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Productivity · head to head

Capacities vs Microsoft OneNote

Capacities logo

Capacities

Productivity

A studio for your mind with object-based notes

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft OneNote logo

Microsoft OneNote

Productivity

Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Capacities pro plan pricing not prominently displayed on website; Microsoft OneNote notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • They diverge on capability: Capacities covers Object-based notes, Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Capacities and Microsoft OneNote actually diverge.

Attributes where Capacities and Microsoft OneNote differ
AttributeCapacitiesMicrosoft OneNote
Pricing modelUnknownfreemium
PlatformsWeb, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows
Founded20201975

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Capacities

  • Object-based notes
  • Daily notes
  • Properties and relations
  • Graph view
  • AI assistant
  • Readwise
  • Web clipper
  • GDPR

Only in Microsoft OneNote

  • Free-form page canvas
  • Notebook hierarchy
  • Indexed handwriting
  • Audio recording
  • Web clipper and Outlook capture
  • Shared notebooks
  • Cross-platform clients
  • Tags and cross-notebook search

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Capacities

  • Productivitynot Microsoft OneNote
  • Collaborationnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Task managementnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Organizationnot Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote

  • Handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote.not Capacities
  • Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not Capacities
  • A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not Capacities
  • Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not Capacities

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Capacities

  • Pro plan pricing not prominently displayed on website
  • Smaller community and ecosystem compared to Notion or Obsidian
  • Limited third-party integration marketplace

Microsoft OneNote

  • Notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • Personal notebooks consume OneDrive quota, which is 5 GB on a free Microsoft account, so a notebook full of scans, images and recordings quietly exhausts the whole account including the space Outlook needs for mail.
  • Sync happens at section level and conflicts are resolved by placing both versions on the page, so simultaneous edits to a large or media-heavy section produce duplicated content that somebody has to merge by hand.
  • Search behaves differently across clients, so what the Windows desktop app finds inside handwriting, images and attachments is not necessarily what the browser or mobile version finds, and the same query gives different answers on different devices.
  • There is no relational structure, no database and no properties, so anything that needs a table of records with fields has to be maintained by hand or moved elsewhere, and OneNote's own tables cannot be queried or filtered.

Pricing, plan by plan

Capacities

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited spaces and objects
    • Device synchronization
    • Unlimited custom object types
  • Pro$10/month
    • Everything in Free
    • Unlimited notes
    • Advanced graph views
  • Believer$149.88/year
    • Everything in Pro
    • Beta access to new features

Microsoft OneNote

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Capacities if

  • You need object-based notes.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want daily notes.
Capacities review

Choose Microsoft OneNote if

  • You need free-form page canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
  • You also want notebook hierarchy.
Microsoft OneNote review

Questions people ask

Is Capacities or Microsoft OneNote better?
Neither clearly leads. Capacities starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Capacities or Microsoft OneNote?
Capacities starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free.
Does Capacities or Microsoft OneNote run on more platforms?
Capacities runs on Web, macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android. Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
Can I use Capacities for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Capacities best used for?
Capacities is most often used for productivity, collaboration, task management, organization. Of those, productivity and collaboration are not what Microsoft OneNote is typically brought in for.
What can Capacities do that Microsoft OneNote cannot?
Capacities covers Object-based notes, Daily notes, Properties and relations, Graph view. Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Capacities: What platforms does Capacities support?

Capacities is available on Web, Desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), and Mobile (iOS, Android), allowing seamless work across devices.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Is OneNote really free?

Yes. The application is free with a Microsoft account, with no time limit and no feature gate. What you may end up paying for is the OneDrive storage the notebooks consume.

Capacities: Does Capacities have a free plan?

Yes, Capacities offers a free plan with unlimited spaces, objects, and blocks, device synchronization, unlimited custom object types, and 5GB media uploads total.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: Can I keep notebooks off Microsoft's cloud?

The Windows desktop app can keep local notebooks, but they will not sync to other devices and any shared access requires OneDrive or SharePoint.

Capacities: What AI features does Capacities include?

Capacities includes an AI Assistant available on Pro and higher plans for brainstorming, summarization, and contextual Q&A about your notes.

Source
Microsoft OneNote: How do I get my notes out?

Section by section as a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document. A OneNote package preserves a whole notebook but only for another copy of OneNote. Third-party converters exist and the page layout usually does not survive them.

Microsoft OneNote: Which version should I install?

Microsoft consolidated onto a single OneNote application on Windows after retiring the Store version, so install the one distributed with Microsoft 365 rather than looking for an alternative.

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