Is Anytype worth it in 2024?

Top Features, Pros, Cons, Pricing & Reviews

Anytype has become a popular note-taking app in recent months, mainly due to its object-based note-taking approach. This feature allows users to create templates and instructions for their notes before they even begin.

Many people see object-based note-taking as a more effective and long-term way to organize their notes. Anytype also emphasizes its commitment to being local-first, supporting markdown, open-source, and offering open code.

It includes strong security features like end-to-end encryption and encryption keys for local access. Users appreciate this approach, especially compared to apps like Evernote, which can lock notes into formats that are hard to transfer to other systems.

What is Anytype?

Anytype is an open-source, local-first note-taking application for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. It also has a Chrome extension for clipping notes.

Anytype creates notes as objects to save notes with a structure—e.g., meeting, person, book. It also has E2E security on notes and a growing community.

It is a popular Notion alternative in the local-first note-taking community with an ethos and focus on secure note-taking. Anytype uses object-based note-taking to help organize your notes with more structure.

Who is Anytype best suited for?

Anytype is likely best suited for users who seek a balance between personal knowledge management (PKM), note-taking, and innovative concepts like object-based notes.

Many users appreciate that Anytype integrates tasks, notes, and project management with database features. Those looking to elevate their note-taking might find this app more fitting. While busy professionals may find it useful, it's probably more suited for individuals who enjoy combining note-taking with research. Although it lacks canvas features, the system is flexible enough for anyone.

People seeking alternatives to Capacities may also find Anytype beneficial.

Its strong focus on security and encryption is a key advantage which sets it apart from other note-taking apps. This focus on privacy appeals to those prioritizing security in their note-taking tools.

How does Anytype work?

Anytype allows you to add notes and use structures for notes called objects. These objects are part of an object library, which can be modified within Anytype’s library or duplicated into your library for further editing.

There are also features called relations, which act as properties for object types, helping to break down each object in more detail.

How do objects in Anytype work?

For example, a daily plan could have relations like date and mood, while a "human" object might include details like where you met the person or a link to their website, which is useful for networking.

This allows you to create notes in the form of objects. These objects can be used to build out notes and create interconnecting relationships between notes. Here's an example of how a note might look like inside of Anytype for taking notes on books:

• Book —This allows you to add the book details, including the author, cover image, and even who recommended it.
• Author — Creating an author as an object might allow you to add future book notes and books to their note profile.
• People — This allows you to connect notes like "who recommended me this book" to the properties, perfect for later, and see what note relationships are made.

The concept is somewhat similar to Notion, where you can add properties to notes, but in Anytype, they are categorized as types and relations.

Many users appreciate that Anytype includes features like databases, which allow you to organize these objects with more detail and provide a variety of views. It's beneficial for project management, and while the initial setup can be challenging, it’s something that can be learned over time.

As you create more objects, Anytype helps you structure your notes and ideas, with features like GraphView showing how everything is linked.

For example, book notes might connect to someone you've met or to a meeting you had with them, creating a flow of information in your account. In addition to the graph view, there's a flow view, which helps visualize these connections between objects.

Anytype works across multiple devices and includes a helpful widgets feature on the left-hand panel for easy access to favorite items and a live-style database view to track recent edits. It operates offline and locally first but also offers extended functionality with peer-to-peer networking capabilities.

A structure like this can help build connections between notes more organically than considering how each note is connected.

Anytype also works as an open-source, local-first, markdown note-taking app, which is a compelling selling point for those who want to secure their notes and use something fast, reliable, and focused on security. Here's a good beginner's guide on Anytype we've made.

What is Object-Based Note-Taking?

Object-based notes are simple but provide people taking notes with the structure to build more accurate templates for each note. Apps like Anytype and Capacities are some examples of tools that have implemented object-based note-taking into their note apps.

Many people find benefits from object-based note-taking as it helps them save time building a note without worrying about using database templates each time.

Examples of object-based notes and properties:

• Book - Author, ISBN, categories & notes
• Meeting - People, date, type of meeting & meeting notes
• Person - where you met them, relationship & last contacted

These are just some of the primary examples of how object-based note-taking works.

Anytype Features Explored

The main features that are inside of Anytype and how they help

Note-Taking (B+)

Connect notes in Anytype and bring a sense of brain-like organization to your vault. Many people like how Anytype balances the traditional feel of note-taking apps with the more modern PKM-style tools that can help you organize ideas and thoughts in one place.

Object-Based Concept (A+)

Organize your notes as objects before you begin them; this allows you to save templates and replicate them as you use them throughout your account. It will also allow the Anytype system to be aware you are adding a person, book notes, ideas, bugs, etc. This gives you more customization to your account and speed the more you use it.

Databases (B-)

In Anytype, there’s a feature called Sets, which lets you create databases based on specific attributes like objects. You can then organize these sets using six different views: Grid, Gallery, List, Kanban, Calendar, and Graph. While these views offer flexibility, they can be challenging to implement alongside the object-based system, and it may take some time to grasp how they function fully.

For many users, views like Calendar, Graph, and Gallery expand how they interact with their notes, making information easier to visualize. However, for those coming from apps like Notion, Anytype might not feel as immediately powerful or suitable for their needs. That said, Anytype’s strong security features and the likely evolution of its database functions make it worth exploring. As the platform continues to improve, these features are expected to become even more robust.

Networked Thought (B)

See the way your notes connect with graph view in Anytype and the abilities like flow that allow you to see the relationship and knock-on effect of the notes in your workspaces.

Smaller Features in Anytype

Anytype offers a bunch of small features that are worth noting, so here they are:

Templates

Inside all of the databases that you create, you can create templates that help you structure your notes. Each time you create one, this will help you to create things like a daily plan or a meeting agenda structure, and you can replicate this across sets. This is a great way to save time and is very similar to the Notion templates and their database template function. The application works well with this template ability, and you can further modify the object-based note-taking structure. For example, you can create the perfect structure for any object you create. If you had a person, you could create a contact-like card instead of a regular note, allowing each object type to be slightly different.

Custom Widgets

Another feature that is incredibly useful is widgets, particularly the live widgets. Similar to how Notion widgets work, they allow you to toggle items. For example, if you’ve got a task management setup in Anytype, you can see upcoming or scheduled tasks, or whatever tab you’ve created as part of the task management system. This feature is really helpful for saving time and seeing tasks live and updated, especially when using the mobile version and wanting real-time updates on desktop.

Shared Workspaces

Anytype also allows for team collaboration within a shared workspace, letting you work together in real time. You can add as many people as you want, though the free plan limits this to three people per shared workspace, which is still useful. You can use this space to work with a team or build out a shared concept together.

Anytype Pros

• Open-source note-taking
• Local-first and peer-to-peer networking
• Works with markdown and native on desktop
• It comes with sets and collections for set-ups
• Good-rated iOS, and Android on respective App Stores
• Privacy-focused notes with E2E secure notes
• Good community and audience

Anytype Cons

• It can be overwhelming to use
• Limited database abilities compared to Notion
• Still developing features

Video: Anytype Review

Here's some of how Anytype looks in action to get a better idea of how it works:

How much does Anytype cost per month?

Here's all the Anytype pricing updated for you:

Is Anytype free?

Anytype is free, with a limit of 1GB for the network.

Is Anytype like Notion?

Notion is an all-in-one productivity tool, whereas Anytype is more of a note-taking application. However, many features, such as sets, notes, and the ability to change database views, are similar to those in Notion.

Should I get Anytype?

Okay, time to see whether it is right for you.

Anytype is a challenging app to recommend. It straddles the line between being a personal knowledge management (PKM) tool and a new note-taking system. It offers a unique approach by organizing notes with "objects," a relatively new concept.

If you're open to exploring this approach, Anytype is worth considering as you evaluate note-taking applications. Many users choose Anytype for its offline capabilities, local-first storage, and open-source nature. The company seems committed to building a solid product with features beyond essential note-taking. Its availability across various devices and a generous free plan make it accessible to most users.

The free plan's 1 GB storage limit should be sufficient for those who don't frequently attach files or documents to their notes.

While Anytype is a strong contender, we recommend exploring all the note-taking applications available on Tool Finder as you research your options.