Leaving Notion?

You love how Notion works. Pages, blocks, databases, the slash menu. This page is about everything else: where your data lives, who can read it, what happens when it’s gone, and what you pay to use your own AI. We packed for you.

How the move worksCompare with Obsidian too

The list everyone has, with receipts

Where is your data based?

No made-up numbers. Each point is from Notion's own pricing or help pages, or a widely shared workaround.

01 In Notion

Your workspace lives in the US

By default your workspace data resides in the United States. Moving it to the EU is an Enterprise plan feature, arranged through an account team.

Notion help center: data residency

In Based

Your data lives on your devices first. Based Cloud runs on EU servers, and it’s built in Vienna.

02 In Notion

No end-to-end encryption

Notion can technically read your workspace. Users have asked for end-to-end encryption for years.

Hacker News discussion

In Based

By release, everything is encrypted on your device before it syncs. Cloud agents only decrypt the pages you hand them, while they work.

03 In Notion

The backup that can’t restore

Notion’s own docs say you can’t recreate a workspace by re-uploading its export. Paid backup services say a complete restore isn’t possible through the API.

Reddit r/Notion, Notion Backups FAQ

In Based

Three copies: your device, your encrypted cloud and automatic snapshots to a folder you choose. Restore is one click.

04 In Notion

When the API blinks, data goes

On April 21, 2026, records went missing from Notion’s API responses for hours, and connected sync tools passed on the deletions.

Whalesync status page

In Based

Your copy is local and authoritative. An outage somewhere else can’t delete what’s on your machine.

05 In Notion

Page history has an expiry date

Free keeps 7 days of page history, Plus 30, Business 90. Older versions need a bigger plan.

notion.com/pricing

In Based

Every version of every page, on every plan. Agent edits can be undone one by one.

06 In Notion

Offline, with an asterisk

You pick pages to download per device. Databases bring the first 50 rows of the first view; formulas, relations and rollups need a connection.

Notion offline mode guides

In Based

Offline is the default. Every row, every formula, every view.

07 In Notion

Big databases, long waits

Notion’s help center names page count, visible properties and formula or rollup sorts as the things that slow databases down.

Notion help center, summarised by Falconer

In Based

Queries run locally against your own copy and every view is virtualised. A hundred thousand rows feel like ten.

08 In Notion

Your AI, their upsell

Notion Agent and AI Meeting Notes come with Business at $20 per seat a month. Custom Agents run on credits at $10 per 1,000. On Business, AI data is retained by model providers for 30 days.

notion.com/pricing

In Based

Connect the ChatGPT or Claude account you already pay for, an API key or a local model. Or switch AI off entirely.

09 In Notion

The export is a puzzle

Every exported file gets a 32-character ID appended. There are whole GitHub projects just to clean that up.

unmarkdown.com on Notion exports

In Based

Markdown with real file names and a lossless archive. Leaving takes one click. We hope you won’t.

10 In Notion

Who wrote this?

Text written by you, a teammate or AI looks the same on the page.

Try it on any page

In Based

Every line an agent writes carries a marker and its source in the margin.

The move

Three steps.
Ten minutes.

  1. 1Export from Notion. Settings, Export all workspace content, HTML. Grab a coffee, this part is Notion's.
  2. 2Drop the ZIP into Based. Pages, databases, relations and nesting are rebuilt locally.
  3. 3Work. Same slash menu, same ⌘K, same muscle memory. Faster.

Importing Export-2d6f….zip

0 / 1,284 pages

Meeting notes 00000000000800000000000000000000.mdMeeting notes.md
Travel Lisbon 00800000000000000000000000000000.mdTravel Lisbon.md
Weekly review 00000000000000000000000000080000.mdWeekly review.md
Job applications 00000080000000000000000000000000.mdJob applications.md
Recipes 00000000000000000000000000000000.mdRecipes.md

Notion, Based, Obsidian.
Side by side.

Pick what matters to you. We'll tell you honestly who does it best today, including where we don't.

Notion

Best today

Sign up and start writing. Everything works in the browser.

Based

Best today

Install, import your Notion export, done. Settings for anyone who wants to tweak.

Obsidian

Writing works in seconds. Databases, sync and AI mean plugins, add-ons and configuration.

Across all nine Based is best or tied in 6Notion is best or tied in 4Obsidian is best or tied in 3

Notion and Obsidian details from their pricing and help pages, November 2026. Based scores describe the beta and the release plan.

What you'll miss. For now.

We'd rather tell you than have you find out. All of these are on the roadmap.

Real-time team editing

Presence, cursors and shared pages are planned. Today Based is built for one person first.

Phones

Mac first. iPhone and Android come on the same core.

Notion Sites and Forms

Publishing to the web is on the roadmap; forms come later.

A template gallery

Coming after the beta. Your imported templates work from day one.

Not cloud-based.
Just Based.

Start packing, we'll carry it. Export your Notion today and import it on day one of the beta.

Join the beta