all times. This helps maintain professional credibility and avoid potential lost business.

10. Custom code support

Notion doesn't allow custom code, limiting advanced functionality. Super enables the insertion of custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, allowing for advanced customization, better design, and integration of third-party tools.

11. Diverse templates

Notion offers a handful of basic website templates. Super provides a wide range of professionally designed templates for various industries and purposes, saving significant time and design costs when setting up your website.

12. Advanced features

Super offers capabilities like password protection for specific pages and control over when updates go live. These features, unavailable in Notion, provide greater control over your content.

13. Community and support

While Notion has a large general community, Super offers a dedicated website-building community, comprehensive knowledge base, and a more responsive support team, reducing time and resources spent on troubleshooting website issues.

14. Monetization options

Since Notion does not support custom code, you can’t integrate with advertisement brokers like Google Ads. Super, on the contrary, allows easy integration with ad platforms like Google AdSense, opening up additional revenue streams for content creators and bloggers.

In summary, with Notion Sites, you end up paying $18 per month per seat for a basic CMS that is limited in terms of branding, design, SEO, and performance capabilities. You can instead

pay $12 for Super with Notion for site building and access all the features that a modern CMS must offer.

FAQs

Are Notion Sites free?

Notion Sites is free and allows you to create a basic website with your content in Notion, but most features are disabled for users on the free plan. Most of these features are made available with free plans from third-party Notion site builders like Super.

Can I subscribe to a monthly plan for Sites if I have paid annually for my Notion plan?

No, users who pay annually for their Notion plan must pay annually for Notion Sites as well.

Can I add a custom domain in the middle of my current plan?

Yes, you will be charged pro-rata for the remaining period of your plan.