BrainVault vs Notion: Local-First vs Cloud

Cloud vs Local: What It Means for You

Notion's cloud approach means collaboration, real-time sync, and access from any device. But it also means your notes are on their servers, subject to their terms of service, pricing changes, and potential outages. If Notion goes down, you can't access your data.

BrainVault's local approach means instant performance, complete privacy, and zero ongoing costs. Your notes work offline, forever. The downside? No built-in team collaboration (though you can sync files manually via Git, Dropbox, etc.).

Pricing: Free vs Subscription

BrainVault is completely free. No tiers, no limits, no hidden costs. Download and use forever.

Notion has a free tier with upload limits, then $10/month for Plus or $15/month for Business. Over time, that's $120-180/year. After five years, you've spent $600-900 on note-taking.

Privacy & Data Ownership

BrainVault: Zero data collection. Your notes never leave your device unless you explicitly export them. No account, no tracking, no servers. You own your data completely—it's stored as plain Markdown files you can open in any text editor.

Notion: Your data is stored on Notion's servers. Their privacy policy is good, but you're trusting them with your notes. Notion can access your data for service improvement and AI training (per their terms). If Notion shuts down, you'd need to export everything.

Speed & Performance

BrainVault is instant. Local storage means zero latency. Search happens in milliseconds. No loading spinners, no network delays. Works perfectly on a plane, in a basement, or anywhere without internet.

Notion requires internet for most operations. Pages can be slow to load, especially with large databases. Offline mode caches pages, but you can't create new pages or search effectively without connectivity.

Features: Simplicity vs Power

Notion excels at databases, tables, and team collaboration. If you need project management, CRM, or structured data, Notion is incredibly powerful. Its block-based editor is flexible and feature-rich.

BrainVault focuses on writing and linking. Markdown notes, wiki links, graph visualization, and full-text search. No databases, no project management—just excellent note-taking. If you want to write and think, not manage projects, BrainVault is simpler and faster.

AI Integration: Local vs Cloud

BrainVault integrates with Ollama for local AI. Run models on your own hardware—complete privacy, no data sent to external servers. Your notes and AI interactions stay private.

Notion AI is cloud-based and costs extra ($10/month). It's powerful but requires sending your content to Notion's servers for processing. Great features, but no privacy.

Migration from Notion to BrainVault

Moving from Notion to BrainVault:

1. Export your Notion workspace as Markdown & CSV
2. Extract the zip file Notion provides
3. Open BrainVault and point it to the extracted folder
4. Your notes are now local. Wiki links may need minor adjustments.

Note: Notion databases won't convert perfectly since BrainVault doesn't have databases. Consider whether you need those features or if simple notes work better for you.