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Project Management Comparison

Notion vs. Plane

At a glance

At a glance

Notion

Best for

Best for documentation-heavy teams and startups that want docs and light project management in one place.

  • Freelancers
  • Small and mid-sized
  • Enterprise

Plane

Best for

Best for software teams that want a modern issue tracker they can self-host, including air-gapped.

  • Small and mid-sized
  • Enterprise

Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.

Full Comparison

Criterion Notion Plane
Starting price Free; Plus from ~$10 / user / month Business ~$15 to ~$20 per user and month, Enterprise on request. The free tier is for personal use. Free; Pro from $6 / seat / month Free plan for up to 12 users. Business is $13 per seat and month, Enterprise Grid is a custom quote, and the pricing page advertises a discount on annual billing. AI credits are allotted per seat and rise with the plan.
Free trial Free tier Free tier for up to 12 users, plus a 14-day Business trial without payment details
API Not stated Yes, a REST API with more than 180 endpoints, webhooks, OAuth apps and an MCP server
Hosting Not stated Cloud, or self-hosted on Docker or Kubernetes, including air-gapped
Made in USA Not stated
Task planning Yes, flexible project boards on top of docs, wikis and databases Yes, work items grouped into cycles, modules, epics and initiatives, across five layouts including board, list, spreadsheet and Gantt, with intake forms, estimates and approval workflows
Resource planning Limited, lighter than dedicated tools Not a staffing planner; real-time dashboards track velocity, workload and blockers instead
Time tracking Limited, lighter than dedicated tools Yes, from the Pro plan up
Reporting and controlling No dedicated project reporting, only basic database charts Yes, real-time dashboards for velocity, workload and blockers, with advanced dashboard widgets on Business
Integrations and API Yes, integrations and external database connections Yes, a REST API with more than 180 endpoints, webhooks, OAuth apps, an MCP server and YAML projects-as-code, plus 50-plus integrations and migration from Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp and Monday
AI features Yes Yes
MCP-ready No stated Yes
Deployment Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based more entries Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
Onboarding Not stated Documentation and knowledge base
Company size more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
Integrations more entries Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, Figma, Jira, Zapier GitHub, GitLab, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Sentry

Compare more tools

Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.

The short version

Key Differences

  • Starting price Notion Free; Plus from ~$10 / user / month Plane Free; Pro from $6 / seat / month
  • Free trial Notion Free tier Plane Free tier for up to 12 users, plus a 14-day Business trial without payment details
  • Deployment Notion Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based Plane Cloud (SaaS), Browser-based, On-premise
  • Company size Notion Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise Plane Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
  • MCP-ready Notion No Plane Yes

Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.

The trade-offs

Strengths and Limitations

Notion

Strengths

  • Extremely flexible (docs, databases and tasks)
  • Great for documentation-heavy teams
  • Strong free tier for individuals

Limitations

  • Not a dedicated PM tool, lighter on resource and time management
  • Needs setup discipline

Plane

Strengths

  • Open source under AGPL-3.0, with self-hosting on Docker, Kubernetes or air-gapped infrastructure
  • Cloud and self-hosted run the same product, so moving between them is a deployment choice
  • Broad developer surface: REST API, webhooks, OAuth apps and an official MCP server
  • Migration tools from Jira, Linear, Asana, ClickUp and Monday
  • Free plan covers teams of up to twelve

Limitations

  • No staffing-style resource planning and no invoicing, so client work needs a second system
  • Time tracking starts on the paid Pro plan
  • AI features are metered through credits rather than included outright

Plans

Pricing

Notion

  • Free $0 For personal use.
  • Plus ~$10 Per user and month.
  • Business ~$15 to ~$20 Per user and month.
  • Enterprise Custom On request.
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Plane

  • Free $0 Per seat and month, up to 12 users. Includes 500 AI credits per seat, projects, work items, cycles, modules, five layouts, intake forms, estimates and project pages.
  • Pro $6 Per seat and month, unlimited seats. Adds 1,000 AI credits per seat, custom work item types, a workspace wiki, time tracking, templates, dashboards, initiatives and teamspaces.
  • Business $13 Per seat and month, unlimited seats. Adds 2,000 AI credits per seat, project templates, recurring work items, intake by email, nested pages, workflow control, customer profiles and advanced dashboard widgets.
  • Enterprise Grid Not stated Custom quote. Adds flexible AI credit allocation, managed deployments, granular access controls, multiple workflows with approvals, LDAP and API-enabled audit logs.
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What users say

Review Scores · opens after launch

Notion

Ease of use
Not rated yet
User interface
Not rated yet
Onboarding
Not rated yet
Support and service
Not rated yet
Value for money
Not rated yet
Features
Not rated yet

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.

Plane

Ease of use
Not rated yet
User interface
Not rated yet
Onboarding
Not rated yet
Support and service
Not rated yet
Value for money
Not rated yet
Features
Not rated yet

No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.

Where this comes from

Where this comes from

Notion https://www.notion.com · no check date recorded yet

Plane https://plane.so · checked against the official source on 2026-09-10

This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.