# Heptabase review

Visual knowledge base for students, researchers and lifelong learners that turns notes, PDFs and highlights into cards on whiteboards, from $8.99/month billed yearly.

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified October 26, 2026.

> Heptabase is a knowledge base built around visual thinking: every note is a card, and cards can be placed, grouped and linked on whiteboards, nested in sub-whiteboards, or opened as documents in a block-based editor. Whiteboards do not own cards; all cards live in a card library, so the same card can sit on several whiteboards and one source note can feed multiple research topics. Reading happens inside the app (PDFs with annotation, YouTube videos with transcripts, web pages through the web clipper, Readwise highlights and Zotero libraries), and highlights become cards. Daily journals, tags with properties, tasks and full-text search (Heptabase says over 10,000 notes in under a second) round out the system. The AI agent explains sources, takes notes and reorganizes cards; Pro uses Gemini models only, while Premium and Premium+ add OpenAI and Anthropic models and an AI Tutor, all metered in monthly credits that do not roll over. Heptabase 1.0 shipped on August 31, 2023, from Hepta Platforms, Inc.

## Facts

- Website: https://heptabase.com
- Pricing: From $8.99/mo (verified )
- License: Paid
- Platforms: web, windows, macos, linux, ios, android
- Best for: turning PDFs, papers and video lectures into connected note cards laid out on whiteboards for a research or study project
- Standout feature: Cards that live on whiteboards: highlights from PDFs, videos and web pages become movable cards you can cluster, connect and reuse across nested whiteboards, with an AI agent that can explain sources and reorganize them.
- Biggest weakness: Heptabase has no self-serve free plan: new users get a 7-day trial, and the free tier exists only for collaborators invited by a paying user, without journals, a personal card library, tags or AI. AI also runs on monthly credits that do not roll over, and Pro's agent is limited to Gemini models and 100 credits, so heavier AI use pushes buyers to Premium at $17.99/month billed yearly.
- Categories: [Online whiteboards](https://findalternative.to/categories/whiteboards), [Notes & PKM](https://findalternative.to/categories/note-taking)

## Pricing snapshot

| Plan | Price | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pro | $8.99/mo | Billed yearly ($107.88/year) or $11.99 billed monthly: unlimited notes, whiteboards, tags, image uploads and collaborator invites; PDF highlights and YouTube transcripts; AI agent with Gemini models; 100 AI credits per month. |
| Premium | $17.99/mo | Billed yearly ($215.88/year) or $23.99 billed monthly: unlimited PDF uploads and OCR parsing, unlimited Q&A with basic AI models, AI agent with GPT, Claude and Gemini models, AI Tutor, 1,800 AI credits per month. |
| Premium+ | $53.99/mo | Billed yearly ($647.88/year) or $71.99 billed monthly: everything in Premium with 8,100 AI credits per month at a 33% credit discount. |

## Pros and cons

- Pro: Native apps on macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, plus a web app, with offline access.
- Pro: PDF annotation, YouTube transcripts, a web clipper and Readwise and Zotero integrations bring sources into the same workspace as notes.
- Pro: Invited collaborators can edit shared whiteboards and cards in real time for free.
- Pro: A bring-your-own OpenAI or Anthropic API key, or Codex sign-in, keeps the AI agent working after included credits run out.
- Pro: A Heptabase CLI works with coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex.
- Con: No self-serve free plan; new users get a 7-day trial.
- Con: AI credits do not roll over, and Pro's AI agent uses Gemini models only.
- Con: Unlimited PDF uploads require Premium ($17.99/month billed yearly); Pro has high but finite upload limits.
- Con: The Android app rates 3.8/5 from 225 Google Play reviews, below the 4.3/5 iOS rating from 71 App Store ratings.

## AI summary

- Heptabase Pro costs $8.99/month billed yearly ($107.88/year) or $11.99 billed monthly, with 100 AI credits per month.
- Heptabase Premium costs $17.99/month billed yearly or $23.99 monthly and includes 1,800 AI credits and unlimited PDF uploads.
- Heptabase has no self-serve free plan; new users get a 7-day trial and invited collaborators can edit shared whiteboards free.
- Heptabase runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android and the web.
- Heptabase says its search covers over 10,000 notes in less than a second.
- Best for: turning PDFs, papers and lectures into connected note cards on whiteboards for research or study
- Pricing: From $8.99/month billed yearly ($11.99 monthly) for Pro; Premium $17.99 and Premium+ $53.99 billed yearly; 7-day trial, no free plan.
- Top alternatives: Obsidian, Scrintal, Logseq, Notion, Miro
- Limitation: No self-serve free plan, only a 7-day trial.
- Limitation: AI credits do not roll over, and Pro's agent uses Gemini models only.
- Limitation: Unlimited PDF uploads require Premium.

## Alternatives

4 vetted alternatives to Heptabase: https://findalternative.to/heptabase — top picks: Obsidian, Miro, Notion

## Comparisons

- https://findalternative.to/compare/heptabase-vs-obsidian

---

Markdown mirror of https://findalternative.to/heptabase/about — findalternative.to, honestly ranked software alternatives. AI info: https://findalternative.to/ai