Heptabase
An intelligent, visual knowledge base built for students, researchers, and lifelong learns
Heptabase is a visual knowledge base for students, researchers, and lifelong learners, combining whiteboards and cards with an AI tutor for structured learning and research. It brings sources, notes, highlights, and discussions together in one connected workspace, with a block-based editor, bi-directional links, PDF annotation, daily journals, a web clipper, and Readwise and Zotero integrations. It also offers a CLI that works with coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex.
The AI Tutor runs structured, personalized learning sessions, while the AI agent can explain sources, take notes, and organize the knowledge base from PDFs, YouTube videos, notes, and journals. Heptabase is available on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. It is offered in Pro, Premium, and Premium+ editions with monthly or yearly billing, each including a set number of AI credits per month, with higher tiers adding unlimited PDF uploads and parsing, broader AI model access, the AI tutor, and discounted additional credits. A 7-day trial is available.
12 alternatives to Heptabase
Ranked by how well each tool replaces Heptabase: shared features, audience, price and popularity.
AI note taker for meetings, audio & PDF summaries
Covers 6 of 15 key features, has a free plan and starts cheaper.
Free plan69 out of 100 match$6.66/moBring your thinking to life with shared notes, whiteboards and text documents.
Covers 4 of 15 key features and has a free plan.
Free plan67 out of 100 matchFreeOutline-based note-taking for organizing your work
Covers 11 of 15 key features, has a free plan and starts cheaper.
Free plan67 out of 100 match$6.99/moAI research tool and thinking partner
Covers 3 of 15 key features and has a free plan.
Free plan66 out of 100 matchContact sales- 64 out of 100 matchContact sales
- 64 out of 100 match$9/mo
PDF editor for reading, annotating and analyzing documents
Covers 9 of 15 key features and has a free plan.
Free plan62 out of 100 matchFreeWrite things down at the speed of thought.
Covers 8 of 15 key features, has a free plan and starts cheaper.
Free plan62 out of 100 match$4.99/moFree your notes
Covers 5 of 15 key features, has a free plan, starts cheaper and is open source.
Free planOpen source61 out of 100 match$2.40/moWrite and publish science on a single, collaborative platform
Covers 6 of 15 key features and has a free plan.
Free plan60 out of 100 matchFreeA privacy-first, open-source knowledge base.
Covers 4 of 15 key features, has a free plan and is open source.
Free planOpen source60 out of 100 matchContact sales- 60 out of 100 match$8.33/mo