project management tool · head to head
ClickUp vs Notion
Comparison Summary
ClickUp scored 7.4 and Notion scored 6.9 on our project management tool test script.
Both apps have generous free plans, but they give you different things. ClickUp is a ready-made task manager: on its free plan we had all four views, a working automation, dependencies, a recurring task that repeats when completed and an AI chat that asked before changing anything. Notion is a set of building blocks: you design the task database yourself, the four views and dependencies are free, but automations are paid and recurring tasks are scheduled templates.
Notion is far quicker. It was usable about 5 seconds after launch against about 14 for ClickUp, and its CSV import recognised all seven of our columns and took 10 seconds, where ClickUp matched none and we mapped each by hand. ClickUp's AI was the more reliable: asked for subtasks it showed them and waited, while Notion's created five untitled pages straight away.
Leaving is easier with ClickUp, whose full workspace export arrived in under a minute; Notion's was still running after 25 minutes, though a single database exported in seconds. Choose ClickUp for a team that wants task features and automation for free; choose Notion if you work alone or already keep your docs there and want speed.
Key differences
ClickUp
Notion - Our 8 scripted tasks
- ClickUp:6 passed, 2 partial
- Notion:5 passed, 3 partial
- Free plan
- ClickUp:Unlimited members, 100 automation actions a month, AI trial
- Notion:Unlimited for one person; limited blocks for teams, no automations, AI trial
- Paid plans from
- ClickUp:$9 per user a month, billed yearly
- Notion:$10 per seat a month, billed yearly
- Cold start
- ClickUp:About 14 seconds
- Notion:About 5 seconds
- 200-row CSV import
- ClickUp:0 of 7 columns matched; mapped by hand
- Notion:7 of 7 columns recognised; about 10 seconds
- Automation and recurring tasks
- ClickUp:Automation free; task repeats when completed
- Notion:Automations paid; recurring tasks are scheduled templates
- AI subtasks
- ClickUp:Listed them and waited for confirmation
- Notion:Created five untitled pages without asking
- Full export
- ClickUp:Whole workspace in under a minute; no dependencies
- Notion:Database CSV in seconds; workspace export unfinished after 25 minutes
- Starts with Windows
- ClickUp:Yes, added without asking
- Notion:No
- Left after uninstalling
- ClickUp:About 275 MB and a broken startup entry
- Notion:About 540 MB
Editor's Verdict
Choose ClickUp if…
Best for: Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app.
- Every view we needed is free: list, board, calendar and Gantt, with no upgrade prompt
- Automation, dependency and recurring task all worked on the free plan
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line
Choose Notion if…
Best for: Individuals and small teams who want tasks living next to their docs and wiki, and who are happy to build their own setup.
- All four views free, including a timeline; eleven view types in all
- The CSV import recognised all seven columns and imported 200 rows in about 10 seconds
- Priorities, dependencies and other custom properties are free
Head to Head
Task by task
The same prompts, pasted word for word into each app on a clean Windows 11 PC. On the 8 tasks both apps were graded on, ClickUp completed 6 and Notion completed 5.
| Task | ClickUp | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Pass≈ 200 actions | Pass≈ 16 min |
| P2 · Views | Pass≈ 2 min | Pass≈ 4 min |
| P3 · Rules | Pass≈ 7 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Partial≈ 12 min | Pass≈ 3 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass< 2 min import | Pass≈ 10 s import |
| P6 · Permissions | Pass≈ 5 min | Pass≈ 10 min |
| P7 · AI | Pass≈ 1–1.5 min each | Partial≈ 20–40 s each |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 7 min | Partial≈ 30 min |
Both apps ran on their free plans. Notion's recurring task is a scheduled template, so we could not see it repeat during the test.
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | ClickUp | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| Installer size | 150 MB | 3.8 MB |
| Install time | ≈ 45 s | ≈ 25 s |
| On disk | 643 MB | 400 MB |
| Admin rights | Not needed | Not needed |
| Starts with Windows | Yes, by default | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 200 actions | ≈ 16 min |
| Views on the free plan | 4 / 4 | 4 / 4 |
| 200-row CSV import | 200 / 200 | ≈ 10 s |
| 500-row CSV import | < 2 min | ≈ 10 s |
| 500-task board | 0.7 s | < 1 s |
| Cold start | ≈ 14 s | ≈ 5 s |
| Memory | 1.7 – 2.2 GB | 0.9 – 1.4 GB |
| Free automations | 100 / month | None |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 275 MB | ≈ 540 MB |
Pros and cons
ClickUp
+ What works
- Every view we needed is free: list, board, calendar and Gantt, with no upgrade prompt
- Automation, dependency and recurring task all worked on the free plan
- Pasting a multi-line list creates one task per line
- 500-row CSV import in under two minutes, and the 500-task board opened in under a second
- Brain² summarised our project accurately, answered “what is overdue?” correctly and asked before adding subtasks
- Full CSV export in under a minute: all 771 tasks, with comments and subtasks
- Removing someone's access took effect immediately
− What falls short
- Heavy: about 14 seconds from launch to a usable list and 1.7–2.2 GB of memory
- The CSV import matched none of our seven columns automatically and needed status values mapped by hand
- The import offers to invite everyone whose email is in the file
- Starts with Windows by default and leaves about 275 MB and a broken startup entry after uninstalling
- Free AI chat is a one-off trial that does not reset
- The export drops dependencies and recurrence settings
- Busy setup: nine onboarding screens, a phone-number request, an invite nudge and an AI pop-up for every new list
Notion
+ What works
- All four views free, including a timeline; eleven view types in all
- The CSV import recognised all seven columns and imported 200 rows in about 10 seconds
- Priorities, dependencies and other custom properties are free
- Notion AI summarised our project and answered “what is overdue?” correctly
- Removing a member or cutting them to view-only took effect on their next page load
- No admin rights, no startup entry and no services
− What falls short
- No automations on the free plan
- Recurring tasks are templates that create a new page on a schedule, not tasks that repeat when completed
- Asked for subtasks, the AI created five untitled pages without asking first
- Free plan is for one person: with more members you get a limited number of blocks, and Member and Can edit roles need Plus
- Risky defaults: invites default to Workspace owner, shared pages to Full access, and anyone with your domain can join
- Pasting a list filled names and dates but left the select columns empty
- The workspace export leaves out private pages unless you switch them on
Privacy and security
What we saw on our own test PC. Each review also lists what the vendor states about data handling, training and certifications.
ClickUp
Starts with Windows
The installer adds ClickUp to Windows startup without asking. It adds no services or scheduled tasks and only listens on the PC itself.
Contacts are pushed, not required
Setup asks for a phone number for promotional calls and messages, and the CSV import pre-fills the file's email addresses as invitations. Both can be skipped.
Full deletion is opt-in
Deleting a workspace keeps it recoverable unless you tick a separate box to delete it and its third-party data permanently.
Left after uninstalling
A 133 MB profile folder, a 143 MB updater cache, the clickup:// link handler and a startup entry pointing at the removed program.
Notion
Installs without a click
The web installer installed and opened Notion before we pressed Install, and sent a small event log with an anonymous device ID before we signed in. It adds no startup entry or services.
Permissive defaults
Invites default to Workspace owner, page sharing to Full access, joining by link is on, and setup pre-ticks joining for anyone with your email domain.
Marketing emails
You have to tick a box at sign-up to refuse marketing emails. Sharing workspace data to improve the AI was off by default.
Left after uninstalling
A 477 MB profile folder with the local database and logs, plus a 64 MB browser profile from the installer.
Features & Pricing
| ClickUp | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $9/mo | $10/mo |
ClickUp plans
- Free Forever$0
- Core$9/user/mo
- Business$17/user/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From ClickUp's pricing page, checked Oct 29, 2026.
Notion plans
- Free$0
- Plus$10/seat/mo
- Business$20/seat/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From Notion's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Who makes them
- Company
- ClickUp:ClickUp (Mango Technologies, Inc.)
- Notion:Notion Labs, Inc.
- Headquarters
- ClickUp:San Diego, California, USA
- Notion:San Francisco, California, USA
- Founded
- ClickUp:2017
- Notion:2013
- Funding
- ClickUp:$400 million Series C in October 2021 at a reported $4 billion valuation.
- Notion:About $343 million raised in total, including a $275 million round in October 2021 at a reported $10 billion valuation.
Timelines, official links and sources are in each review: ClickUp · Notion.
FAQ
Which is better, ClickUp or Notion?
For task and project management, ClickUp scored higher in our tests: automations, recurring tasks and a reliable AI on its free plan. Notion was much faster and better at importing, but you build the task setup yourself.
Which has the better free plan for a team?
ClickUp. Its free plan has unlimited members and automations. Notion's free plan is unlimited for one person, but teams get a limited number of blocks and the Member role is paid.
Which is faster on Windows?
Notion. It was usable in about 5 seconds against about 14 for ClickUp, and both opened a 500-task board in under a second.
Which imports a CSV file better?
Notion. It recognised all seven columns of our file and imported 200 rows in about 10 seconds; ClickUp matched none of the columns automatically.
Read the full reviews
This page compares the two side by side. Each full review has the complete test log, every screenshot, the scoring notes, pricing, security and company details.
ClickUp reviewRecommended 7.4 ClickUp passed every step of our project-management test on the free plan: all the views, a working automation, dependencies, recurring tasks, a 500-row import and an AI that got the facts right and asked before changing anything. It is heavy, though: the Windows app needs about 14 seconds and up to 2 GB of memory, and the import and setup make you do more by hand than they should. Read the full review → Notion reviewSituational 6.9 Notion was the fastest app in our project-management test: it started in about 5 seconds, imported 200 rows in 10 and drew a 500-task board instantly, and all four views, including a timeline, are free. But it is a database tool more than a task manager: there are no automations on the free plan, recurring tasks are scheduled templates, its AI turned our subtasks into untitled pages, and the free plan is built for one person. Read the full review → Project Management Alternatives
Airtable Situational Teams who want a flexible database behind their projects, with automations and reliable CSV in and out 6.8 Read reviewReview 
Asana Situational Teams ready to pay for Starter or Advanced who want a polished, fast-to-learn project tool with strong import and export 6.7 Read reviewReview 
Linear Situational Software and product teams who live on the keyboard and want a fast issue tracker with a capable free AI agent 6.5 Read reviewReview 
