project management tool · head to head
monday.com vs Notion
Comparison Summary
Notion scored 6.9 and monday.com scored 6.5 on our project management tool test script.
Notion: 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.
monday.com: monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying.
Editor's Verdict
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
Choose monday.com if…
Best for: Teams ready to pay for a polished, flexible work-management tool with strong imports, automations and AI.
- Excellent CSV/Excel import: 200 rows in about 10 s and 500 in about 20 s, with statuses, dates and priorities
- Strict dependencies that move dependent tasks when a date changes
- Automations fired in about a second and a half
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, monday.com completed 3 and Notion completed 5.
| Task | monday.com | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| P1 · Build a project | Pass≈ 15 min | Pass≈ 16 min |
| P2 · Views | Partial≈ 4 min | Pass≈ 4 min |
| P3 · Rules | Partial≈ 7 min | Partial≈ 5 min |
| P4 · 200-row import | Pass≈ 3 min | Pass≈ 3 min |
| P5 · Scale | Pass≈ 2 min | Pass≈ 10 s import |
| P6 · Permissions | Partial≈ 3 min | Pass≈ 10 min |
| P7 · AI | Partial≈ 3 min | Partial≈ 20–40 s each |
| P8 · Leave | Partial≈ 5 min | Partial≈ 30 min |
Measured on the same PC
| Measurement | monday.com | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| On disk | 330 MB | 400 MB |
| Starts with Windows | No | No |
| 40-task project | ≈ 15 min | ≈ 16 min |
| Views on the free plan | 2 / 4 | 4 / 4 |
| 200-row CSV import | 200 / 200 | ≈ 10 s |
| 500-row CSV import | 500 / 500 | ≈ 10 s |
| Cold start | ≈ 9 s | ≈ 5 s |
| Memory | 1.1 – 1.3 GB | 0.9 – 1.4 GB |
| Left after uninstall | ≈ 92 MB | ≈ 540 MB |
Pros and cons
monday.com
+ What works
- Excellent CSV/Excel import: 200 rows in about 10 s and 500 in about 20 s, with statuses, dates and priorities
- Strict dependencies that move dependent tasks when a date changes
- Automations fired in about a second and a half
- Sidekick AI summarised the board, answered “what is overdue?” correctly and created real subtasks
- Instant Excel export with subitems and dependencies, plus a full account export
- Clear roles, including free view-only Viewers
− What falls short
- Free plan: 2 seats, 3 boards, no automations, no calendar or Gantt, no AI
- A new account silently starts a 14-day Pro trial
- Calendar and Gantt views showed nothing until we refreshed the app
- The import's default column types mangled our descriptions and kept tags as one label
- The installer is signed with a code-signing certificate that expired in August 2025
- Heavier than most: about 1.1–1.3 GB of memory and a 9-second cold start
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.
monday.com
Expired signing certificate
The installer is signed by monday.com Ltd with a certificate that expired in August 2025, so Windows reports the signature as not valid.
No background services
The app added no startup entry, services or listening ports.
Admin by default in sign-up
The sign-up wizard's invite step sets new members to Admin and allows automatic sign-ups from your domain unless you change it.
EU data storage
Our account's admin page showed data stored in the European Union.
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
| monday.com | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | — | — |
| iOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Paid from | $9/mo | $10/mo |
monday.com plans
- Free€0
- Basic€9/seat/mo
- Standard€12/seat/mo
- Pro€19/seat/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From monday.com's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Notion plans
- Free$0
- Plus$10/seat/mo
- Business$20/seat/mo
- EnterpriseCustom
From Notion's pricing page, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Cost for your team
- monday.com$540per year
- Notion$600per year
Cheapest paid plan × seats × 12, at list price. Annual discounts and volume deals not included. monday.com and Notion also have a free plan.
Who makes them
- Company
- monday.com:monday.com Ltd.
- Notion:Notion Labs, Inc.
- Headquarters
- monday.com:Tel Aviv, Israel
- Notion:San Francisco, California, USA
- Founded
- monday.com:2012
- Notion:2013
- Funding
- monday.com:Public on Nasdaq (MNDY) since 2021.
- 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: monday.com · Notion.
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.
monday.com reviewSituational 6.5 monday.com did nearly everything in our script well: a clean 200- and 500-row import, working dependencies and automations, and the most accurate AI assistant in this category so far. But almost all of it ran on the automatic Pro trial. The free plan is two seats and three boards with no automations, no calendar or Gantt and no AI, so most teams will be paying. 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
ClickUp Recommended Small teams that want lists, boards, Gantt charts, automations and AI in one free workspace and do not mind a busy, heavy app 7.4 Read reviewReview 
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 
