Comparison Guide
Thoughtmarks vs Notion
Notion does everything. Thoughtmarks does one thing brilliantly: capture ideas before they disappear.
The Quick Verdict
Notion is a powerful all-in-one workspace—databases, wikis, project management, team collaboration. It's incredible if you have time to set it up and maintain it.
Thoughtmarks is for people who just want to capture ideas without the homework. No setup. No templates. No decision fatigue. Just speak and go.
Choose Thoughtmarks if:
- You've set up Notion 5 times and abandoned it 5 times
- You want to capture ideas while driving, walking, or cooking
- You hate deciding where to file things
- You want something that just works on day one
- Personal note-taking, not team collaboration
Choose Notion if:
- You need databases and relational data
- You work with a team and need shared workspaces
- You enjoy building elaborate systems
- You need project management features
- You want an all-in-one workspace
The Notion Problem Nobody Talks About
Notion is powerful. Maybe too powerful. For every person who builds an amazing "second brain" in Notion, there are ten who:
- • Spent weeks setting up the perfect template, then never used it
- • Have a "Capture" page with 500 unsorted items
- • Can't find that note from 3 weeks ago because it's in the wrong database
- • Feel guilty every time they open the app because of their organizational debt
Thoughtmarks exists for these people. The ones who don't want a productivity hobby—they just want to remember their ideas.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Thoughtmarks | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly Price | $5/week | N/A |
| Monthly Price | $15/month | Free + $10/month |
| Annual Price | $60/year | $96/year |
| Setup Time | 0 minutes | Hours to days |
| Learning Curve | None | Steep |
| Voice Capture | ✓ Native Siri integration | Limited |
| Hands-Free Recording | ✓ Hey Siri | ✗ |
| Apple Watch App | ✓ Full app | ✗ |
| Auto-Organization | ✓ AI handles it | Manual only |
| Semantic Search | ✓ Search by meaning | Keyword only |
| Databases | ✗ | ✓ |
| Team Collaboration | Personal use | ✓ Teams |
| Project Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Wikis | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | Auto-generated | ✓ 1000s |
| Privacy | ✓ E2E encrypted | Server-side |
| Offline Mode | ✓ Full | Limited |
| Mobile-First | ✓ Native iOS | Web-first |
Why They're Actually Different Tools
Notion is a Canvas. Thoughtmarks is a Net.
Notion gives you a blank canvas. You can build anything— but you have to build it. It's a construction tool.
Thoughtmarks is a net that catches ideas falling out of your head. It's not about building systems—it's about not losing thoughts. The AI handles the organization so you can stay in creative mode.
The Capture Problem
Great ideas don't come when you're at your computer. They come in the shower, while driving, during a walk, in conversations.
Notion requires you to: open app → navigate to right page → type → tag → organize. By the time you're done, you've either forgotten the idea or broken your flow.
Thoughtmarks is: "Hey Siri, add a Thoughtmark" → speak → done. 5 seconds. Hands-free. AI handles the rest.
Can You Use Both?
Absolutely. Many people use Thoughtmarks as their idea capture layer— the quick-capture tool for raw thoughts. Then periodically process them into Notion for deeper organization and project management. Capture fast, organize later.
Tired of your notes app being homework?
Try the effortless approach to idea capture. 14-day free trial, then $5/week, $15/month, or $60/year. No setup required.
Available on iOS with Apple Watch companion app.