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Side-by-side comparison · Productivity & Notes

Heidi vs Notion vs Smartsheet

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Heidi

4.2

Free to start

Best overall

Notion

4.3

From $10/member/mo

Smartsheet

3.7

From $9/member/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Easiest to use

Pick it if: GPs, specialists, psychologists and allied health practitioners who spend their evenings writing up notes.

Best overallBest value

Pick it if: Anyone who wants one place for their notes, plans and team knowledge, from solo creators to whole companies.

Pick it if: Operations, PMO and project teams who think in spreadsheets and need Gantt charts, reports and approvals.

Overview

AttributeHeidiNotionSmartsheet
In one lineAI medical scribe that listens to a consult and writes the notes and letters.One workspace for notes, docs, wikis and project tracking, with AI built in.Spreadsheet-style project tracking with AI for formulas, summaries and dashboards.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemiumPaid
Starting priceFree$10/member/mo$9/member/mo
Free plan Yes Yes No
Works with Claude Code No Yes Yes

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeHeidiNotionSmartsheet
Overall rating4.24.3Winner3.7
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
3.5
3.5
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
4.5
5.0
4.5
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
4.0
4.5
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.0
4.5
3.0
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.0
4.0
3.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeHeidiNotionSmartsheet
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes No
Mobile app Yes Yes Yes
Desktop app Yes Yes Yes
Browser extension Yes Yes–
API access– Yes Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace Yes Yes Yes
Enterprise plan or SSO Yes Yes Yes
Connects to other apps Yes Yes Yes
Open source or self-hosted No No No
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images– Yes–
Makes images No No No
Makes video No No No
Writes code No Yes–
Runs agents or automations– Yes No
Learns your brand or style Yes No–
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score10/ 1713/ 178/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeHeidiNotionSmartsheet
Plans

Free

Free

A single clinician trying it on real consults.

Free

Free

One person getting organised.

Pro

$9/member/mo billed yearly ($12 monthly)

Individuals and small teams of up to 10.

ClinicianOur pick

See website (14-day free trial)

A clinician who uses it every day.

Plus

$10/member/mo billed yearly

Small teams who want shared docs without the AI.

BusinessOur pick

$19/member/mo billed yearly ($24 monthly)

Teams running several projects together.

Practice

Custom

Clinics with several practitioners.

BusinessOur pick

$20/member/mo billed yearly

Teams who want the AI properly switched on.

Enterprise

Custom

Larger organisations needing admin and security controls.

Enterprise

Custom

Health services and large groups.

Enterprise

Custom

Larger companies with security and compliance needs.

Advanced Work Management

Custom

PMOs managing large portfolios.

Which plan to pickStart on Free for a couple of weeks of real consults. If it saves you time every day, trial the Clinician plan; if you need notes to flow into your practice software or want one bill for the clinic, ask about Practice.Solo users can stay on Free for a long time. For a team the honest answer is Business, because Plus leaves out the AI that makes Notion interesting now. Note that yearly billing is what gets you the $10 and $20 prices, and monthly billing costs more.Business is where Smartsheet's reporting and approvals pay off for a team. Pro suits one person or a very small team. Use the 30-day trial on a real project before you commit to a yearly plan.

Key features

AttributeHeidiNotionSmartsheet
Standout features
  • Ambient scribe
  • Templates
  • Letters and documents
  • Ask Heidi
  • Dictation
  • Practice controls
  • Pages and databases
  • Notion AI and Agent
  • AI Meeting Notes
  • Templates
  • Sites and forms
  • Claude connection
  • Grid, Gantt, board and calendar
  • AI formulas and analysis
  • AI dashboards and summaries
  • Forms and automations
  • Reports across sheets
  • Connections to other AI tools

Pros and cons

AttributeHeidiNotionSmartsheet
Pros
  • Real free plan that a clinician can use day to day
  • Notes follow your own templates, not a generic format
  • Letters and summaries come from the same session
  • Works on phone, desktop and in the browser
  • Built for Australian, UK and US clinical settings
  • Replaces a handful of separate apps with one workspace
  • Databases are flexible enough to model almost any business process
  • Generous free plan for individuals
  • Official Claude connection makes it a shared memory for your AI tools
  • Huge template library and community
  • Familiar spreadsheet layout for Excel users
  • Strong Gantt charts, dependencies and cross-project reporting
  • AI makes formulas and dashboards much easier
  • Mature automations, forms and approvals
Cons
  • Every note needs checking: users report missed details and occasional invented content
  • Paid prices are no longer published, and third-party reports suggest they have risen
  • EHR sync and organisation-wide privacy agreements only come on Practice and Enterprise
  • Recent reviews mention slower support and template bugs as the company has grown
  • No imposed structure, so workspaces get messy without discipline
  • The useful AI is held back for the $20 Business plan
  • Can feel slow with large databases and on patchy connections
  • Offline support is still limited
  • Easy to spend more time organising Notion than doing the work
  • No free plan, and customers report big cost jumps under newer pricing
  • Interface feels dated and has a learning curve for non-spreadsheet people
  • Large sheets can be slow
  • Paid features split across tiers and add-ons

Who each one is for

AttributeHeidiNotionSmartsheet
Best for
  • Writing up consult notes
  • Drafting referral and specialist letters
  • Solo clinicians and small practices
  • Allied health and GP templates
  • Team wikis and documentation
  • Personal notes and planning
  • Content calendars
  • Lightweight project tracking
  • A knowledge base Claude can read
  • Replacing Excel project trackers
  • Gantt charts with dependencies
  • Portfolio and PMO reporting
  • Request intake and approvals
You'll find it used by
  • GPs
  • Specialists
  • Psychologists
  • Physios and allied health
  • Medical practices
  • Startups
  • Marketers
  • Agencies
  • Solo founders
  • Students
  • Project managers
  • Operations teams
  • PMOs
  • Construction firms
  • IT teams

Questions people ask

Which is better, Heidi, Notion or Smartsheet?

Notion scores highest overall in our ratings (Heidi 4.2/5, Notion 4.3/5 and Smartsheet 3.7/5). Heidi is best for writing up consult notes and drafting referral and specialist letters. Notion is best for team wikis and documentation and personal notes and planning. Smartsheet is best for Replacing Excel project trackers and gantt charts with dependencies.

Which is cheaper, Heidi, Notion or Smartsheet?

Heidi: It's free to use. Notion: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $10/member/mo. Smartsheet: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $9/member/mo.

Which is easier to use, Heidi, Notion or Smartsheet?

Heidi rates highest for ease of use in our scores. GPs, specialists, psychologists and allied health practitioners who spend their evenings writing up notes.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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