Heptabase is a visual note-taking tool built around whiteboards, cards, and spatial thinking. It has earned a devoted following among researchers, students, and knowledge workers who find traditional linear note apps too restrictive. But Heptabase is not cheap, and there is no free tier. Here is exactly what it costs, what you get, and whether the price is justified.
Heptabase Pricing Overview
| Monthly Plan | Annual Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $11.99/month | $8.99/month (billed $107.88/year) |
| Free trial | 7 days, full access | 7 days, full access |
| Free tier | None | None |
| Whiteboards | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Cards and notes | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Device access | Desktop + mobile | Desktop + mobile |
| PDF annotation | Included | Included |
| Mind maps | Included | Included |
| Tags and journals | Included | Included |
The annual plan saves roughly 25% over monthly billing. Both plans include the same features — there is no “Pro” or “Business” tier with gated functionality. You either subscribe or you don’t.
What the Subscription Includes
Unlike tools that split features across free and paid tiers, Heptabase keeps it simple: one plan, all features. Every subscriber gets access to everything.
Core features:
- Whiteboards — the central workspace. You arrange cards spatially on an infinite canvas, draw connections between them, and organize ideas visually rather than in folders or lists.
- Cards — individual notes that live on whiteboards. Each card supports rich text, headings, bullet points, code blocks, and embedded media. Cards can appear on multiple whiteboards simultaneously.
- Mind maps — built-in mind mapping that converts your card arrangements into structured hierarchies. Useful for brainstorming sessions and outlining research papers.
- PDF annotation — import PDFs directly into Heptabase, highlight passages, and turn highlights into cards. This is a standout feature for academic researchers.
- Tags and filtering — organize cards across whiteboards using tags, then filter your entire knowledge base to surface related ideas.
- Journal — a daily note feature for capturing quick thoughts that you can later drag onto whiteboards and integrate into your broader knowledge structure.
- Cross-platform apps — native apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. Sync is included in the subscription.
There are no storage caps listed on the current pricing page, and no per-device limits. Sync across all your devices is part of the base subscription, not a separate add-on like Obsidian charges for.
For a deeper look at how these features hold up in daily use, read our full Heptabase review.
Free Trial Details
Heptabase offers a 7-day free trial with full access to every feature. No credit card is required to start. You can create whiteboards, import PDFs, use the mobile apps, and test the full workflow before committing.
Seven days is tight but workable if you go in with a plan. Import some existing notes or a PDF you are actively working with, build a whiteboard around a real project, and see whether the spatial approach clicks for you. Do not spend the trial exploring settings — use it on actual work.
If the trial expires and you are not ready to commit, your data stays in your account. You just lose editing access until you subscribe. Nothing gets deleted.
Is Heptabase Worth the Price?
At $107.88/year on the annual plan, Heptabase sits in the mid-range for note-taking tools. It is cheaper than Notion’s Business plan but more expensive than Notion’s free tier, Obsidian’s free core app, or Logseq’s open-source offering.
The price is worth it if you meet two conditions:
-
You think visually. If you naturally organize ideas by spatial arrangement — grouping related concepts, drawing connections, clustering topics on a surface — Heptabase’s whiteboard model will feel like a natural extension of how your brain works. Linear note apps will feel limiting by comparison.
-
You do sustained knowledge work. Researchers writing papers, students synthesizing course material across semesters, professionals building expertise in a domain over months or years. Heptabase’s value compounds over time as your whiteboard library grows and connections between ideas accumulate.
The price is probably not worth it if:
- You mainly take quick notes, shopping lists, or meeting minutes. A free tool handles that fine.
- You need team collaboration features. Heptabase is currently a single-user tool with no shared workspaces.
- You are price-sensitive and comfortable with manual workarounds. Obsidian with community plugins can approximate some of Heptabase’s visual features at zero cost, though with more setup friction.
The lack of a free tier is the biggest barrier. Tools like Notion and Obsidian let you use them indefinitely for free, building habits and lock-in before you ever pay. Heptabase asks you to decide within seven days, which filters out casual users but also means fewer people discover the tool organically.
Alternatives to Consider
If Heptabase’s price or approach does not fit, here are the closest alternatives:
| Tool | Starting Price | Visual/Spatial? | Free Tier? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Obsidian | Free (Sync $4/mo) | Canvas plugin, graph view | Yes |
| Notion | Free | No native whiteboard | Yes |
| Miro | Free (limited) | Yes, whiteboard-first | Yes (3 boards) |
| Logseq | Free | Whiteboards (beta) | Yes |
| Scrintal | ~$9/month | Yes, card-based | 14-day trial |
Obsidian is the most common comparison point. It is free, local-first, and has a canvas feature that offers some spatial organization. However, Obsidian’s canvas is a plugin bolted onto a text-first app, while Heptabase was designed from the ground up around visual thinking. The experience gap is significant. For a detailed comparison, see Heptabase vs Obsidian.
Verdict
Heptabase charges a real price for a genuinely different approach to note-taking. There is no free tier to fall back on, and the 7-day trial demands that you invest real time upfront to evaluate it properly. That is a deliberate trade-off: Heptabase is not trying to be the default note app for everyone.
If you do sustained research or knowledge work and you have tried linear note-taking tools without satisfaction, $8.99/month on the annual plan is a reasonable bet. The whiteboard-and-card model is not something you can replicate with a Notion database or an Obsidian plugin — it is a fundamentally different way of working with ideas.
Start with the 7-day trial on a real project, not a toy example. That will tell you more than any pricing breakdown can.
Compare more note-taking tools →
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Heptabase free?
No. Heptabase does not offer a free tier. There is a 7-day free trial with full feature access, but continued use requires a paid subscription starting at $8.99/month billed annually.
Is Heptabase worth paying for?
For visual thinkers doing sustained research or knowledge work, yes. The whiteboard-first design is genuinely different from linear note apps. Casual note-takers are better served by free tools like Obsidian or Notion.
What is the cheapest Heptabase plan?
The annual plan at $8.99/month ($107.88/year) is the cheapest option. Monthly billing costs $11.99/month. Both plans include identical features.