Coda vs Notion vs Docsie: Which Tool Wins for Documentation?

At a glance, Coda and Notion are very similar: both are workspaces that support databases, note-taking, documentation, workflow management, and data organization.

But there are key differences that make them suitable for different teams.¶

We've included Docsie in this comparison because it’s a tool that shares functionalities with both Notion and Coda, but covers use cases where the two fall short: in creating robust knowledge bases and company wikis.

We tested all three apps and read hundreds of opinions on Reddit, G2, and Capterra. We compared the tools in eight areas that users talk about the most:

• Pricing

• Support

• Automation

• Integrations

• Ease of use

• Database features

• Documentation features

• And knowledge management

Let me save you some time… If you’re looking for an easy-to-learn knowledge management app, check out Docsie. It’s free for up to 3 users, and unlimited guests can view the data!*

Comparison Summary: Coda vs Notion vs Docsie¶

Docsie vs Coda vs Notion: Documentation Features¶

Docsie is best for creating documents, and Notion leads Coda with its editor

Notion and Coda use "blocks" while Docsie is more intuitive

Notion and Coda both have editing features that rely on building blocks, which allow you to add headers, images, videos, text, etc.

The difference is that Coda starts working slowly when dealing with large documents. And Notion flows more naturally when writing since it started as a note-taking tool.

Meanwhile, Docsie is more like a WordPress editor — with a more intuitive user experience. Like Notion and Coda, it also gives you all the editing functionality you need but focuses more on ease of use with features like shortcuts.

Docsie has the best sharing & client access

Notion and Coda both let you manage access internally by assigning roles with admin tools, or externally by sharing them on the internet.

Docsie uses a similar system but also lets you password-protect pages and share articles with readers on knowledge portals or website embeds.

Coda has minimal version control, Notion shows change history, and Docsie has rollback and access permissions

Coda offers minimal version control, which can’t help with questions like "when was the last time this page changed?" or "what changed?"

Notion provides change history with the enterprise plan, but it allows only rollbacks, so it works more like a backup than actual version control.

Meanwhile, Docsie has powerful version control features.

Instead of rollbacks, all of your previous article versions are available in the book. You can designate one as the “current version” and decide if you want to show old versions to users. That means you have complete control of what you show to your readers and how you version your documents.

Docsie has powerful content embeds

Another difference between Coda, Notion, and Docsie is that Docsie allows 19 content embeds that work seamlessly in your articles. That means you can use the full functionality of apps like Google Sheets, Google Docs, Loom, Google Maps, GitHub Gists, and many more.

Winner: Docsie. It’s the perfect blend of features and ease of use to create beautiful digital documentation.

Notion vs Coda vs Docsie: Knowledge Management¶

Docsie has all you need in one package, Notion and Coda are customizable but can get complex

Docsie has an intuitive organization structure, while Coda and Notion let you create your own

Docsie uses an intuitive knowledge organization structure.

It uses “shelves” that contain “books”, which can be organized into “sections”. The books contain articles, previous versions, and articles in other languages.

Docsie works just like a library, and it’s easy to understand.

Coda and Notion, on the other hand, rely on nested pages. It’s intuitive and you can create any structure you want. But it can get confusing quickly if you’re nesting subpages more than 3 layers deep.

Coda’s search is clunky, Docsie and Notion easily surface the right information

Large organizations often have problems finding data in Coda. Its search isn’t as advanced as Notion’s or Docsie’s because it doesn’t surface pages as results, only data.

Meanwhile, Notion and Docsie are more user-friendly because they search across pages and all data. Docsie also lets you filter articles by language.

Winner: **Docsie**, since it uses a very intuitive & scalable organization structure and a powerful search that lets you navigate your documents quickly.

Notion vs Docsie vs Coda: Pricing & Value for money¶

Notion offers best value for money, Docsie is most affordable for knowledge management, Coda is pricey

Free plan comparison¶

Coda offers a free plan for an unlimited number of team members. The number of table rows is limited to 1000 across all your tables. The number of objects in the doc is also limited to 50. Objects include pages, tables, views, buttons, controls, and Formulas. So if you want to manage a team with Coda, you’ll quickly exceed the free pricing plan limits.

Notion’s free plan doesn’t limit the number of blocks you can use, but it’s made for only one person. You can add 5 guests, but you can’t manage access for them.

Docsie has a free plan for up to 3 accounts and you get to show your documents to unlimited guests. But it has a file upload limit and you can manage 5 books and 1 shelf (though with unlimited articles).

Paid plan price comparison¶

On the paid plan, every app lets you share documents with guests for free. So prices essentially depend on how many team members have editing access.

Coda charges $10/month/user for the “Pro” and $30/month/user for the “Team” plan.

Notion charges $4/month/user for the “Personal Pro” and $8/month/user for the “Team” plan.

Docsie has three flat-fee pricing plans based on team size and features.

What to go with if the price is your biggest concern

Go with Notion if:

• You’re only looking for a free personal productivity platform. (Free plan)

• You want to provide your team with powerful personal workspaces, but don’t need strong collaboration tools. (Personal Pro plan)

• You need an all-in-one workspace with over 25 members (Team plan)

Go with Docsie if:

• You need a collaborative platform with up to 15 editors (Startup Plus/Small Team plans)

• You’re a team of any size that needs a specialized app for knowledge base/SOP management — Docsie isn’t much more expensive than Notion but it has better features for these use cases

Go with Coda if:

• You need a team workspace with more database/automation features than Notion

• The lack of key knowledge base management features and high price aren’t problems for you

Winner: Either Docsie** or Notion**. If you need a dedicated SOP knowledge base, go with Docsie. If you need a general productivity workspace, go with Notion.

Coda vs Docsie vs Notion: Customer Support¶

Coda and Docsie have the best customer support, while Notion is still catching up

Customer support is tough to judge.

It wouldn’t be fair to base it on a single experience. So we’ve gone over the latest reviews and opinions on Reddit, G2, and Capterra to compare the three based on what users say.

Notion’s customer support is still catching up

Notion used to rely on its community for support.

It only started investing in a proper support team recently. Users say their support doesn’t provide good technical help, and quickly sends you to engineers for such issues. And engineers usually say they’ll fix it in the next version.

Coda has great customer support

Many Coda users praise their support team for the fast response times and how easy it is to work with.

Docsie’s customer support is “professional, responsive and well organized”

Our team is always ready to help if you encounter any issues with Docsie. But it’s best if you take it directly from our users:

Winner: Coda and Docsie: for their quick (technical) support.

Coda vs Notion vs Docsie: Database Features¶

Coda is most powerful, Notion is for visualization, and Docsie allows you to embed Google Sheets

Notion is the king of visualization…

Notion’s table capabilities are extensive. You can create different “views” like

• List,

• Table,

• Board,

• Gallery,

• Calendar,

• And timeline.

You make them by creating a new page with the selected view. Then you can also embed them on other pages.

But Coda’s functions are way better than Notion’s

Coda has similar database features as Notion.

But it also has conditional formatting and calculations, making it as robust as Google Sheets.

On top of that Coda has integrated functions that remind of a true programming language. If you're tech-savvy, they'll feel intuitive and easy. And you can add them anywhere, not just in tables.

For example, here’s something that’s trivial to do in Coda but a huge pain in Notion: If I want to count the number of rows in a spreadsheet with Status matching "TODO".

In Coda, this is as trivial as creating a formula: =MyTable.CountIf(Status="TODO"). In Notion, you would have to create a new related database, link elements together, add a rollup field containing label text then use a convoluted formula like length(replaceAll(replaceAll(prop("Status"), "TODO", ""), "[\^]", ""))).

Docsie lets you embed Google Sheets

Docsie allows the creation of spreadsheets much like Notion, but it doesn’t allow as many different views in its editor, nor does it have powerful functions like Coda. However, the workaround is that Docise allows Google Sheets embeds, with their full functionality.

Winner: **Coda** for power users that want to replace Google Sheets.

Notion vs Coda vs Docsie: Apps And Integrations¶

Coda offers more native integrations than Notion, Docsie focuses on knowledge base functionality

Coda is the best option if you need integrations across many apps. It offers *over 300 native integrations*, making it impossible not to integrate with your tech stack. Notion, on the other hand, focuses only on the essentials with its 36 native integrations.

Docsie Approaches App Integrations Differently Than Notion Or Coda

Docsie’s motto is “knowledge base functionality first” allowing you to directly embed other apps’ content into your articles. For example, it allows you to edit Google Docs directly on your knowledge portals, without having to open another browser tab or app.

Docsie also has native integration with GitHub, GitLab, BitBucket, and Zapier — so it’s easily integrable with your business processes.

**Winner: Coda**, because of the sheer quantity of native integrations.

Coda vs Notion vs Docsie: Pros & Cons¶

Coda Pros & Cons¶

Notion Pros & Cons¶

Docsie Pros & Cons¶

Final Verdict: Notion vs Coda vs Docsie¶

Great apps aren’t great because they have a bunch of features.

They’re all about solving a user need by hitting the sweet spot between usability and feature set.

Use Coda If:¶

• You need to do many table operations

• You want to use formulas for advanced calculations and automation

• You’re an enterprise or mid-sized team that needs a workspace for single-project tracking

Use Notion If:¶

• You need a project management app for personal use or a productivity app

• You need a good visual representation of your data and information

• You’re a solopreneur, a small, or mid-sized team in need of a workspace

Use Docsie If:¶

• You want to easily create beautiful & functional docs

• You need an easy-to-manage collaborative knowledge base platform

• You want to create SOPs, wikis, manuals, product documentation, and datasheets

Click here to try out Docsie today!