I’ve been using Notion for many years.

In fact, I wasn’t just a user. I developed products for the Notion ecosystem. For a while, I was developing a Notion widget tool called thePlus.so. It reached thousands of users and was used hundreds of thousands of times.

So this post isn’t a critique from an outsider’s perspective.

It’s the experience of someone on the inside.

And in the end, I decided to stop using Notion.

A Chaos That Seems Simple

When you first open Notion, everything looks very simple.

• A blank page.
• A few blocks.
• Drag and drop.
• The first impression is great.

But as you start using it, you realize that you’re actually facing a huge tangle.

A tangle that doesn’t seem complicated at first glance.

Even doing the simplest thing sometimes requires more learning than you’d expect.

• Should I open a page?
• Should I use a database?
• Should I create a relation?
• Should I set up a template?
• What was a Synced Block again?
• Do I really need this for this task?

At a certain point, while trying to be productive, you find yourself trying to learn the tool.

I think one of the biggest indicators of this is just how much the “template economy” has grown.

If people could open Notion and easily set up their own systems, would there really be such a need for thousands of ready-made templates?

Maybe there would be.

But one of the reasons templates are so popular today is that Notion isn’t as intuitive as we might think.

Performance was Important to Me

Another issue is performance.

Notion works quite well on powerful, next-generation computers.

But not everyone uses the latest computer.

Internet connections aren’t the same for everyone, either.

I sometimes work in places where the internet infrastructure isn’t very good.

I open Notion.

I wait.

The page loads.

Then the screen where I’ll write my notes appears.

By that time, the idea in my head has already flown away.

I want to start writing the moment I open the note-taking app.

Even those few seconds in between can sometimes make a difference.

The mobile experience has never been smooth enough for me either.

In moments when I want to take quick notes, I’ve often felt like it couldn’t keep up with me.

The Community’s Perspectives Bothered Me

One of the main reasons I left Notion isn’t technical—it’s cultural.

When you spend some time developing products within the Notion ecosystem, you get a closer look at certain things.

Over the years, many ideas developed by the community later became Notion’s own products.

• Notion Calendar.
• Notion Sites.

And many more features.

It’s only natural for a company to develop its own products.

That wasn’t what bothered me.

What bothered me was that I didn’t feel the community where these ideas originated was given enough credit.

I wrote this to them as well.

I shared my thoughts via email.

I wasn’t expecting some grand gesture.

Just an approach like this:

“We’d like to thank the community that has been developing these ideas for years.”

Sometimes, even a single “thank you” is enough to show respect for the hard work people have put in over the years.

I didn’t see that.

This is entirely a personal assessment, but it became one of the reasons that gradually turned me off the product.

Too Big for One Person

In my opinion, Notion really shines when it comes to teams.

It can be particularly effective for teams working with a well-designed template.

• Project management,
• Documentation,
• Wiki,
• Internal knowledge sharing…

I still think it performs well in these areas.

But for someone working alone, it’s started to feel a bit bloated over time.

I just want to take notes.

I want to write down my thoughts.

I want to get things done quickly.

I don’t need hundreds of features for that.

What am I Using Now?

It might sound strange, but my note-taking is a bit disorganized these days.

I don’t have a single system.

But one of the tools I use most is still the classic Notepad on my computer.

Yes.

That tiny little app that hasn’t changed in years.

Because I open it.

I write.

I close it.

That’s it.

I’ve also tried Visual Studio Code.

It’s a great editor.

But it wasn’t designed for note-taking.

That’s why it feels too heavy for my daily use.

Actually, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.

Lightweight.

Very fast.

Intuitive.

Opens instantly.

A note-taking app that doesn’t get in the way.

I don’t think such a tool exists yet.

Maybe I’ll Do It Someday

Sometimes I find myself thinking, “Go ahead, do it yourself.”

Maybe I really will.

But not today.

Right now, I’m working on another productivity tool, and the initial test results have me pretty excited.

For now, all my focus is on that.

Who knows…

Maybe one day I’ll develop that note-taking app I’ve been looking for for years.

Final Words

I didn’t stop using Notion because it’s a bad product.

I stopped using it because it no longer fits the way I work.

Sometimes, just because a tool is very powerful doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you.

Lately, I’ve been focusing more on this:

It’s not about how many features an app offers me, but how much it gets out of my way.

Maybe a good productivity tool is one you forget is even there.