Coda is great, but Notion works better for me

The search for the perfect productivity tool often begins with the desire to simplify work and life. Like many, I tried different platforms to bring structure to my scattered notes, projects, and tasks. Over the years, I have dabbled in tools like Notion, Obsidian, and Evernote — each with its own strengths and weaknesses. So when I came across Coda, of course, I had to try it out. After a couple of failed attempts, I finally decided to give Coda a serious try, intrigued by its promise of turning documents into powerful, interactive tools.

In the right hands, Coda is a game-changer. The ability to blend documents and applications into a single workspace is extremely compelling. With its customizable pages, interactive buttons, and advanced automation, it feels like a tool designed for power users. But as I spent more time with it, I found myself getting bogged down in customization rather than productivity. In contrast, Notion offered a balance of simplicity and flexibility that made getting things done easier. Here’s why I ultimately chose Notion over Coda.

Coda markets itself as an all-in-one collaborative workspace, allowing users to create dynamic documents that function almost like lightweight applications. Its most impressive feature is its table functionality, which is far more powerful than a simple spreadsheet. Coda enables multiple views — cards, timelines, and charts — while offering extensive filtering, sorting, and grouping options. Of course, much of this is possible in Notion as well. However, Coda takes it a step further by allowing you to link tables and databases and perform advanced conditional formatting, effectively turning them into mini-apps. The challenge lies in learning how to do this.

If you’re running an SMB or are part of a larger organization, the steep learning curve to effectively capitalize on these features might be worth the time investment. But if you’re a home user like me, it doesn’t take long to go off the deep end.

While I appreciated Coda’s advanced functionality, I found myself spending more time setting up workflows than actually using them. The customization options were impressive, but they often felt like more work than they were worth. I wanted a tool that was powerful yet intuitive — and that’s where Notion stood out.

Another strength of Coda is its automation capabilities. Users can set triggers based on time or specific actions, allowing workflows to run seamlessly in the background. This is a huge advantage for teams handling complex, data-driven projects. Part of Coda’s power lies in its webhook-based automation, which lets you trigger actions from external applications. For example, I could set up an automation with my download client to automatically log every downloaded file in Coda’s database. That’s an incredibly powerful feature, making Coda a fantastic tool for teams managing large datasets and project workflows.

Coda takes it a step further with “Packs.” At first glance, these seem similar to Notion’s integrations, but they go a step beyond. While Notion’s integrations provide a direct bridge to import data from apps like Google Calendar, Gmail, and Jira, Coda allows for direct interaction with these apps within its interface. Think of updating an entry in Coda and having it automatically reflect in Asana’s project management workflow. Coda includes a few Packs with the free version, but most of the more advanced ones are locked behind a premium tier.

One of the most important aspects of any productivity tool is usability. A tool that is difficult to navigate or requires too much setup will inevitably slow you down. In contrast to Coda, Notion struck the perfect balance between power and simplicity.

Notion’s minimalist design, both on desktop and mobile, immediately stood out to me — especially the mobile experience, which is crucial for my workflow. I primarily set up databases on my desktop and update them on the go using my phone. Recently, I’ve been using Notion Forms to update databases quickly. For example, I set up a Notion Form to track new restaurants and bars in my city. It lets me update my database within seconds through a pre-curated selection of questions, including details like location, specialty, and social profiles. In contrast, Coda’s mobile interface felt cumbersome, and in my experience, it didn’t scale well for on-the-go use.

Similarly, Notion’s clean, distraction-free interface makes navigation easy, with a well-organized sidebar that keeps everything within reach. Its block-based system allows me to structure content effortlessly, making it easy to create pages, databases, and notes without getting lost in complex settings. Coda’s interface, while powerful, often felt overwhelming with its dense menus and endless customization options. Sometimes, less is more.

One of Notion’s biggest advantages is its extensive template ecosystem. Whether I needed a personal task manager, a team wiki, or a content calendar, Notion had a ready-made template that I could tweak to fit my needs. In fact, Notion claims to have over 30,000 templates. Not all of them are free, but chances are, you’ll find a free version of whatever you’re looking for. Just the other day, I pulled a template to set up a shopping wishlist — it took me less than a minute to get up and running.

Coda offers templates as well, but they often require more customization before they’re fully functional. I simply couldn’t find anything equivalent to Notion’s shopping wishlist template within Coda. With Notion, I could hit the ground running without extensive setup. That ease of use extends to integrations as well. While Coda’s integrations are more powerful in principle, they require more technical expertise to set up. For the average user, Notion’s integrations are simpler and connect smoothly with essentials like Google Calendar, Slack, and Zoom. And when needed, Zapier can bridge the gaps. Overall, I found Notion far more intuitive.

Scaling Notion to more advanced use is easy too. The built-in teamspaces feature lets me add family members or friends to shared databases, and I regularly use the publish functionality to share common tasks, to-do lists, and more.

Admittedly, I hadn’t spent enough time in Coda to build out a full-fledged second brain. However, switching from Coda to Notion was surprisingly smooth. Notion supports imports from platforms like Evernote and Google Docs, and while there’s no direct import option from Coda, exporting data as CSV files worked well for my needs. Some of Coda’s more complex automations didn’t transfer over easily, but I could replicate most of the functionality.

One of the biggest differences I noticed was how much time I saved with Notion. Instead of spending hours setting up intricate automations, I was able to focus on my actual work. Notion’s simplicity didn’t just make it easier to use — it made me more productive. And that’s the key difference. As a home user and hobbyist, I need a productivity tool that enhances my life instead of becoming another task to maintain.

Coda is a fantastic tool, especially for users who need deep customization and automation. Its powerful tables, advanced automation, and flexible integrations make it a great choice for businesses or teams managing complex workflows. But for my workflow, Notion strikes the perfect balance between power and simplicity.