Docs tools with databases (Notion-style) in 2026

Five docs tools let a page hold a database in 2026: Notion, which defined the pattern; Superhuman Docs, the product formerly called Coda; AFFiNE and Anytype, both open source and local-first; and Atrix Pages, where a page becomes a database whose sub-pages are its rows. They differ most on three things: how many views a database has, whether rows can relate to rows in other databases, and what you get back when you export. This post compares all five on those, with prices as of October 2026.

We run our company handbook, decision log and meeting notes on this kind of tool, and we have migrated between two of them, so the export column is written from experience.

What a "Notion-style database" is

A Notion-style database is a set of pages that share a schema. Each row is a page you can open and write in; each column is a property (text, select, date, person, checkbox, number). The same rows can be shown as a table, a board grouped by a select property, a calendar on a date property, or a gallery. In Notion, rows can also relate to rows in another database, and rollups and formulas compute across those relations.

The pattern matters because it collapses two tools into one. A "Decisions" database is both a document per decision and a filterable table of decisions. The question when choosing an alternative is how much of that pattern each tool implements, because every one of them implements a different subset.

The five tools compared, October 2026

Tool	Views	Relations, rollups, formulas	Export	Local-first or open source	Price (entry paid)
Notion	Table, board, calendar, timeline, gallery, list	Yes, all three	Markdown, CSV, PDF, HTML	No	Plus $10 per member per month; Business $20
Superhuman Docs (Coda)	Table, board, calendar, card, detail	Yes; formulas are its strength	Markdown, PDF, CSV per table	No	Pro $15 per Doc Maker per month ($12 yearly); Business $40 ($33 yearly)
AFFiNE	Database blocks with table and kanban	Limited; no cross-database relations in our testing	Markdown, PDF, HTML	Open source, local-first, self-hostable	Pro $6.75 per month, up to 10 members; Team $10 per seat per month yearly
Anytype	Sets and collections over typed objects	Relations between objects, yes; rollups and formulas, no	Markdown, JSON, protobuf	Open source, local-first, end-to-end encrypted	Plus/Pro/Ultra shown at $4/$8/$16 per month yearly; Business €20 per editor
Atrix Pages	One table of sub-pages with properties	No relations, rollups or formulas today	Markdown per page; whole workspace as ZIP	No	Builder $39 per month flat, 5 seats

Notes on sources. Notion's prices are from notion.com/pricing. Superhuman Docs' prices come from third-party pricing trackers because the vendor page redirected and could not be loaded on the day; the rename from Coda took effect on 8 July 2026 and only Doc Makers pay, editors and viewers are free. AFFiNE's prices are from affine.pro/pricing. Anytype's prices are the yearly rates shown on anytype.io per aggregators; the page itself could not be loaded, and the Business price is from business.anytype.io. Atrix's are from our own pricing page.

Notion: the full pattern, per member

Notion still has the most complete implementation. Six views, relations in both directions, rollups, formulas, and templates for rows. Every member pays, $10 on Plus and $20 on Business, and the AI features that matter in 2026 (Notion Agent, meeting notes, custom agents on credits) sit on Business. Export is thorough: a whole workspace comes out as Markdown and CSV, with the CSV preserving properties.

The reason people look for alternatives is rarely the databases. It is the per-member price at ten or fifteen people, the Business-plan gate on AI, and the fact that everything lives on Notion's servers.

Superhuman Docs, formerly Coda: formulas first

Coda became Superhuman Docs on 8 July 2026. The product is unchanged in the way that matters here: tables are first-class, every table has a formula language that is closer to a spreadsheet than Notion's, and the "Doc Maker" billing model means only the people who build docs pay, as of October 2026 $15 a month on Pro ($12 yearly) and $40 on Business ($33 yearly). Editors and viewers are free, which for a team where two people build and ten read is a very different bill from Notion's.

The trade-off is portability. Coda docs export to Markdown and PDF, and tables to CSV, but the formulas and buttons that make a Coda doc useful do not survive export.

AFFiNE and Anytype: open source and local-first

Both are for teams that want the files on their own machines.

AFFiNE is a block editor where a page can hold a database block with table and kanban views, plus a whiteboard on the same canvas. It is open source, self-hostable (free up to 10 members on the self-hosted tier), and its cloud Pro plan is $6.75 a month for up to 10 members. We did not find cross-database relations in our testing, and the docs describe blocks for "docs, tasks, kanban or whiteboard" rather than a relational layer.

Anytype is built the other way round: everything is a typed object with relations, and "sets" and "collections" are the database views over those objects. It is local-first and end-to-end encrypted, with peer-to-peer sync. Rollups and formulas are not there. The individual plans are shown at $4, $8 and $16 a month on yearly billing for 1, 10 and 100 GB of remote storage, and the separate Anytype for Business product is €20 per editor per month, with viewers free.

Both are excellent for a privacy-first team and both are more work to run than a hosted tool.

Atrix Pages: a smaller database, in a workspace that has the rest

Atrix Pages implements the narrow version of the pattern. A page nests inside other pages as a tree, like Notion. Any page can be turned into a database: its sub-pages become rows, each with the properties you define, and the page shows them as a table. Pages co-edit live with cursors, keep version history, have comments and backlinks, and share by link. Each page downloads as Markdown, and owners can export the whole workspace as a ZIP with every page as Markdown in folders that mirror the tree, plus CSVs of work, customers and members.

What it does not have, as of October 2026: no board, calendar or gallery view of a database, no relations between databases, no rollups or formulas, and import is limited to Markdown, Word and Excel files. If your Notion workspace is a web of related databases, Atrix Pages will not reproduce it.

Where it fits is a team that wants a handbook, meeting notes, decision log and PRDs next to the work tracker, CRM, calendar and chat that already know about the same projects and customers, for a flat $39 a month for five seats. That is a different trade from Notion's, and we would rather say so than claim parity.

How to choose in five steps

Count your relations. Open your current workspace and count the databases that relate to another. Zero or one: any tool in the table works. More: Notion or Superhuman Docs.
Decide who pays. Per member (Notion, AFFiNE Team), per Doc Maker (Superhuman Docs) or flat (Atrix). A team of two builders and ten readers pays very differently on each.
Run the export before you commit. Export a database from your current tool and open the result. If the properties survive as CSV columns and the pages as Markdown, you can leave later.
Check where the data lives. Hosted (Notion, Superhuman Docs, Atrix) or on your machines (AFFiNE, Anytype). This is a policy decision, not a feature one.
Price the AI separately. Notion's agents are on Business plus credits at $10 per 1,000; AFFiNE AI is an $8.90 a month add-on; Atrix includes agent runs in the plan but its agent plans products, it does not write in your docs.

FAQ

What is the best Notion alternative with databases?

For the fullest database feature set, Superhuman Docs (formerly Coda), especially for formula-heavy tables. For open source and local-first, AFFiNE or Anytype. For a simpler database inside an all-in-one workspace, Atrix Pages.

Is there a free docs tool with databases?

Notion's Free plan includes databases. AFFiNE is free for up to 3 members on cloud and free to self-host for up to 10. Anytype is free for local use with 100 MB of remote storage. Superhuman Docs has a free plan. Atrix has no free plan.

Can Atrix Pages replace Notion databases?

For a single table of pages with properties, yes. For related databases, rollups, formulas or board and calendar views, no, as of October 2026. Atrix imports Markdown, Word and Excel files, not a Notion export directly.

Which docs tool exports best?

Notion and Atrix both export a whole workspace as Markdown with the page tree preserved; Notion adds CSV for every database. Superhuman Docs loses formulas on export. Anytype exports Markdown, JSON and protobuf.

Did Coda change its name?

Yes. Coda became Superhuman Docs on 8 July 2026, with Pro at $15 per Doc Maker per month and Business at $40 as of October 2026; existing customers kept their earlier rates according to pricing trackers.

Next step

See how Atrix Pages handles nested pages, databases and export, or read the fuller Notion alternative comparison if you are weighing the whole workspace, not just the docs.

Sources

Checked in October 2026: Notion pricing, AFFiNE pricing, Anytype for Business, Superhuman Docs plans, Coda is now Superhuman Docs (Breeze).

Docs tools with databases, Notion-style, in 2026: Notion, Superhuman Docs (Coda), AFFiNE, Anytype and Atrix compared