an honest comparison
Notion is a connected workspace in the cloud: pages, databases and wikis that teams share and link together. Tansy is for one person's whole creative life, offline-first, with handwriting, drawing and music alongside typed documents, tasks and tables, and every file in a folder you own.
Notion facts checked October 2026 on their own site; plans and prices change, so check before you buy. Tansy launches August 12, 2027.
| What | Tansy | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $29.99 once ($19.99 for the first 30 days after launch). 14-day free trial. | Free for personal use. Plus $10 per member per month (less billed yearly). Business $20 per member per month. |
| Platforms | iPad, iPhone, Mac, Windows and Android. One Apple purchase covers iPad, iPhone and Mac; Windows and Android are bought in their own stores. | Web, Mac, Windows, iOS and Android apps. |
| Sync | Your own folder: iCloud Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox or Google Drive. No account. Edits from two devices merge. | Notion's cloud with an account. Offline access to pages you've downloaded. |
| Your files | Regular files in a folder you can see, back up and keep. Nothing uploaded to us. | Pages live in Notion's cloud; export to Markdown, HTML or PDF. |
| Handwriting and drawing | Notebooks, planners and canvases with pressure and tilt. | Not a focus; typed blocks. |
| Tasks and data | Tasks from every file in one Today view, calendars, projects with kanban, tables with typed columns, logs and profiles. | Databases with many views, relations, formulas and automations. |
| Collaboration | Single-user. Share by exporting or by sharing the files themselves. | Real-time collaboration, comments and sharing. |
| Import from the other | Imports Notion exports. | Imports Markdown, HTML and Word. |
Export your Notion workspace and import it into Tansy. Pages become documents and notes; you can then link them with [[links]] and tags.
Nothing is locked away afterwards either: every Tansy file stays a file in your own folder, and exports to common formats whether or not you buy. How your files work →
For a single person's notes, documents, tasks and tables, yes, and it adds handwriting, drawing and music. For shared team workspaces, Notion is built for that and Tansy isn't.
Yes, always. Your library is files on your device; nothing depends on a server.
Yes. Tansy imports Notion exports.
Try Tansy before anyone else and help shape it before it launches on August 12, 2027. The beta is small, so we'll email you if you get a spot. Everyone on the list hears when Tansy launches.