If I said the word note-taking app, most of you would think about Notion straight away. That is how popular Notion is.

For this video, I have explored how good Notion is for effortless Notetaking and will highlight 7 benefits that Notion has going for, but also 2 drawbacks.

Benefit 1: Straight forward to use

Notion is both beginners friendly and super-advanced, as I’ll come back to later. If you are just there to create and write, Notion is excellent for it. It’s very easy to create new notes and subpages.

In terms of formatting, it uses a visible version of markdown so you can see directly after hitting these shortcuts. In other words, it is very easy to format which is good. Bolding, headlines, highlights, you name it.

Other than that, Notion is made of blocks and you can move around them quite freely. But contrary to roam, you CAN select multiple blocks which makes the app usable, to begin with.

You can also link your notes and see the backlinks. Favorite is very easy and is especially useful if you have one particular note you want to go back to again and again. Although the search feature is a little bit slow, it works fine according to me

Benefit 2 — The Web Clipper

Like Evernote, Notion has a web extension that is easy to setup. Whenever you browse on your computer, you can immediately save this article as a new page inside.

Even on the phone, you can still easily save whatever you find to Notion, so you can build your personal library that way.

Benefit 3: Databases

Now we are getting into the advanced stuff, where Notion clearly shines.

In Notion, you can via a slash command create databases to keep track of certain notes. There are multiple views from tables to kanban boards and you can filter and sort them in many different ways. You can also create linked databases in which you can have the same one but with different views across multiple pages. And if you edit one, it will show up on the other pages.

In terms of tracking progress and getting a high-level overview, databases are very useful. I personally use a kanban board to keep track of these articles, moving them to different statuses. You might first think that this is too complex but this allow you to safely forget about all these projects. And to be your most effective self, forgetting and being present is absolutely essential.

So if you are looking for these views, Notion is the way to go, period.

Benefit 4: Templates

Notion is very famous for its template capabilities, and you can even make a living selling templates.

It’s a bit more complicated to create one, compared to apps like Mem. But if you click on a blank page, there are options to create a template out of it. You can also create template blocks that when used spits out the information you inputted in.

This is very useful if you are doing something repetitively in your work. You can create checklists on the fly and thus not worry about potential mistakes later on.

Benefit 5: Share on the web

Now we get into the real juicy stuff, which I feel many people, me included, have missed

You see, I used to have a blog for which I paid roughly 120 dollars per year just to maintain my domain, blog, theme whatever. But with Notion, you can turn any note, any page to a website page that everyone can view, for free! With a custom domain and everything included.

How cool isn’t that! You do not even need to code, just create information and links on one page and then click upload. There is no need for advanced website builders anymore if you are just starting out.

Instead, click to share it on the web and it is available.

Benefit 6: API

Notion has also a well-functioning API that lets you do all kinds of stuff with it. From automation services like Zapier to custom coding if you can do that.

In other words, and that is something Notion also calls themselves, they are more than just a notetaking tool. With these automation features, you can do whatever you want on other apps and Notion will right with you.

Benefit 5: It’s free

Last but definitely not least, it’s free. For 99% of activities you want to do, it’s absolutely free. Compared to other apps like Evernote, Roam, and Obsidian, your wallet is untouched and you can access it from multiple devices.

The major limitation of the free plan is that it only allows up to five collaborators. If you are a team, you might want to upgrade to a measly $4/month. But in my opinion, if you have a team, you definitely have the means to pay. And when it comes to team features, Notion is very big on that.

So these were the 5 major benefits that Notion has to offer. Now let’s cover the two drawbacks.

Drawback 1: Not suitable for creating many notes

Compared to most other apps, the interface as a whole is not really conducive to creating many notes. Although you technically can, they all end up here which can look a bit messy as you get into more than 100 of them. Of course, you can create many inside databases and within dashboards, but now it’s not as effortless as just pushing a button.

Drawback 2: No timeline

The other drawback I found is a little smaller but still significant. When you create new notes or edit ones, there is no way to get the latest viewed ones back to the top. Especially if you want to create many notes, you have to scroll down a lot.

There is a journal feature though in which you can create pages for the day. So if you are like me and really appreciate daily notes and a place to just dump whatever is in your head, it is a great option for that.

Final thoughts

This might come as a plot twist but I do not think that these drawbacks are bad at all.

Why do I believe that?

Quite simply, Notion is not supposed to be this app where create endless notes although you certainly can. It’s primary for things like dashboards, databases, groups, and categories of notes that might still be there at all times but easily updatable.

You know, I view Notion as a ginormous sidebar. There are projects and metrics I update frequently but I do not add more notes than necessary. And Notion is extremely good at that, plus many more awesome features we did not cover here such as task managers and formulas, I highly recommend you check out Thomas Frank’s channel where he dives deep into Notion.

Together with the benefits just mentioned, I strongly believe it is the best notetaking app right now. Everything you need for free.

But, you want to couple Notion with another notetaking app, something that allows for fast note creation and timeline, This is what I personally do, Notion for everything I need to update and Mem.ai for ideas and daily notes.