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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    HCL Notes

    Score3.5 out of 10
    N/ANotes from HCL (formerly from IBM, acquired by HCL in late 2018) is a collaboration platform based on the Lotus platform.N/A

    Notion

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ANotion aims to present users with an all-in-one workspace — for notes, tasks, wikis, and databases, from Notion Labs in San Francisco.

    $5

    per month per user

    Pricing
    HCL NotesNotion
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Free
    $0
    Plus
    $12
    per month per user
    Business
    $24
    per month per user
    Enterprise
    Custom Pricing
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    HCL NotesNotion
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—A discount is offered for annual billing.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    HCL NotesNotion
    Considered Both Products
    HCLSoftware
    No answer on this topic
    Notion Labs, Inc
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    92%
    Would buy again
    73 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    58 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Happy with the feature set
    77 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    43 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    51 Answers
    Features
    HCL NotesNotion
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of HCL Notes and Notion
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    6.9
    10 Ratings
    11% below category average
    Notion
    9.9
    25 Ratings
    25% above category average
    Task Management7.09 Ratings9.623 Ratings
    Gantt Charts6.03 Ratings10.014 Ratings
    Scheduling8.09 Ratings10.016 Ratings
    Workflow Automation5.06 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    Mobile Access8.010 Ratings10.021 Ratings
    Search6.09 Ratings10.023 Ratings
    Visual planning tools8.03 Ratings10.018 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of HCL Notes and Notion
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    9.2
    10 Ratings
    15% above category average
    Notion
    9.6
    24 Ratings
    19% above category average
    Chat6.010 Ratings10.09 Ratings
    Notifications9.010 Ratings10.019 Ratings
    Discussions9.57 Ratings10.013 Ratings
    Surveys9.14 Ratings9.36 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase10.06 Ratings10.021 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting10.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts10.02 Ratings8.98 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook10.05 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of HCL Notes and Notion
    Feature
    HCL Notes
    7.6
    9 Ratings
    3% below category average
    Notion
    9.9
    24 Ratings
    24% above category average
    Versioning9.04 Ratings10.014 Ratings
    Video files6.05 Ratings10.016 Ratings
    Audio files6.05 Ratings10.012 Ratings
    Document collaboration8.08 Ratings10.023 Ratings
    Access control6.08 Ratings10.021 Ratings
    Advanced security features8.08 Ratings10.015 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive10.02 Ratings9.213 Ratings
    Device sync8.05 Ratings10.014 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    HCL NotesNotion
    Small Businesses
    Flock
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Flock
    Score9.1 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Microsoft Viva Engage
    Score7.9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Google Keep
    Score9.9 out of 10
    Google Keep
    Score9.9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    HCL NotesNotion
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (16 ratings)
    8.2
    (31 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    1.7
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Data Sharing and Collaboration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.4
    (4 ratings)
    Data Sources
    -
    (0 ratings)
    4.7
    (4 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    HCL NotesNotion
    Likelihood to Recommend
    HCLSoftware
    I often work with teams from other country and regions, hence HCL Notes is a very useful platform for internal company management operations. It standardized organisational work standards in most of the offices worldwide. HCL Notes also enables chat with other team around the world that I find very helpful when initiating conversation or just want to have a quick update rather than sending emails and waiting for replies. However, HCL Notes is not very efficient in web browsing and user still need to use other internet service providers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    If you want a customizable solution that can be adapted for just about any scenario, I recommend using Notion. If you need a solution that's easy to share with people outside your organization, Notion is great and allows individual or team permission-setting. If you want a turnkey solution, Notion might not be the best since it requires a fair bit of set-up. There are templates that can be purchased to handle this, but I haven't found them very helpful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    HCLSoftware
    • It has a really strong and robust database that's extremely scalable and holds up well to thousands of users and many different environments.
    • It has a really good enterprise-grade framework for development custom database applications
    • All of the custom database applications along with the email all have a nice uniform look and feel so their easy-to-use.
    • I really like how it's developed and supported on every client OS (Windows, OSX, Linux)! The competitors definitely do NOT offer this (M$).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    • I love that you can create nested pages, allowing for separate sections to organize information as needed.
    • I appreciate the convenience of effortlessly uploading images to any section.
    • I appreciate that when adding links, you can embed them so the website displays directly on the page.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    HCLSoftware
    • Notes' backwards compatibility sometimes gets in the way. Menus are cluttered with extraneous, outdated options and features that modern users will never use, and Preferences are often difficult to navigate for those coming from Gmail or Outlook. We have greatly simplified this via Policies, but users still find it daunting to go through all the options that are available.
    • The IBM Notes client for Windows & Mac is essentially the Eclipse Java development platform...so it is HUGE. Performance initially was very slow but IBM has done a good job of speeding things up. As IBM moves more toward cloud-delivered applications, this will not be as much of a problem.
    • Notes and Domino can be complex to manage for administrators who are more accustomed to ActiveDirectory, Group Policy, etc. Editing a notes.ini file to add a feature, or working with XML files by hand to create a SmartUpgrade kit can be daunting to those coming from more modern administrative roles.
    • Some users claim to "hate" Notes mail. While I have heard this less and less over the past 10 years, we have had 3rd party software offer plugins to Outlook and it's rare to see any for Notes.
    • The client update process should be automated more. I would like to see the Notes client update quietly and quickly more like an Adobe software update. If an update fails it should automatically try again without prompting the user over and over.
    • Notes multiple language spell checking is a downloaded add-on Java-based resource that has to be deployed in a convoluted way that is difficult for users to grasp. Therefore any foreign language spell check updates must be done individually per Notes client by IT, which is unfortunate. I would prefer to see that be a "live download" update option for users to get directly from IBM (don't make me download it and put it on my network).
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    • I use Notion on my personal tablet, and unlike on the computer, I have a lot of difficulty editing backgrounds, GIFs, and page dividers. It's not as user-friendly, and often the elements end up cut off or misaligned, which is frustrating.
    • While the current calendar feature is helpful, I'd love to see more customization options. The Google Calendar style isn't always ideal, especially for tasks without specific times or for ongoing projects that require daily maintenance.
    • It would be fantastic to have more flexibility in customizing Notion pages. For example, I'd love to create planners with the freedom to add illustration boxes, stickers, or GIFs without being restricted to a fixed layout.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    HCLSoftware
    I've been in IT business and as a Programmer/Developer for 20+ years with too many programming languages experiences/back ground (C/C++/Visual Basic/Basic Program/Unix/COBOL/Java). Also with 18+ years with Lotus Notes/IBM Domino, I am still and always think Lotus Notes is the best RAD platform available!. When the time where resource is very limited and the expectation is very high and the turn around is too short, IBM Domino/Notes is the platform to use and it's the only choice available.
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    We're too settled in the ecosystem and we have no major complaints with it. No reason to move unless you have a burning pain point
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    HCLSoftware
    Easy to use for the user, most of the apps we developed, there is not much need for user training. Most of the times, we just do a demo to the users group and they can pick up from there.
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    Very easy to use (I learned how to use everything on my own) and I was able to set up an entire ecosystem without any courses or other tools. I often say that Notion is like Lego for adults, because there we can use all the available tools to create a multitude of things, from funnels to projects with calculated deadlines and tags.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    HCLSoftware
    I've been using the production for a very long time and very happy with it. Also, all the online resources and forums for notes is very friendly and easy/quick for getting help. I found out that compared to Microsoft or Oracle or any other platforms, IBM Notes online forum is the best I have seen.
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    HCLSoftware
    Implementation is easy and smooth if the requirement is well gathered/documented. Notes is a RAD platform, all projects in Notes is simple in the implementation step.
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    HCLSoftware
    Outlook has been considered for years as a replacement platform. Pricing and support staff made it prohibitive. Our long-time use of Microsoft Office productivity suite naturally led us to consider the adoption of Office365. A recent investigation told us that Azure Cloud services propel an O365 solution to the forefront. Early adopters in international divisions have paved the way for Azure and O365.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    The company uses both Notion and Trello within the company. Notion is more for North America employees while Trello is used between Operation team overseas and in North America. Sometimes it's a preference of how the tools look like for project management. I would say both Notion and Trello are nice tools and serves our needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    HCLSoftware
    • Over the years, we have lost countless hours of productivity from the thousands of crashes we have experienced.
    • One benefit of IBM Notes is that it is very simple to train a new user on. Many people prefer and are familiar with Google tools, but those that use IBM Notes have very little trouble acclimating themselves.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Notion Labs, Inc
    • It has streamlined our processes across various teams to all work from a signle source of truth
    • Maintaining this source of truth is a full time job
    • It has reduced our overall tool set by completely eliminating two other softwares we were paying for
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots