GritShip vs Notion
Notion can do PM.
GritShip is PM.
Notion is an extraordinary docs-and-databases tool that happens to support kanban boards. That's the problem. The kanban view is one feature in a tool optimized for everything else. GritShip is the opposite: a project management tool that does project management — fast, focused, and built for it from day one.
Feature Comparison
Side by side.
No spin. Here's how GritShip and Notion compare on the things that matter to product makers.
| Feature | Notion | GritShip |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Docs + databases (PM as a use-case) | Project management (focused tool) |
| Setup time for a kanban board | 5–30 minutes (build the database, views, properties) | 60 seconds (sign up, board is ready) |
| Speed (typical interaction) | Often noticeably laggy on dense pages | Hard 200ms budget on every interaction |
| Initial JS bundle | Heavy (multi-MB first-load on dense workspaces) | < 100KB gzipped |
| Free tier | Unlimited blocks for personal, 5 guests for team | 3 members, 3 projects, no item caps |
| Paid plan starting price | $10/user/month (Plus) | $8/month flat for the workspace |
| Pricing model | Per-seat | Flat workspace pricing |
| Real-time multiplayer | ✓ | ✓ WebSocket-based |
| Docs / wiki | World-class | Not available — task descriptions only |
| Custom databases | Yes (signature feature) | Not available |
| Keyboard-first navigation | Slash commands, but mouse-heavy overall | Full keyboard-first (N, ⌘K, arrows) |
| Best for | Companies that want one tool for docs + tasks | Teams that just want their project board to work |
Where GritShip Wins
A focused tool always beats a generic one.
Notion's flexibility is its identity — and the reason its kanban boards feel like an afterthought.
A kanban board built once, not assembled every time.
Notion renders kanban as a special view of a database. That generality costs performance — dense workspaces routinely feel slow, especially on mobile. GritShip's kanban is the only thing the page does, with a hard 200ms interaction budget. The board is fast because it's the product.
No databases to design. No properties to configure.
Setting up project management in Notion means building a database, picking properties, choosing views, and templating the page. Five minutes minimum, often more. GritShip: sign up, name a project, your board is ready. The keyboard shortcut N adds the next task.
A 10-person team on Pro: $8/month flat.
Notion Plus is $10/user/month. A 10-person team is $100/month. GritShip Pro is $8/month flat for the whole workspace, up to 25 members. If you're using Notion only for project management, you're paying a wiki tax for tasks.
Boards, tasks, priorities, real-time sync. Done.
GritShip doesn't try to be your docs tool, your CRM, your knowledge base, or your meeting notes. It's a project board with the right features and nothing else. If your team uses Notion for tasks but elsewhere for everything else, GritShip is the tasks half — done better.
Where Notion Wins
Honest take.
Notion's strengths are real — and they're the reason most teams won't fully replace it. We're not trying to.
Notion's combination of nested pages, block-based docs, and custom databases is genuinely unique. There is no GritShip equivalent. If your team writes a lot of internal docs, Notion is irreplaceable.
Notion can be molded into almost any tool. CRM, OKR tracker, content calendar, reading list, employee handbook, project board. That flexibility is the whole point. GritShip is intentionally rigid — a project board only.
Notion has a massive template marketplace. GritShip ships with one mental model: boards, columns, tasks. No templates, because there's nothing to template.
If your team lives in docs and uses kanban occasionally, stay in Notion.
If your team lives in the kanban board and uses docs occasionally, GritShip is the right side of that split.
Who Should Switch
Is GritShip for you?
GritShip isn't for everyone. It's for people who build products and want a tool that gets out of the way.
You use Notion only for project boards
If 80% of what you open Notion for is the kanban view, you're paying for a wiki you don't use. GritShip is the kanban view, faster, with the rest stripped away.
You're paying per-seat for tasks
A 5-person team on Notion Plus is $50/month. GritShip Pro is $8/month flat. If your team uses Notion's docs lightly, the math points one direction.
Notion's flexibility hurts your team
Everyone builds the project database differently. Consistency degrades. The board nobody updates is a Notion board. GritShip has one structure — boards, columns, tasks — so the team converges by default.
Honest Inventory
What GritShip doesn't have yet.
We'd rather tell you upfront than have you find out after switching. If any of these are non-negotiable for your team, don't switch yet.
- Docs / wiki / knowledge base
- Custom databases or properties
- Block-based content blocks
- Pages and nested page trees
- Notion Calendar / Notion Mail integrations
- AI features (Notion AI equivalent)
- Notion CSV import (planned)
FAQ
Questions about switching.
Thinking about moving from Notion? Here's what you need to know.
- Is GritShip a Notion alternative?
- If you use Notion as a project management tool — boards, tasks, kanban — yes. GritShip is a faster, simpler, more focused alternative for that use case. If you use Notion as a wiki, knowledge base, or docs tool, GritShip doesn't replace that — and we're not trying to.
- Why is GritShip faster than Notion?
- Notion is a generic blocks-and-databases engine that renders any structure you build. That generality costs performance — workspaces with thousands of blocks routinely feel laggy. GritShip is a single-purpose project management tool with a hard 200ms interaction budget and a sub-100KB initial bundle. Less flexibility, more speed.
- Can I import my Notion database into GritShip?
- Not yet — there's no automated Notion importer. Notion exports as Markdown + CSV; we're working on an importer that reads CSV exports. For now, manual setup is fast: a typical board takes under 60 seconds to recreate.
- Does GritShip have docs or a wiki like Notion?
- No. Task descriptions support full Markdown (code blocks, checklists, lists), but there's no separate wiki or docs section. If you need an integrated wiki, Notion remains the right tool — or pair GritShip with a dedicated docs tool.
- Why would my team outgrow Notion for project management?
- Three patterns we hear repeatedly: (1) Notion's flexibility means everyone builds boards differently, so consistency degrades; (2) speed slows as workspaces grow, especially on the kanban view; (3) per-seat pricing scales painfully — Plus is $10/user/month. Teams hitting any of these often look for a focused PM tool. (See our blog post: Notion for Project Management: Why Small Teams Outgrow It.)
- Who should pick GritShip over Notion?
- Indie hackers, freelancers, and small teams who use Notion *only* for project boards and want their PM tool to be fast, opinionated, and cheap to scale. Stay on Notion if you depend on the docs/wiki/databases combo or if you've built core workflows around custom databases.
Further reading
Related guides from the GritShip blog.
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