The short answer
- Working alone? Notion Free has unlimited pages and blocks for individuals; you pay for teams, guests and AI. Modeled first-year saving per seat: $132. the math
- For public docs or a small handbook, the recipe's Replace with AI path generates a static docs site from your Notion export, with no per-member fee. recipe
- Self-hosting AFFiNE or AppFlowy is modeled to cost $1,316 more than Notion Plus in year one for 1 seat, once your upkeep time counts. the math
- Keep Notion if several people edit together every day, you run work in Notion databases, or you use Notion AI. recipe
Four ways to stop paying for Notion
A cheaper vendor
Cheaper plan Notion (free tier): saves $132 in year one (+5 more below)
Open source
AFFiNE: costs $1,316 more in year one (+4 more below)
Replace with AI
Static public docs or a small internal handbook: not priced yet
The best option of each kind, modeled, not measured: each figure links its math. Keeping Notion is a valid answer too.
Who should switch, and who shouldn't
Switch if
- You write alone, or share pages read-only: Free is unlimited for individuals but limits blocks once 2 or more members edit. notion.com
- Your workspace is mostly static docs or a public handbook that changes a few times a month. recipe
- A 7-day page history is enough for how you work. notion.com
Stay if
- Several people edit the same pages at the same time every day. recipe
- Your work runs in Notion databases with relations, views and automations. recipe
- You use Notion AI: the free plan has a trial only. notion.com
What Notion costs today
List prices from the vendor's pricing page, as stored in the Stackcut catalog. Each price links its source.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notion Plus | $12/user/mo | $10/user/mo | Unlimited collaborative blocks and file uploads, 30-day page history |
| Notion Business | $24/user/mo | $20/user/mo | Notion Agent, AI Meeting Notes, enterprise search, SAML SSO, 90-day page history |
The alternatives, ranked
13 ways out, ranked by modeled saving in the first year after setup and upkeep (12 priced). Modeled, not measured: each figure links the math on the recipe page.
- Paths are modeled per seat against Notion Plus at $12/user/mo. recipe
Compare a specific alternative
Considering a specific destination? Read its checked comparison before deciding what to move.
- Notion vs AFFiNE Checked comparison evidence, migration details, public switching accounts.
- Notion vs AppFlowy Checked comparison evidence, migration details, public switching accounts.
- Notion vs Obsidian Checked comparison evidence, migration details, public switching accounts.
What a docs workspace costs at 1, 5 and 20 users
Notion and AppFlowy charge per member. Free plans cap members; self-hosting has no seat price but you run the server.
| Option | List price | 1 user | 5 users | 20 users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notion Plus today | $12/user/mobilled monthly | $12 | $60 | $240 |
| Notion Business today | $24/user/mobilled monthly | $24 | $120 | $480 |
| Notion Freelimited blocks for 2+ members | $0free plan | $0free tier | up to 1 user | up to 1 user |
| AppFlowy Pro | $12.50/user/mobilled monthly | $12.50 | $62.50 | $250 |
| AppFlowy Free | $0free plan | $0free tier | up to 2 users | up to 2 users |
| AFFiNE Free (cloud) | $0free plan | $0free tier | up to 3 users | up to 3 users |
| AFFiNE (self-hosted) | $0 licenseopen source | $0+ your server | $0+ your server | $0+ your server |
How people actually left Notion
8 public accounts of leaving Notion: 4 switched, 4 gave up. Summaries are ours; each links the original, and each was checked against its page before it appeared here.
A Notion workspace outgrew its performance (large databases slow down, a roughly 250k-row write cap) so the author self-hosted AppFlowy instead, finding a near-identical UI, instant loads and full offline access. daily.dev
A switcher moved a Notion workspace to self-hosted AFFiNE for true offline editing, a built-in canvas and data control; migration worked via the built-in importer, though nested folders didn't fully transfer and mobile/Android has rough edges. daily.dev
A DevOps-focused author wrote a personal Python script that pulls Title/Select fields via the Notion API and reformats them as Markdown for AppFlowy import, replacing manual copy-paste; the basic script is limited to those two field types and hits API rate limits on large databases. TechResolve
A user's Notion import into AFFiNE's web app (app.affine.pro) repeatedly failed with a JavaScript type error, and partial imports left pages unorganized with missing content; the underlying bug was later fixed via a linked pull request. GitHub (toeverything/AFFiNE)
An independent guide migrating a simple Notion structure (tables via CSV, pages via Markdown) into AppFlowy imported directly into an existing workspace, unlike AppFlowy's official all-at-once importer which creates a separate one; the manual, one-by-one process only suits simple setups, not large ones. ReAllLinuxUser
A user with a complex, cross-referenced Notion workspace (several databases with references and backreferences) used the standard HTML export and import but could not reproduce the same structure in AFFiNE; the question went unanswered by the AFFiNE team. GitHub (toeverything/AFFiNE)
Show 2 more
A user's Notion .zip import froze AFFiNE on macOS ARM64 for hours; after force-restarting, roughly half the pages hadn't imported. Maintainers closed the report as not planned. GitHub (toeverything/AFFiNE)
A 2020 community script for converting a Notion Markdown/CSV export into an Obsidian-ready vault; most commenters over the following months reported the Python script no longer worked and one switched to a JavaScript alternative. The thread now points readers to Obsidian's official Importer instead. Obsidian Forum
How to leave Notion
Export first, then cancel. Every step links the vendor's own help page, checked on the date shown.
How to leave Notion
Export first
- Whole workspace: Settings → General → Export all workspace content (Markdown & CSV, HTML, PDF). Large exports arrive by email with a link that expires after 7 days and can take up to 30 hours. Form views can't be exported. notion.com
- A single page: The ••• menu at the top right of the page → Export (Markdown & CSV, HTML, PDF). notion.com
What you lose
- Form views of a database can't be exported at all, in any format
- Other members' private pages you lack access to are skipped by any export you run
- Content restricted by teamspace settings may be excluded from an export
- Downgrading caps multi-person workspaces at 1,000 blocks, 5MB files, 7-day version history, 10 guests and 1 published domain
- Automations and Custom Agents become view-only (not deleted) on downgrade; SAML SSO, SCIM and the Audit Log are switched off below Business/Enterprise
Cancel
- Export the whole workspace first (see export).
- Settings → Billing → Change plan → pick the plan → Continue → give feedback → Downgrade.
- Takes effect
- At the end of your billing cycle.
- Refunds
- Only within 3 days of the invoice on monthly billing, or 30 days on annual billing, requested from the workspace owner's or billing email.
- After you cancel
- You land on the Free plan: Unlimited pages/blocks for individuals but limited blocks for 2+ members; 5 MB per file upload; 7-day page history; 10 external guests; Notion AI trial only.
Not covered by the paths above, per the recipe: Real-time collaborative workspace, Notion databases, Full comments/history migration, Notion AI. If you rely on one of these, keep the incumbent or check the path closely.
Moving your data, destination by destination
What each destination's importer carries over, what it leaves behind, and any help it offers switchers.
To AFFiNE
Official guide affine.pro · Tools: AFFiNE Notion importer
Moves: Pages and page hierarchy (partial); Notion databases (partial). affine.pro
Doesn't move: Cross-page references and backreferences; Link-to-block references (vendor says planned, not yet supported); Full one-to-one feature parity with Notion is not guaranteed. affine.pro
Watch out for:
- Complex workspaces with many cross-page references and multiple databases may not keep their original structure affine.pro
- Large .zip imports have frozen the app for at least one user on desktop (macOS ARM64) affine.pro
- Link-to-block references aren't supported yet affine.pro
Switching help: Built-in Notion importer (HTML/.zip) inside the AFFiNE app. affine.pro
To AppFlowy
Official guide docs.appflowy.io · Tools: AppFlowy Notion importer
Moves: Pages and workspace structure (partial); Databases, pages and media (partial). docs.appflowy.io
Doesn't move: Rollups and formulas (must be rebuilt manually); Moving pages/tables between workspaces after import isn't supported yet. docs.appflowy.io
Watch out for:
- Import creates a brand-new AppFlowy workspace; pages and tables can't yet be moved into or merged with an existing one docs.appflowy.io
- Rollups and formulas are lost and must be rebuilt by hand docs.appflowy.io
Community guide reallinuxuser.com · Tools: AppFlowy CSV import, AppFlowy Text & Markdown import
Moves: Individual database tables (standard fields) (full); Page content and text (full). reallinuxuser.com
Doesn't move: Rollups and formulas. reallinuxuser.com
Watch out for:
- Rollups and formulas don't survive and must be rebuilt manually reallinuxuser.com
Switching help: Free built-in Notion .zip importer on AppFlowy's Notion comparison page, plus free CSV/Markdown import for a manual, simple-structure migration. docs.appflowy.io
To Obsidian
Official guide obsidian.md · Tools: Obsidian Importer plugin
Moves: Pages and formatting (full); Databases (via Notion API import) (partial); Attachments and internal links (full). obsidian.md
Doesn't move: Databases (via .zip/HTML import); Comments; Linked data sources within a shared database (a Notion API limitation); Real-time collaboration and shared-workspace permissions - Obsidian has no equivalent; The People functions name()/email() and Text functions style()/unstyle(). obsidian.md
Watch out for:
- Notion's Markdown export omits data that the HTML export keeps - use HTML for the .zip import path obsidian.md
- Only each database's primary/default view survives; other saved views are dropped obsidian.md
- The API import silently skips a database's linked data sources unless the integration is explicitly shared with the source too obsidian.md
Community guide obsibrain.com · Tools: Obsidian Importer plugin, Dataview plugin
Moves: Database entries, properties (API path) (partial); Pages, attachments, hierarchy, links (HTML path) (full); Formulas (API path only) (partial). obsibrain.com
Doesn't move: Linked data sources; Shared pages, comments, permissions, automations and real-time collaboration. obsibrain.com
Watch out for:
- Only the primary view for each database is imported; linked data sources are not imported obsibrain.com
- Obsidian is not a drop-in replacement for shared Notion workspaces - team features need Notion or a separate tool obsibrain.com
Switching help: Free, official Importer community plugin supports both a Notion API import and a Notion .zip/HTML import; no paid Obsidian license is required to import. obsidian.md
From each destination's own migration docs and switching pages, plus community write-ups where no official guide exists, each checked against its page. Confirm terms on the linked page before you rely on an offer.
Open-source and forkable options
- AFFiNE: Open-source, local-first docs + whiteboards + databases; self-host free. License: open_source
- AppFlowy: Open-source Notion alternative; free plan, Pro $10/user annual. License: open_source
- BookStack: MIT-licensed wiki (books, chapters, pages) with search and revisions; self-host only. License: open_source
- Wiki.js: AGPL-3.0 wiki with Markdown and visual editors, Git storage and SSO; self-host only. License: open_source
- Docmost: AGPL-3.0 Confluence/Notion alternative with a real-time editor, spaces and page history; imports from Notion. License: open_source
Open source means no license fee, not free to run: the server, backups and upgrades are yours. Read the license before you fork or resell; several of these are open-core or source-available.
Replace with AI, or hand it to an agent skill
Agent skill Obsidian skills (markdown, bases, JSON canvas): Agent-maintained notes and knowledge base in a local Obsidian vault (plain Markdown files) instead of a hosted wiki seat. First year: costs $256 more (modeled, not measured).
Replace with AI Replace with AI: static public docs or a small internal handbook: Generate a documentation site from exported content; use the existing identity system for internal content. Not priced in the catalog yet.
- The spec keeps real-time collaboration, Notion databases and full history out of scope: it publishes what you already wrote. recipe
FAQ
How do I export everything from Notion?
Settings → General → Export all workspace content, as Markdown & CSV, HTML or PDF. Large exports arrive by email with a link that expires after 7 days, and can take up to 30 hours. notion.com
When does a Notion downgrade take effect?
At the end of your billing cycle, so you keep paid features until then. notion.com
Can I get a refund on Notion?
Only within 3 days of the invoice on monthly billing, or 30 days on annual billing, and the request has to come from the workspace owner's or billing email. notion.com
Is AppFlowy a free Notion?
AppFlowy covers docs, databases and boards. Its free plan allows 1 collaborative workspace up to 2 members, 5 GB storage, and Pro costs $12.50/user/mo. appflowy.com
Keep reading
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find_alternatives({"vendor": "Notion", "seats": 5,
"features_used": ["Pages", "Navigation", "Search"]})