Notion vs ClickUp: Which Tool is Better for Project Management?

In the market for a project management tool and looking to compare ClickUp vs Notion? Both of these software apps offer powerful features and capabilities, but they are designed with different users in mind. 

So, which should you choose? Before making any big decisions, let’s thoughtfully compare Notion vs ClickUp based on features, performance, collaboration capabilities, customization options, scalability, and cost. 

By evaluating each product through identified criteria it will be easier for you to make an informed decision about your next project management solution.

Let's dive in!

What is ClickUp

ClickUp is an all-in-one project management tool and productivity app designed for all users. This productivity software offers over a hundred customizable features to help you manage projects and automate tasks. ClickUp's powerful features allow teams to collaborate and work together all in one place to achieve project completion and success. Along with its built in automation features and advanced time tracking tools, it has an intuitive user interface

Best Features

• Choose from 15+ custom views including Gantt Chart, Timeline, and Chat view
• Add a single or multiple assignees to a task 
• Track tasks and project progress with custom statuses
• Create and save custom automation to streamline workflow

Limitations

• Learning curve due to a number of customization features and options
• Limited mobile app views

Pricing

• Free: Free forever
• Unlimited: $5 per user per month
• Business: $12 per user per month
• Business Plus: $19 per user per month
• Enterprise: Contact sales

User Ratings

G2: 4.7/5 (4800+ reviews)

Capterra: 4.7/5 (3100+ reviews)

"ClickUp is an incredibly flexible platform that truly revolutionized how I worked. The ability to customize the system to fit my workflows was a major selling point when I first looked into it and something that has been invaluable ever since. It offers me the unique opportunity to choose from a range of pre-made tasks, processes and boards or create my own - allowing me unlimited freedom in designing how I want to get things done.

The flexibility of Clickup also allows for collaboration between different members of the team without any hassle. Every user can have their own customized view and share what they’re working on with others so everyone is always on the same page. This makes communication much more efficient, as well as reduces errors through shared knowledge about which tasks are assigned where and by whom.” - Xavier W., Director

Sign up for ClickUp for free, no credit card required

What is Notion

Organize your personal and business related tasks and projects with Notion. This project and task management tool is a simple but intuitive application that is great for personal and team productivity. Notion is a highly customizable cloud-based application to help manage tasks, personal information, and other records. Users looking for simpler project management tools will find Notion a great alternative to help you stay organized and productive.

Best Features

• Easy to use and customize according to your needs and preferences
• Offers features to help with goal setting and lead management
• Drag and drop interface for ease of use without the need for trainings

Limitations

• Note taking features can be slow
• Limitations with the actions that can be performed within software integrations

Pricing

• Notion offers a free plan for individuals
• Plus: $8 per user per month
• Business: $15 per user per month
• Enterprise: Contact sales for pricing

“Notion is an extremely flexible software. Thanks to their databases and multiple views like calendar, Kanban, tables, and lists. I found it to be extremely intuitive and fun to use. I can definitely see how it could replace a Google Doc and be a central place for your team.” - Jason Edward N., Marketer

ClickUp vs Notion in the Community

When looking for reliable information about ClickUp vs Notion, it is important to include resources from the community. This is because the community perspective offers a unique view on each of these tools, as members are unbiased and have likely used both options themselves. 

Check out this video from a popular influencer:

Using the G2 Grid for project management software comparison is also a great way to quickly evaluate the two tools and make an informed decision. G2Crowd sources from a diverse set of user reviews to create this measurement to help potential customers compare different solutions side-by-side. 

As you can see, both ClickUp and Notion are quite high in the charts.

Depending on your use case, you may want to consider these scores and rankings as they are a very good reflection of current user satisfaction and indication of future potential.

ClickUp vs Notion on Reddit

What better way to really get a feel for a tool than reading through what users on the internet are candidly sharing? Check out some Reddit posts on both tools. 

ClickUp Reddit Review

“What I like about ClickUp is its flexibility. Certainly it is not going to tick all the boxes. But it brings a solid suite of features. For me, it is fantastic that lists are flexible and support custom fields. There's various ways to display your tasks - Gantt chart, Kanban, tabular etc. You can reference ClickUp Docs as well - think of it like a simplified MS Word but being able to reference your tasks. I use it for my personal projects, for a list of books I want to read, for tracking gift ideas, for managing more complex personal side projects etc.” - via Reddit

Notion Reddit Review

“I noticed that after about a week of building, I was already using it many times a day. The things that were getting utilized the most were my daily to-do list, my shopping database, my notes page, and various other lists. Two weeks in, I was adding to my goals and projects and keeping track of my cleaning. Three weeks in, I finally nailed my habit tracker. Now, I’m using all of the above, and I just started a new project that has been so enjoyable to work on in Notion. The reason Notion works so well for me is not because I’m using everything all the time. It’s because everything is THERE for me to use whenever I need it.” - via Reddit

Now, onto our honest opinions on different categories of comparison between Notion and ClickUp.

Usability and Feature Comparison

ClickUp's Usability and Features

ClickUp is known for its intuitive and user-friendly interface. Its drag-and-drop capabilities allows users to easily use the tool and the Home feature displays all your tasks in one place. There are over 15+ custom views available for anyone, from individual contributors to executives, to see work from their point of view which is a significant advantage for teams with various projects. 

Besides the standard project management tools such as Gantt charts, Kanban boards, and Sprints as well as a time tracking tool. ClickUp also offers a variety of unique features such as the screen recording Clip feature. Record your screen and attach it directly to ClickUp tasks, saving you from having to use other screen recording apps such as Loom. 

Its whiteboards are an incredibly useful and versatile tool that allows users to visualize concepts, brainstorm ideas, and plan out entire projects. You can create an unlimited number of boards that can be viewed by anyone with access. The boards are also customizable, allowing users and guests to add text, images, notes, and more.

The sheer multitude of ClickUp features does make it a bit difficult and overwhelming for beginners. This can be compensated by being able to turn on and off different ClickApps so you can choose which features you want enabled for your team to eliminate overwhelm.

Sandra D., a digital marketing specialist says: “As a Scrum Master, I feel that ClickUp is a marvelous tool for any Agile marketing teams out there. We have biweekly sprint planning sessions, and using ClickUp makes getting through them a breeze. Custom views can be created at all levels -- for an individual list (we use these to separate business lines within our team), for an entire folder (which we use for a view of all the areas of our team). At the folder level, during grooming, I filter by all items due in the coming two weeks and then we can go through them and groom them. ClickUp allows for custom fields so that any details that are relevant across the board on a task can be filled in. This allows us to keep tasks organized by their values in the custom fields.”

Notion's Usability and Features

Notion is a great workspace app that combines note-taking, task management, to-do lists, and a database organization feature to help users manage their day-to-day tasks and work. It is a great app for storing, organizing, and sharing important information and documents. 

Notion is a simple yet flexible tool for tracking personal goals and project tasks. It provides a clean canvas that you can customize according to your needs. The app has a great community offering fully developed templates that you can use to start creating your own board.

Alberto G., says “My favorite thing from Notion has to do with its flexibility. I use it mainly to draft essays, blog posts, and articles. It's easier for me than any word processing software because Notion allows me --beyond being a multiplatform app-- to reorganize both my text and my files very smoothly. The heaps of templates available are also a great deal.”

Collaborative Capabilities Comparison

ClickUp's Collaborative Capabilities

ClickUp's collaboration features make it an ideal choice for distributed teams and remote work. Its wide range of features allows users to communicate quickly and effectively, no matter where they are located. For example, you can assign tasks to team members, comment on tasks and projects, @mention teammates and assign comments to them, and create task lists that can be shared with contractors and clients outside of your team. ClickUp also allows users to set custom permissions to further improve the organization of workspaces, especially for users handling multiple projects.

ClickUp's Chat View is also an incredibly useful feature that allows users to communicate and brainstorm easily in a specific List or Folder without having to switch between different applications. There's also an in-built Calendar feature that syncs with Google and Outlook calendars to help team members decide on important dates and team meetings. 

Its broad range of features makes it a great choice for any team looking to get organized and collaborate more effectively.

Reema D., an associate director says: The best parts about ClickUp are the potential for collaboration and the visual ability to watch tasks go through stages of completion. My team uses ClickUp primarily for candidate tracking and hiring. Through ClickUp, my team can share candidates, track contact logs, view resumes through their attachment upload feature, make notes, and move the candidate through the hiring process.

Notion's Collaborative Capabilities

Improve communication and collaboration with your remote team in real-time with Notion. This online application allows multiple users to edit the same document at the same time. Edits and comments are updated instantly to keep everyone in sync. 

The application shows a record of all the updates made by each user at a specific time. To communicate with an individual user, you can mention users to directly address them regarding certain matters. Notion pages can be shared with anyone.

Aryan G. says this about Notion’s collaboration features: "The thing I like the most about Notion is the ability to limit who I share information with and the clean interface allowing me to focus on what comes first. It has helped me form habits, info-dumps & create SOPs for my team to asynchronously learn from while I'm away."

Customization and Scalability Comparison

ClickUp's Customization and Scalability

ClickUp is highly customizable collaborative workspace that can be tailored to fit the specific needs of any organization or individual. It is designed to accommodate a diverse range of users, including neurodiverse users. For example, users can customize their view with different filters and sorting options, such as due date, assignee, priority, and tags. 

Its scalability is enabled by the multi-dimensional structure - for instance, ClickUp’s organizational hierarchy allows users to structure their workspace in whatever way works best for them. ClickUp also offers extensive reporting capabilities which can be adjusted depending on the size of an organization. For example, businesses can customize reports to track specific metrics, such as project progress, total time tracked or employee workload. 

This makes it a great solution for organizations of all different sizes and types that are looking for an intuitive yet powerful project management tool.

Dimitrije C., Head of Audio agrees: "I think ClickUp is very good at making large-scale processes visible to a large number of teams and people, and for me, it's been a massive improvement compared to a few project management solutions we've used previously in that aspect, especially since we started remote work. I don't know how I'd be able to keep up with the work of other departments in my company if I didn't have the flexible options of ClickUp, for following only the tasks which are relevant for my team and me."

Notion's Customization and Scalability

Notion has a simple user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and personalize according to your needs. Set up your system the way you want it with custom templates or a variety of ready-to-use templates for various uses such as project management and note-taking. 

Drag and drop to create your ideal dashboard and modify it whenever needed. While its blank and clean interface may be tricky for some to navigate around, it provides tools to help quickly create, assign, and track tasks. Notion can be integrated with a popular third party tool to create better workflows for you and your team.

Clea S., a customer support manager says: "What I like best about Notion is the variety of ways information can be formatted, shared and stored paired with clean communication tools. I love the various media types I can include and the number of useful plug-ins grows regularly."

Cost Comparison

ClickUp's Pricing

ClickUp pricing plans range from the free Forever Free plan to the Enterprise Plan. ClickUp has something for everyone. The Forever Free plan is perfect for small teams who need basic project management capabilities and don’t require the comprehensive feature set of a premium plan. For those looking for an even more advanced project management solution, the Unlimited Plan and Business Plan provide access to powerful features such as Gantt charts, timelines and workload management.

ClickUp's Enterprise Plan is the ideal choice for more complex organizations. It is designed to meet even the most demanding needs, from HIPAA compliance and whitelabeling to custom integrations tools and dedicated support.

Here's Allan G., a project manager: "[ClickUp] allows me to treat my business like software. I can adapt procedures so that orders flow through our company naturally. It can work like a manual ERP if you set it up correctly. I love that you can really do whatever you want, all for a very low price."

Notion's Pricing

Notion can be used for free with basic features and integrations. The free version also has a limited block trial for teams. For bigger teams, a Plus plan starting at $8 may be a reasonable option for small organizations and businesses. Plus plan users can access a 30-day page history, invite up to 100 guests, and have unlimited file uploads. 

Project managers looking to use Notion for management can get Plus features and more. These features include SAML SSO, private teamspaces, 90-day page history, and a limit of up to 250 guests. Bigger organizations can upgrade to a custom Enterprise plan which includes custom guest limit, advanced security controls, workspace analytics, and more.

Nitin S., a senior graphic designer comments about the pricing: "Even if it's affordable, its paid plan doesn't have much for freelancers compared to the free plan of Notion. More features make things complicated and sometimes heavy in terms of getting a quick overview."

Notion vs ClickUp: Bottom Line

Choose ClickUp if:

• You are looking for a centralized project management platform
• You're looking for a project management app with customization features
• You need an application with lots of integration capabilities

Choose Notion if:

• You're looking for a simpler application to setup
• You're working alone or with a small team
• You're looking for a drag-and-drop functionality