SpanSearch vs Notion
Notion is a team's docs and wiki. Notion AI searches the workspace, the tools you connect, and the public web, then writes the result back as a page the team edits in Notion. SpanSearch does the research: you choose the sources, it reads the pages, and the claim keeps the passage beside it. The same round can become a report, a mind map, a whiteboard, an image, and a vector graphic. Each has its own editor.
Get started for free
If the team wants one page they can edit together, use Notion. If the same round also needs a mind map, a whiteboard, figures, and vector graphics, each in its own editor, use SpanSearch.
A Notion research report is a page in the workspace. Structure, flow, and figures live on that page, or on another page you open. SpanSearch splits them by kind: a report, a mind map, a whiteboard, an image, and a vector graphic. Each one is its own document.
Notion lays the page out in blocks. SpanSearch includes five editors. Rewrite sentences in the text editor. Drag branches in the mind map. Move boxes and arrows on the whiteboard. Figures go to the image editor. Scientific figures, illustrations, and icons become vectors, and you adjust shapes and text in the vector editor.
Notion AI searches the workspace, connected tools, and the public web, then writes a page. SpanSearch starts from sources you choose: built-in sources, a set you saved, or a site connected in the browser, including a page you are logged into. It gathers the relevant pages, reads them, and writes what is on the page.
Notion marks the sources it used, and you go back to that page to check. In SpanSearch the report sits in the text editor, and the passage hangs next to the claim. Read it, translate or shorten it if you need to, then keep the line or drop it. The mind map, the whiteboard, and the vector graphic grow out of that research. They are not a separate draft with no source.
Read the pages first. Then put each kind of result in the editor that matches it.
After you choose the sources, gather the relevant pages and read them. The report uses what is on the page. The passage stays next to the claim, so you can check it before the line stays.
Get started for free
Topics, branches, and levels are dragged in the mind map editor. You are editing the map, not adding another layer of headings to a page.
Get started for free
The AI can generate a scientific figure, an illustration, or an icon, and an existing image can be converted into a vector in one step. Adjust shapes, text, and layers in the vector editor. Other figures go to the image editor.
Get started for free
Steps, architecture, and what connects to what are moved as boxes and arrows in the whiteboard editor. All five editors are here. You do not switch apps.
| Feature | SpanSearch | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | The same round can be a report, a mind map, a whiteboard, an image, and a vector graphic. | A page in the workspace. Structure, flow, and figures live on that page, or on another one. |
| Editors | Text, image, vector, mind map, and whiteboard each have an editor. | The page is edited in blocks. This set of editors is not there. |
| How research works | You choose the sources. Relevant pages are gathered and read. The writing is what is on the page. | Searches the workspace, connected tools, and the public web, then writes a page. |
| Citations | The passage stays next to the claim in the report. Open it and check. | The sources used are marked. You still go back to the page for the sentence. |
| Mind map | Drag branches and change levels in the mind map editor. | Headings and lists on the page. |
| Vector graphics | The AI generates figures, illustrations, and icons, or converts an existing image, and you edit it there. | The image is embedded in the page. Changing shapes and text usually means another tool. |
| Fits when | One round of research should become several documents, and each one still needs editing. | The team wants a page, a wiki, and databases. |
If what you want is a page in the workspace, use Notion.
If the research should become several documents, and each one still needs editing, use SpanSearch.
Start with a question. SpanSearch reads the pages, and the report, mind map, whiteboard, image, and vector graphic each stay in their editor.
Get started for free