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The Best 7 Roam Research Alternatives in 2024

In 2019, the digital note-taking landscape witnessed a shift. Roam Research burst onto the scene, introducing a novel way to visualize and connect thoughts. Fast forward four years, the ecosystem is shifting, with many new Roam Research Alternatives pushing the boundaries.

In today’s article, we compare some of the best alternatives to Roam Research, each with its unique flair and set of features. Whether you’re a productivity ninja or just dipping your toes in, there’s a good chance one of these apps might just become your ultimate note-taking tool.

🗒️ What Is Roam Research?

At a glance, Roam Research looks (and works) like any other note-taking app out there. It offers a (seemingly) minimalist interface and basic text formatting options using the Markdown syntax. But what makes it stand out is its ability to create bi-directional internal links between notes.

Imagine jotting down a thought about, say, “Renaissance Art.” Later on, when you’re diving deep into “Leonardo da Vinci,” you simply link back to that initial note. Once you’ve connected several associated notes, you can navigate your growing knowledge base jumping between them.

The final piece of the puzzle is the knowledge graph, which is essentially a visual, interactive representation of all your notes and the internal links between them. It’s like having a bird’s-eye view of your thoughts, interwoven in a tapestry of interconnected ideas.

All that makes Roam Research a great tool for personal knowledge management (PKM) strategies like the Linking Your Thinking system or the Zettelkasten method .

But who exactly is this note-taking app for? Let’s find out. 👇

🤔 Who Is Roam Research Best Suited For?

Roam Research is primarily a note-taking tool, and it does a decent job offering a simple, distraction-free editor without the bells and whistles. If you need a straightforward writing environment and the ability to organize your notes, then Roam should work for you just fine.

You can use Roma Research for:

• Conducting research
• Outlining documents and projects
• Capturing reading notes
• Mapping out ideas
• Breaking down complex problems
• And more…

However, if you’re after more complex use cases than that, say a simple task manager, you’ll have to DIY your workflows from scratch. And even then, you’ll probably still miss many of the advanced features offered by other tools out of the box like recurring tasks or progress tracking.

There are a few more Roam limitations you should keep in mind.

👎 What Are The Disadvantages of Roam Research?

Lack of communication features.

The flow of information is key for effective team collaboration in a project management setting. While Roam offers some basic graph sharing, it doesn’t really support full-blown collaborative features that many other dedicated platforms include. Roam falls short here.

Steep Learning Curve

Roam’s user interface seems inviting enough, but there is a rather steep learning curve once you take a peek under the surface. Small editor inconveniences aside, the expectations to treat all your notes as part of a larger whole may be a bit overwhelming to note-taking beginners.

Loss of Momentum

Roam’s best years are long gone, and the vibrant community engagement that used to be one of its high points seems to be waning. The Roam team is still rolling up new updates and patch ing the app, but the rate of innovation has slowed down a bit over the last two years.

High Price Point

At $15 a month or $165 a year, Roam is on the expensive end of the note-taking landscape. And even if that price point is on par with other top-of-the-line tools, it seems steep considering the features and functionalities it offers in comparison, especially if you’re on a tight budget.

“Ok, so what are my options?”

We’ve rolled up our sleeves and rounded up 7 best second-brain apps (we’ll explain that in a bit) that give Roam a run for its money and might just surprise you with their capabilities.

Curious? Let’s dive in! 🔎

🏆 The 5 Best Roam Research Alternatives

Imagine an app that allows you to take detailed notes with infinite, nested hierarchies, organize and manage projects and tasks, and even work together with others in real time. Now add a dash of AI magic with an AI chat and a smart writing assistant on top. Voilà! Meet Taskade.

Taskade is a Y-Combinator-backed tool that combines the simplicity of the best outliner apps , the utility of a note-taking app, and the power of a collaboration platform.

Each note in Taskade is a living document contained in a structured, tree-shaped database. That means you can transform your notes in many different ways. Start with a simple list of items and transition smoothly to a mind map or a Kanban board, without losing context.

But there is one more thing that sets Taskade apart. Imagine if your notes could think alongside you. With AI at its core, Taskade is more than just another note-taking app.

The AI Assistant “lives” in every note you create in Taskade. It can help you structure your writing, brainstorm and develop ideas, and even check your grammar and spelling. It’s like having a personal writing coach, creative director, and your own editor available 24/7.

Here’s what else you’re getting in the package. 👇

Key Features of Taskade

Taskade is stacked with features to help you take notes and manage your to-do lists and projects. Designed for remote teams, Taskade lets you get work done from anywhere.

Here’s a table containing some of Taskade’s key features.

What Are Some Pros Of Taskade?

• AI-powered writing assistant, chat, and project generator
• Outlining feature with unlimited nested hierarchies
• Bi-directional backlinks for connecting your notes
• Real-time collaboration within the same project
• Dynamic workflows including lists, boards, and mind maps
• 600+ customizable templates to give you a head start
• Advanced integrations through Zapier
• Free built-in videoconferencing and chat features in every project
• Frequent updates based on user feedback and suggestions
• Tabbed workflow for working with multiple notes
• Multi-factor authentication

What Are Some Cons Of Taskade?

• Offline mode is only available on mobile devices.

How Much Does Taskade Cost?

Taskade Free Plan

• Unlimited Tasks & Projects
• Unlimited Members & Guests
• Unlimited Folders & Teams
• Templates, Calendar, Repeat Tasks
• Real-time Collaboration
• Built-in Free Chat and Video Call

Taskade Unlimited Plan (starting at $5 / month )

• Everything in Free, plus:
• Version History
• Advanced Permission
• Cloud Upload Integration
• 2-Way Calendar Integration

Want to learn more? Check how AI is changing how people take notes next.

What Is Obsidian?

Obsidian is a note-taking software designed for knowledge management. Its core feature allows users to interlink and connect notes, creating a structured network of information.

The software was developed by Erica Xu and Shida Li in 2020 amidst the Covid-19 quarantine. As of now, the platform has a community of over 50,000 members on Discord, and it’s noteworthy that the entire project has been managed by this two-person team.

Features of Obsidian

• Markdown support
• Backlinks and graph view
• Multiple resizable UI panes
• Official and community plugins
• Customizable themes
• Proprietary and external sync (paid extra)

How Much Does Obsidian Cost?

Free for personal use 

• Doesn’t require an account
• Plugins and API

Catalyst ($25/50/100 one-time purchase)

• Support the development process
• Access to insider builds

Commercial ($50/year per user)

• Ready for commercial use
• Priority support

Sync Add-On ($8/month billed annually)

• End-to-end encryption
• Built-in version history
• Priority email support

Publish Add-On ($16/month billed annually)

• Selective notes publishing
• Graph view and outline

What is Logseq

Logseq is an open-sourced outliner note-taking application. Tienson Qin founded the app in 2018 with the aim of helping users create a knowledge base filled with interconnected notes.

We would classify Logseq as an app that helps you create a second brain. If that is something that you’re looking for, here’s our list of the best second-brain apps in the market today.

What’s different for Logseq is that it is a tool that places high importance on user privacy. If privacy is something that you’re focused on, then Logseq is a top alternative note-taking app that you should consider.

You can use Logseq to take notes and manage tasks. As a result, there are many alternatives to Logseq depending on your use case. However, today we will be focusing only on the best alternatives to Logseq.

But first, let’s learn more about what Logseq has to offer.

Features of Logseq

Compared to similar apps such as  Obsidian  and  Roam Research , Logseq is a free alternative that you can use to keep your notes organized.

• Bi-directional linking
• Search and filter
• Customizable templates

How Much Does Logseq Cost?

Logseq is completely free to use. Users can choose to donate if they wish.

Looking for the best Logseq alternative? Taskade is the best bet for modern knowledge workers. Get started instantly for free today.

What Is Workflowy?

Workflowy is streamlined outlining software that lets you map out all kinds of projects. The outliner app offers a minimalist, distraction-free outliner environment. You can use Workflowy in a web browser or get it for Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile devices.

Like Taskade, Workflowy was nurtured under Y Combinator’s wings and was designed to address everyday project management problems. Workflowy uses a hierarchical tree structure that accentuates the flexibility of ordinary lists.

Workflowy’s ease of use gives it a spot in our list of the best note-taking apps of 2022.

Features of Workflowy

• Infinite nested lists (in Workflowy Pro)
• Filtering features
• Color-coded tags and highlighting (beta)
• Outline backup to Dropbox
• A selection of themes and fonts
• Outline sharing and collaboration

How Much Does Workflowy Cost?

• All features included
• Limited to 250 bullets/month
• File upload limited to 100 MB
• Only basic sharing

Workflowy Pro ($4.08 billed annually)

• Unlimited bullets
• Unlimited file uploads
• Advanced sharing features
• Backup to Dropbox
• Premium support

What Is Evernote?

Evernote is a digital note-taking app that was created by Russian engineer Stepan Pachikov to help people organize their thoughts and store information. The app pioneered digital note-taking and remains one of the most popular note-taking apps today. With Evernote, users can create and save notes, tasks, web pages, and more in one centralized location.

If you’re interested in a more in-depth discussion on Evernote’s history from day 1 to what it is today, check out our  review of Evernote’s history!

Features of Evernote

• Notes organized in notebooks
• Built-in search function
• Web clipper extension
• Handwriting recognition

How Much Does Evernote Cost?

• Cross-device sync (2 devices)
• 60 MB of storage for notes/month
• Task management
• Search and tagging
• Uploading attachments

Personal ($7.99/month)

• 10GB of storage
• Offline access
• PDF and image search

Professional ($9.99/month)

• 20GB or storage
• Task management features
• Personalized home screen

Teams ($14.99/month per user)

• Best suited for team use

What Is RemNote?

RemNote is a unique blend of a note-taking platform and a spaced repetition system, designed to facilitate more efficient learning and retention. As you draft notes in RemNote, you have the ability to seamlessly weave in flashcards, bridging the gap between taking notes and learning.

This fusion of note-taking and active recall tools positions RemNote as a valuable resource for students, professionals, and lifelong learners. By marrying these two methods, you can ensure not only that you’re capturing important information, but also boosting long-term retention.

Features of RemNote

• Integrated spaced repetition
• Hierarchical note organization
• Active recall tools
• Knowledge graph

How Much Does RemNote Cost?

• Unlimited flashcards
• 3 Annotated PDFs
• Multi-device sync
• Limited file upload

Pro ($8/month billed annually or 6$ billed monthly)

• Unlimited PDF annotation
• Unlimited tables & templates
• Collaboration

What Is Tana?

Tana is a newcomer to the note-taking space branded as “an intelligent all-in-one workspace.” Similar to Rome, Tana offers a simple note-taking interface, a knowledge graph, and internal links that make it a competent note-taking and second brain tool for personal and work use.

The interface comprises a navigation pane on the left and an editor in the center. The latter comes with a set of core note-taking features including outlining, foldable nodes, nested pages, and a drag-and-drop interface. You can also choose from several views, from lists to tables.

Features of Tana

How Much Does Tana Cost?

Invite-Only Early Access

👋 Parting Words

Roam Research is an effective personal knowledge management tool that can be used by note-takers, researchers, and students. It is designed to excel in linking information together and forming a web of interconnected nodes. However, it has a steep learning curve and lacks collaboration features.

It is important that you consider all other options when choosing a productivity tool to help with organizing information. Alternative software such as Taskade can help you organize content alongside other features to help you improve your productivity levels.

Although Roam Research is a powerful tool for personal knowledge management, it’s essential to weigh the pros and cons of this tool against your specific needs, and consider alternative options.

🤖 Custom AI Agents : Deploy teams of custom AI agents to supercharge your note-taking and knowledge management workflows.

🪄 AI Generator : Describe what you’re working on and watch AI bring it to life. Upload documents for more tailored results.

✏️ AI Assistant : Leverage the power of GPT-4 Turbo built into the project editor to take smarter notes, generate content, and edit documents.

🗂️ AI Prompt Templates Library : Explore hundreds of AI prompts designed to support personal and business workflows.

💬 AI Chat : Discuss and refine ideas with the help of Taskade AI. Ask questions and ask for solutions using a conversational interface.

📄 Media Q&A : Analyze documents, spreadsheets, notes, books, articles, and other resources to summarize or extract key insights.

And much more…

Frequently Asked Questions about Roam Research Alternatives

Can i get roam research for free.

No, Roam Research does not offer a free plan. There is a free trial available, but it is a paid service with a subscription model.

Is Roam Research better than Notion?

Notion is far more versatile and covers more use cases than Roam Research. However, Taskade surpasses both with advanced AI, multiple project views, and superior collaboration tools.

Is Roam better than Obsidian?

All in all, we recommend Obsidian over Roam Research for its flexibility, local storage, and extensive plugin ecosystem. However, Taskade offers even more with its AI-driven tools and versatile project views.

What is roam research?

Roam Research is a note-taking and knowledge management tool designed to help users create a network of interlinked notes, making it easier to organize and connect ideas.

What is Roam Research best used for?

Roam Research is best used for creating and managing interconnected notes, research projects, personal knowledge management, and writing, as it allows for easy linking and referencing of information. Taskade offers similar capabilities with added AI and project management features for enhanced productivity.

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Best 5 Roam Research Alternatives & Competitors for 2024 (Features, Pricing)

Content Partnership Specialist

February 14, 2024

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Whether it’s product pitches, contracts, or that last of Netflix docuseries you need to start, we all deal with tons of information every day. 

And unless you wanna drown in a sea of words, you need software like Roam Research to store and manage that information properly. The tool is great to jot down your ideas, thoughts, notes, etc., and organize them effectively.

But Roam isn’t perfect .

It’s one of the reasons why you’re probably looking for some Roam Research alternatives!

But don’t worry.

Your search ends here.

In this article, the top five alternatives to Roam , their key features, pros, limitations, pricing, and user ratings.

What is Roam Research?

What to look for in a roam research alternative, 2. evernote, 4. docuwiki, 5. tiddlywiki, note-taking made easier with roam research alternative.

Let’s dive in.

Roam Research is an online workspace tool for organizing and evaluating information. It calls itself ‘a note-taking tool for networked thought’ and ‘collective intelligence.’

Which is a fancy way of saying the primary reason you should use Roam is because it can handle and consolidate all your data into one place!

Some of its key features include:

• A Roam graph that’s like a spider web 🕸 or a network of knowledge. Here users can move around and connect ideas  easily
• A graph database that organizes all your notes, documents, and everything in your Roam database 
• Bidirectional linking , where pages or related ideas get organized as mind-maps instead of a hierarchy like a document within a folder, a folder within a folder, etc.  

When looking for a Roam Research alternative look out for:

• Ability to link notes from different documents
• Granular permission settings for each document
• An intuitive user interface that makes it easy to navigate and find the information you need
• Advanced tagging capabilities for specific topics and ideas within a note or document
• Automated reminders and notifications when tasks or events are approaching

5 Best Roam Research Alternatives

Here are the Roam alternatives that we think will fit you just right:

ClickUp is one of the world’s highest-rated productivity tools, used by teams in small, medium, and large organizations .

From taking notes to managing documents, resources , and projects, ClickUp is your all-in-one solution .

Don’t believe us? Here’s some solid proof:

ClickUp key features

ClickUp Docs is the next generation of integrated document management and collaboration. With its comprehensive suite of features and collaborative abilities, ClickUp Docs makes it easy to track, organize, store, and share documents in one central location.

Manage documents with confidence and make sure everyone has access to the latest version. Create beautiful documents with ease, collaborate in real-time, and stay on top of changes with ClickUp Docs!

With Docs, you can:

• Share them with people in your Workspace and outside
• Customize headers, descriptions, font styles, and more
• View the word count
• Create a bulleted list, table, checklist , etc.
• Access unlimited pages and nested pages
• And so much more

And if you’ve ever played a multiplayer game 🎮, collaborating on Docs is something like that. 

You can see who’s editing in real-time to ensure there are no clashes!

ClickUp Notepad is the ideal note-taking tool for teams and individuals. It offers a powerful blend of features that allow you to create, organize, and share notes quickly and easily.

Keep track of tasks with checklists and collaborate in real-time on documents, requests, resources, and more. With ClickUp Notepad’s secure cloud storage, your notes are always available from any device, so you can stay productive wherever you go.

And guess what you don’t need to make your notes boring, thanks to rich text editing .

ClickUp can even convert your notes into tasks with a few clicks to help you create action items. The note’s title becomes the task name, and the note’s content turns into the task description.

Whiteboards

ClickUp Whiteboard allow you to take notes in a virtual whiteboard and sketch ideas on a blank canvas. It’s perfect for brainstorming, wireframing, or researching planning out the next project with your team.

Best of all, you can collaborate in real-time and sync across devices to keep everyone on the same page! With ClickUp Whiteboard, creativity is only limited by your imagination.

ClickUp pros

• Work even when the wifi is down with Offline Mode
• Manage projects without spending a penny with our Free Forever Plan
• Track task durations using native time tracking
• Work with more than one person on a single task with multiple assignees
• Create your own workflows using task statuses  
• Use markdown shortcuts to quickly format texts without using your mouse
• Work on the go with ClickUp mobile apps for both iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android

ClickUp limitations

• Not all ClickUp views are available on the mobile app… yet! 

But that’s alright. Our team works in eight different time zones to ensure your proposals are heard and your problems addressed.

Take a look at our development roadmap to see what’s in store.

ClickUp pricing

• Free Forever Plan  (best for personal use)
• Unlimited Plan  (best for small teams ($7/member per month)
• Business Plan  (best for mid-sized teams ($12/member per month)

ClickUp user ratings

• Capterra: 4.7/5 (2100+ reviews)
• g2: 4.7/5 (2600+ reviews)

We all know this one.

Evernote , the note taking app with the green elephant logo. 🐘

This Roam Research alternative lets you take notes, organize them, manage your projects, and enhance your productivity . And whether you need it for personal knowledge management or work , Evernote can be a suitable platform.

However, there are note taking and project management apps that are cheaper and offer far more functionality than Evernote.

Read our comprehensive Evernote review and top alternatives .

Evernote key features

• Web clipper for screen captures
• Templates for meeting notes , project management, etc.
• Search texts in PDFs , scanned documents, and images for quick finds

Evernote pros

• Scan documents on the go with their iOS (iPhone & iPad) and Android apps
• Get offline access to your notes
• Easily integrate with popular apps including Gmail, Salesforce, Slack, etc.

Evernote limitations

• Free plan supports only 60MB monthly upload 
• You can’t do simple calculations in a table
• Doesn’t work on Linux 

Evernote pricing

Evernote offers three pricing options:

• 25MB note size
• Sync up to two devices
• Search and tags for quick finds
• 200MB note size
• PDF annotation
• Web clipper
• 20GB monthly upload
• Shared spaces
• Team activity history

Evernote user ratings

• Capterra: 4.5/5 (6700+ reviews)
• g2: 4.5/5 (1800+ reviews)

The third alternative is Notion , a productivity app that aims to unify your company’s work processes. It’s basically a mix of a note-taking tool, a workspace, and a sharing system that lets you collaborate with your team.

Notion also has a dark mode and light mode, in case that matters to you.

Unfortunately, Notion doesn’t let you build your own dashboards!

Now, that’s a project manager’s worst nightmare.

Check out top Notion alternatives and compare Notion with Evernote (our second tool on this list)

Notion key features

• Wikis for creating directories of documents
• Multiple database views, including timeline, calendar, etc.
• Lock page content to prevent accidental edits

Notion pros

• Real-time editing and team collaboration on pages or databases
• Supports syntax highlighting
• Multiple templates for project managers, startups, HR, etc.

Notion limitations

• No Gantt chart functionality
• Limited reporting options
• No mind map features

Notion pricing

Notion offers three pricing options:

• Sync across all devices
• Unlimited pages
• Share with up to five guests
• Version history
• Unlimited file uploads
• Unlimited guests
• Collaborative workspace
• Advanced page analytics

Notion user ratings

• Capterra: 4.7/5 (250+ reviews)
• g2: 4.5/5 (150+ reviews)

Check out our full Notion vs Roam guide !

If you’re looking for open source alternatives to Roam Research, DokuWiki is a great tool that doesn’t need a database. You’ll love the many plugins that extend DocuWiki’s feature set, chipped in by its buzzing community. 

However, it’s hard to get past its appearance. 

Visually, you’re stuck with something that looks like it was made when Mac was called Macintosh. 🤦

DokuWiki key features

• Automatic generation of table of contents
• Spam blacklist option for open internet ecosystems
• Section editing for easily editing individual sections of a long document 

DokuWiki pros

• Markdown support
• Tons of plugin options for syntax, admin, etc.
• Templates for layout customization

DokuWiki limitations

• It can be difficult for non-technical users to on-board
• The software looks dated
• No task management abilities

DokuWiki pricing

DokuWiki is free, open source software.

DokuWiki user ratings

• Capterra: 4/5 (N/A)
• g2: 3.8/5 (10+ reviews)

TiddlyWiki is a free open source self hosted with a very memorable name. It lets you capture every thought, organize complex information, and share it with your team.

Planning a novel? Creating a to-do list? TiddlyWiki can be your friend.

However, its functions are limited to just ‘words.’ 

So if you want to manage tasks or set reminders for the notes… 

TiddlyWiki key features

• Customizable keyboard shortcuts
• Editor toolbar for quick text formats
• TiddlyMap add-on for linking pages on a simple graph 

TiddlyWiki pros

• You can install language plugins to change the user inference language
• It lets you customize the page and tiddler layout
• Supports MathML markup language for mathematical notations (variables, equations, etc.)

TiddlyWiki limitations

• No collaboration abilities
• Limited task management
• Risk of data loss if not backed up in apps like Dropbox

TiddlyWiki pricing

TiddlyWiki is free for all.

TiddlyWiki user ratings

• Capterra: N/A

Roam Research is a great tool for creating notes, storing knowledge, and establishing links between different data units in a dynamic network ( the spider web ).

However , its task management abilities are limited, and it doesn’t have a free plan. 

You can’t also shrug off the fact that it’s a note-taking tool with no mobile app.

That’s exactly why you need a powerful project management tool like ClickUp . 

Get ClickUp for free today and make everything you note down purposeful.

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5 Best Roam Research Alternatives to Create a Digital Brain

Roam Research has taken the modular productivity market by storm. The software’s unique approach to note-taking, backlinks, and graph view has won them many fans over the world. However, the whole experience does come with a cost, $165 per year, to be precise and it’s lacking presence on the mobile space as well. If you are looking for an affordable solid Roam Research alternative, read along to find the five best possible options. 

Best Roam Research Alternatives 

Let’s start the list with the fan-favorite Notion software. 

Roam Research was designed to fill-in the gaps left by Notion software. Similar to Roam Research, Notion offers backlinks, grouped tabs, and an overall modular approach. With Notion, you won’t get the well-known digital map function, but the software does have a ton of tricks up its sleeve to lure the consumers in the Notion ecosystem. 

Unlike Roam Research, Notion is completely free to use for personal accounts. It’s ideal for project management as well. It’s really up to the user on how he/she wants to be productive with Notion. 

• Modular approach similar to Roam Research
• Backlinks support 
• Hundreds of templates to choose from 
• Cross-platform availability 
• Free for personal accounts with unlimited blocks 
• Mobile apps are nothing to write about 
• Lacks digital map function 
• Lacks offline support – needs constant internet connection

Free for personal use. 

Get Notion  

2. Obsidian

Obsidian is the closest you can get as a Roam Research alternative. The backlinking support is as good as Roam Research. As you connect the ideas from one note to another, the software will create a second digital brain just like Roam Research. 

The free version allows you to create as many vaults as possible. You can also work offline as Obsidian is flexible enough to save vaults on the device. Our favorite feature is the ability to open multiple notes on a single screen. It really spruces up productivity. 

• Native apps for Windows and Mac 
• Beautiful UI 
• Plugins support
• Multiple export options 
• Digital map support 
• Offline support 
• Confusing pricing structure 
• Complex to use for first-timers 

Obsidian is free to download and use. However, you need to pay for cross-platform sync and other advanced options such as publishing. 

Get Obsidian  

3. Hypernotes 

Hypernotes takes Roam Research experience to the next level with a built-in bi-directional linking and Semantic Graph. Unlike any other solution above, the software does have native app support for iOS and Android. 

The more we use, the more we feel Hypernotes to be Roam Research, Google Docs, and Trello combined on steroids. It’s that good. The software also comes with a much-needed Zapier integration to automate tasks. 

• Zapier integration
• Ideal for team communication 
• Text Outlining 
• DIgital graph similar to Roam Research 
• The free plan is limited in terms of features 

The Plus plan starts at €8 per month. 

Get Hypernotes  

RemNote is the all-in-one workspace for note-taking, learning, organizing thoughts, and growing knowledge. It is mostly preferred in the education space by students, researchers, and professionals. 

You can link notes and ideas to supercharge your memory, organization, and thinking skills. Our favorite function is Flashcards. Users can create flashcards directly within notes to rapidly break down and remember any body of knowledge.

• Rich import and export options 
• Best-in-class search function 
• Backlinks and references support 
• No mobile apps 
• Outdated UI 
• Not ideal for personal use 

The Pro plan starts at $6 per month. 

Get RemNote

Coda is more in line with Notion than Roam Research. It’s basically Google Docs and Google Sheets combined in a modular package. Dump all your thoughts and ideas in Coda and use templates to manage them. 

Coda offers you to create as many mini apps as possible. You can create a finance tracker, subscription tracker, project management tool, and more. What we love about Coda is automation. It’s a killer feature from Coda. Users can create IFTTT-like rules and make their workflow better. 

• Tons of templates to choose from
• Coda Rules 
• Excellent mobile optimization 
• The free plan is feature-rich 
• Ideal for project management 
• Roam power users might find Coda in limiting in certain ways 
• No backlinking support
• Confusing pricing structure

$10 per month per doc maker. 

Wrapping Up: Roam Research Alternative

Roam Research is a powerful tool to create a digital brain. All the goodies come at cost though. If you like Roam Research’s way of doing things but don’t want to shell out heavy cash, do check out our alternative list. 

As for us, the TechWiser team is divided between Notion and Obsidian. Hypernotes is a capable option as well.

Parth previously worked at EOTO.tech covering tech news. He is currently freelancing at TechWiser, Android Police, and GuidingTech writing about apps comparisons, tutorials, software tips and tricks, and diving deep into iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows platforms.

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Find the best product instantly, what is the best alternative to roam research, obsidian md.

Locally stored, not dependent on cloud

Closed source.

Markdown makes for flatter learning curve

Needs to be better at block level references, searches, tagging

Lightweight and very customizable

Proprietary software lock-in

Backlinking

Does not export to MS Word

Fast growing

Requires .md files

Cross-platform: works on Linux, MacOS, Windows, Android and iOS

No ability to add dates that link to a daily note, when that day/note may not yet exist

Very easy to use and link notes, preserves the standard form of markdown

Too many plugins

Multiple Vaults

Ios version works only with icloud.

In-line tagging

Needs to be polished, infinite panes, split panes, lock panes.

V1.0 release is terrible

Functionality extensions with a growing number of plugins

Daily notes with template.

Helps visualize personal knowledge in ways nothing else allows

Random note

Support for tags

Readable as it hides the [[ ]] around links when in preview mode, slides for giving presentations from within obsidian, markdown rather than outline/blocks.

Keyboard shortcuts, Vim key bindings

Great onboarding experience.

Community of developers building themes and plug-ins

Page previews on hover.

Intuitive and easy to use with an excellent help system built-in

Embedding attachments, such as PDF

Exporting as PDF

Multiple cursors.

Can copy search results and paste as lists and/or links in a new or existing note

Advanced search, git integration, big and helpful community.

Not locked to a provider

Linking to blocks, academic citations, sql-like queries, built-in audio recorder, folders and file level storage which is open to manage, does not lock navigation, html support.

Incredible tool for PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) which allows anyone who has a computer and an internet connection to think better and create new insights

Helps with planning and organization., supports importing from other tools, supports several languages, discord rich presence.

Syntax highlighting for code blocks

Snapshots, file recovery, trash folder.

Copy and paste images easily

Ability to create documents and organize by folder, and search by title

Unlimited notes, search and link to other notes.

Bullet hierarchy with zoom

Create custom user styles, inline images, printable shared lists.

Full-featured on desktop, mobile and web

Not very fast using native apps

Unlike anything else

Not always very intuitive

Pages within pages within pages, to infinity.

No true backup

Flexible contents storage and organization

Designed with teams in mind, and less formatting than evernote.

Highly visual, with icons next to every new page and so on

Not yet a new protocol, as it could be (or could it).

Blocks offer incredible flexibility

Does a great job with both notes and to-dos

Cross platform

Awesome for wikis.

Amazing view flexibility

Quick and effective search, attach files in tables, great spreadsheet functionality, renders markdown syntax, less headaches when editing pages.

Outline-style hierarchy with zoom

Doesn't work well in mobile browsers

Minimalistic interface, offline desktop app requires chrome.

Easy to see an overview and organize notes

Inconvenient interface

Super fast sync between devices

No public API

Quickly focus on a specific topic, cannot use link-text, supports tags.

No support for Right-To-Left languages

Cross-platform web and mobile.

Doesn't work on all mobile phones

Deep nesting.

Infrequent updates and new features

Tasks can be added and manipulated quickly

Only supports one big text file, import and export via opml.

Text formatting

Strong community

Daily digest email.

Short-form note-cards

Only web apps for now, responsive platform, full markdown (with latex equation) support.

Offline access

Sync issues with Android

Open source

Sync issue under Linux

Gargantuan memory footprint

Cross-platform

Old school interface

Supports file attachments

Supports markdown

App image launches very slowly, supports tags for notes.

Sync issues on Windows

Web clipper.

Weak tag searching

Optional cli interface, can't create tags from the mobile app.

Supports multiple languages

Active user forum with support from app creators.

Dropbox support

Nextcloud support, timed alarm reminder for to-do lists.

Free and Open Source

Too many backlinks can cause performance issues

Extremely customizable.

Relies on browser performance, online or offline

Single html file.

Without JavaScript nothing is visible

Self-hosted and indefinitely accessible .

Unintuitive, complex official user interface

10+ years mature, relational links, lots of plugins .

Progressive user level, from ease of use to programming your own plugins

Multiple, user-defined usages.

Easy to use

Backlinking and backtagging and brain graph visualization, support many text format (markdown, wikitext, html, wysiwyg...), backlink and backtagging, advanced linking and cross-references in various ways.

Update all links when renaming notes (required the Relink plugin)

Host your TiddlyWiki file on GitHub for free

Active and helpful community typically answers questions within hours, the equivalent of dataview/sql already baked into the product, official codemirror plugins for a complete editing experience, free multiple workspaces, tags are first-class objects in tiddlywiki, encrypt your entire wiki with sjcl without additional plugins, can embed images and documents for a portable, single-file solution., microsoft onenote.

Text can be added anywhere like a whiteboard

Not available for Linux

Comprehensive organization methods

Requires a Microsoft account

Supports hierarchical organization of information / notes

Not open-source

Powerful table editor, the added flexibility means your notes may feel cluttered, insert files into your notes, menu/ribbon can feel crammed, strong search features let you quickly find what you're looking for.

Sync isn't stable

All indented lines under the first can be expanded and hidden.

Text editing is weird (poor UX)

Add notes through email, syncing issues.

Stylus and digitizer pen support

Platform dependent, very similar design for those used to microsoft programs.

Doesn't automatically sort (by name, size, date)

Lots of options for customizing fonts, no backup on windows 10 free version.

Converts handwriting to text on Windows version

Search function is lacking advanced features

Article Web Clipper available on desktop and mobile

Uninspired, bland user interface.

Annotations can’t be anchored to a photo

Table is sortable

Ipad version is behind the windows version in features.

Integrates with other Microsoft services

Some features require external apps, sharing and collaboration.

You cannot use local OneNote files with the version of OneNote that is included with Windows

Offers flexible encryption

Mathematical calculations, ink to math, optical character recognition, page versioning, on android, you can tap a badge to start a note, import and link calendar events and tasks in outlook.

Browser plugins allow easy saving of web pages

Large variety of themes available.

Consolidates all your information

Free version limited to 2 devices

Powerful features for organising your notes, pay for offline use, search, and other functions, can include images, and snippets from the web or a whole webpage via web clipper.

Different features and functions per device

Has ocr functionality to convert images to searchable text, security issues, "reminders" are a great way to combine your to-dos and notes.

No official Linux app

Native and offline-capable apps on pretty much every platform

Constantly directs you to upgrading your account, multipurpose, syncing is slow, trustworthy to store data in the long term, prices have doubled since bending spoon purchase, powerful note formatting, very heavyweight for a to-do list, great selection for integrating with other apps, missing some basic functions, focused, uncluttered user interface.

Not distributed

Evernote is synchronized

Bending spoon have relocated to europe and fired 129 people, premium allows search in attached files and documents.

Poor text formatting abilities

Innovative hacks

Basic and lacking handwriting function

Flexible image manipulation

Bloated and complex

Best web clipper

New web editor does not support Firefox

Can choose from a few themes, no recurring and snooze reminders.

Effective with pictures or snapshot of boards

Lacks search and replace capability, skitch integration, rather poor user interface, has conflict management and undo.

Lacks right-to-left writing support

Steep learning curve, easy to accidentally hit the wrong button on the mobile apps.

No ability to re-order notes other than sorting

Very flexible

Difficult to learn

Built-in agenda.

Versioning can be tracked and synced using Git or other VCS

Great sync support, basic spreadsheet functionality, out-of-the-box latex support.

Privacy-first

Keyboard-driven editing/navigating is descent but average

Networked notes, still in alpha, local-first software, daily journal is capture on steriods, structured data over willy-nilly formatting.

As simple or as complex as you need

Limited capability in the android app

Tasks can be managed with custom tags

Vim-like commands, convenient search by text or tag filtering, converts incoming emails to todos - this is a way to enter tasks from anywhere., great search, smart parsing of items, generous set of free features, supports comments on tasks.

Cross platform support

Some of the features are not consistent, markdown support, must use third-party service for sync-ing (dropbox, etc.).

Can't work in "real" offline mode

Very poor syncing

Great for developers, supports code snippets and syntax highlighting, works offline, global search, tag feature, comes with many themes, vim/emacs key bindings available.

Focuses on writers

Obtrusive, like someone WITH CAPS LOCK ON

Citation support

Large, slow, can't open just a single .md file

Almost perfect

Renders math in-place through KaTex

Markdown to-dos

Hemingway mode, version control, nimbus notes.

Easy categorization

No Linux version

Very easy migration tool for transferring from Evernote

Limited styling functions, feature-rich, the interface is not as elegant as evernote, free for private use.

Similar to Evernote but without the bugs

Very good help desk, excellent android, ios and windows apps.

Multiple Platforms (Windows, Linux, macOS, Android, Firefox, Chrome)

No image embedding

Good security.

Internet dependent

Standard notes.

Formatting enabled only as extension for money

Open-source.

No mobile app support

Allows for organized, wiki-style navigation, no native sync support, plain text data format rather than proprietary.

Looks ancient

Automatically manages files and folders, good export options, support for multiple platforms, google keep.

Google can access and mine your data

Super fast to use.

Messy if you have lots of notes

Unlimited and seamless sync across all google connected devices, from mobile to desktop, organization is limited to just multiple tags for notes.

Automatic saving

Can be taken down some day

Useful android home screen widget, no ability to undo changes, notes can be grouped via labels, synchronization bugs, notes can be color-coded.

No text formatting

Scrolling through notes is horrible

Works as a great bookmarking tool as links added can optionally include a preview image, not free/libre.

Can share and collaboratively edit any item including lists

Can be difficult to discover the features, really well implemented speech-to-text, google account required, notes can include photo and audio attachments, does not offer themes, supports drawing or writing notes by hand, does not integrate with google calendar or tasks, both location- and time-based reminders.

Too simplistic of an approach

Includes character recognition for text in images, no integrated social media sharing, drag and drop sorting, not good at all for longer notes, archives finished tasks, sharing within team doesn't work that well, no notifications when tasks are added to shared lists.

There is a label limit up to 50

No dedicated app for windows, linux, mac (except unofficial)

Cannot share groups of notes (e.g., labels), slow to save the updates, delay between to-do entries.

Notes get lost/deleted and can NOT be recovered

No blackberry 10 app.

No Windows Mobile app

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Remote Tools → Note Taking → Roam Research → Roam Research Alternatives

Other pages : Roam Research Reviews  |  Roam Research Competitors

30 Best Roam Research Alternatives - Features, pros & cons, pricing | Remote Tools

Check out this list of 30 best roam research alternatives. compare the top features, pricing, pros & cons and user ratings to suit your needs..

What is Roam Research? What are the best Roam Research Alternatives?

Roam Research is an ace tool in the Note Taking category. Roam Research is loved by users for factors like - Free trial, Easy-to-use, Simple UI, Productivity.

Roam Research is a base for personal knowledge management. It is easy to use as a document while being as powerful as a graph database

Supernotes is the best Roam Research alternative. Also find 29 more alternatives to Roam Research including FastEver 3, Filterize, Stashany.

Top 30 Roam Research Alternatives ⬇︎

Roam research alternative #1.

• Free: 40 note-cards
• £6 / month: Unlimited note-cards
• £299 billed once: Unlimited note-cards forever
• Complete Pricing
• See Customer Stories

Supernotes is a great personal knowledge management with a collaborative twist. Built around note-cards this makes it perfect for building a Zettelkasten system; for study, daily tracking, work, critical thinking, and writing

Roam Research Alternative #2

As it goes to the entry screen right after startup, it's perfect for jotting down ideas and memos.

Roam Research Alternative #3

• Free trial available.

Create an overview of your most important notes and Filterize will keep it up-to-date automatically.

• Simple and easy to use
• Can help you get tasks done with minimal intervention
• A little difficult to get used to

Roam Research Alternative #4

• Free account available

Stashany is designed for developer who would like to take quick note anywhere.

Roam Research Alternative #5

• $2.99 user / month

Jottit: - Jot down Lists, Notes & Sketches - Organize pages with notebooks - Categorize notebooks with shelves - Swipe to complete tasks or half swipe to mark as in progress - Set reminders and due dates

Roam Research Alternative #6

Jot down quick notes and auto-save them with QuickJots.

Roam Research Alternative #7

pNotes is used to write notes and tasks for the day.

Roam Research Alternative #8

• Free, with subscription-based Pro features

Allegory is easy to use for all users of all skill levels, from casual note-takers to more experienced authors.

Roam Research Alternative #9

• Pricing starts at $19.99 per feature

Scrivener is used as a proofreading solution that helps writers, novelists, and students with preset formatting, file importing, corkboards, metatags, templates, automated document listing, and more

Roam Research Alternative #10

To remember and organize what you learn in a simple way

Roam Research Alternative #11

Routine is typically used by very busy professionals to gather all their tasks and notes in one centralized place

Roam Research Alternative #12

ListPal is used to create shareable checklists that update in real-time.

Roam Research Alternative #13

Signal flare.

• Freemium Model, Free to use for all single player features, payment plans kick in with the team collaboration features.

If you share your Google Analytics with an Agency or among many team members, then Signal Flare is perfect for sharing notes about your charts to help explain the spikes and dips to all the stakeholders.

Roam Research Alternative #14

• Has a free version

For daily usage (i.e. not for large projects) and for small teams.

• Effortless note-taking capabilities and accessible seamlessly across devices.
• Minimalist design which makes synthesizing huge amount of data simple.
• Web clipper tool a strong add to the list of features.
• Documents organisation isn't as sophisticated as other offerings.

Roam Research Alternative #15

Ideal for taking notes and keeping personal thoughts organized.

• Unlimited storage space.
• Supports all devices (Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux) and has a web version too.
• Is a text-only app and does not allow images or web-pages.
• Does not allow collaboration.

Roam Research Alternative #16

• Free 30-day trial
• Plans start at $10/ month

Wherever you need to collaborate on content with developer-friendly integrations

Roam Research Alternative #17

• Free trail available
• £ 3.99 per month - Genie Student
• £ 7.99 per month - Genie Pro

Students and PhDs as a way for them to finish their reading list and produce high quality essays, papers and grant applications.

Roam Research Alternative #18

Thenote.app.

• Save private notes with photo, video, generic file attachments and links • Offline notes creation and search • Pin notes on the first screen of your storage • Background sync between devices • Support for an unlimited number of devices for one account • Use web interface at https://thenote.app to edit your notes on the big desktop screen • Share notes • No ads in app • RTL support

Roam Research Alternative #19

• 12€ per year

Taky comes from the need to have a web app that allows you to quickly write an idea.

Roam Research Alternative #20

• Pricing starts from a one time fee of $25

Obsidian lets you capture your ideas and take notes in text (Markdown) files, and most importantly, it easily connects your notes and visualizes connections among them

Roam Research Alternative #21

• Free version available for teams

For teams who use multiple collaboration tools such as docs, spreadsheets, asana etc. regularly but not extensively and want to switch to a singular app

• Simplifies collaboration for teams across multiple devices
• Provides additional features such as spreadsheets and project management
• Integrations available with 50+ tools such as Invision, Github, Typeform etc
• Its sheer depth, opening and using it for the first time can be daunting
• Usability across features wants for speed as users take time getting acclimatized

Roam Research Alternative #22

Zoho notebook.

If you want to take notes with ease and boost your productivity.

• Unlimited storage
• Have a migration tool to switch easily from other tools
• Lacks integration with regular tools
• Can be a little buggy

Roam Research Alternative #23

• Free trials are available
• Paid plans start from $8/ month

College students of all abilities, including those with learning difficulties/impairments

Roam Research Alternative #24

• Basic plan $5.84 / month, Pro plan $10.00 / month

Amplenote is built foremost for power users: people whose livelihood depends on staying organized and communicating richly. Note takers need the smallest number of features that can support the broadest variety of uses.

Roam Research Alternative #25

Google keep.

• Unlimited storage space and available on all devices.
• Effortless personal note taking.
• Can attach files but should be stored in Drive.
• Not for managing projects.

Roam Research Alternative #26

• $5 per user with a free trial period
• Use "REMOTETOOLS" to redeem 75% your team's first 6 months!

GetCommit is geared for remote-heavy teams with 20 people and more. The team runs many siloed systems and things are getting lost in Slack and email

Roam Research Alternative #27

• Free version available for teams.

If you want to keep your remote team or external partners & clients on the same page in the simplest, lightest-weight tool available, Notejoy is for you.

Roam Research Alternative #28

Scatternote.

• Subscription required with 30-day free trial

If you have a project with many interconnected parts that need to be documented

Roam Research Alternative #29

• Professional - $9.99 / month

Milanote is an easy-to-use tool to organize your ideas and projects into visual boards. Perfect for collecting inspiration, gathering your team's ideas, and exploring creative possibilities.

• Lets you keep the work neat and organized
• Link pulling feature is very intuitive
• Pricing isn't very user friendly
• Doesn't integrate with some important third-party apps

Roam Research Alternative #30

• Free to use. Remove ads at $2/mo.

Notepad.pw offers features like spell check, tts, speech to text etc. which makes it ideal for all in need of a fast writing tool.

Best Roam Research Alternatives for 2024

Roam bills itself as "a note-taking application for networked thought." It was built in 2019 and rose to prominence after a popular Hacker News post that championed the benefits of linking between notes, rather than using tags or traditional folder hierarchies. Its followers are known for their fervor, and the hastag #roamcult was a staple of X.com (Twitter) in 2020.

There are several possible explanations for why the query "Roam Research alternative" has risen to more than 1,000 queries per month, according to Google Ads. Partly, it is a reflection of how successful Roam has been at building enthusiasm for the initial product. But it also reflects a number of concerns that its users have expressed. Foremost among those is the lack of native mobile apps, now or in the near-term product roadmap. App performance has been an ongoing concern. Security posture is somewhat weaker than comparable apps .

The recommendations below focus on modern note taking apps (with the exception of Workflowy, the apparent inspiration for Roam's visual layout) that offer features like backlinking, daily notes, transclusion, and easily published content.

Apps Most Similar to Roam Research

For users who want a blend of Roam's best features, our research highlights four apps that stand apart as favorite destinations for past Roam users: Obsidian, Amplenote, Remnote, and Notion. Most of these apps have Roam importers, as well as supporting most of Roam's features.

Better than Roam Research

• More options to organize notes into hierarchy
• More performant than Roam
• Lifelong free plan available

Room for Improvement

• Transcluded text can't be edited
• Costs extra to sync beyond one device
• No sharing or document collaboration

• Most to-do list features among any note-taking app
• Two-way task/calendar sync with Google/Outlook
• More performant than Roam, among the fastest apps tested
• Limited support for tables
• Transcluded content can't be edited
• Lack of inline tags

• Extensive tagging/metadata options
• Daily notes
• Editable, block-level transclusion
• Limited import/export options
• Steep learning curve

• Locally stored notes
• Free & open source
• Basic table formatting
• No plugin system
• No collaboration

🧐 Personalized Roam Research alternative recommendations

Choose a platform and at least one feature group below. Results will be sorted by which note apps share the most features with Roam Research, with precedence given to apps that offer a superset of the features you expect.

All Roam Research Alternative Note Apps Analyzed

As of August 2024, NoteApps.info has indexed 42 note taking apps across 336 features in 20 feature domains. We prioritize new note apps and features to analyze based on the votes of our community. This lets us provide you a data-backed take on which note apps will best suit your individual tastes.

A general summary of each app compared to Roam Research is provided from Google results below.

How the most popular note taking apps compare to Roam Research generally

Want to dig beyond personalized note app recommendations? Here's how the rest of the field compares to Roam Research as of 2024. All note apps are sorted alphabetically.

Amplenote and Roam both launched in 2019, both have extensive backlinks support, note publishing, and different types of content transcluding. Amplenote differentiates from Roam with its focus on providing the best to-do list of any note-taking app, which can be two-way synced to a user's Google or Outlook calendar. Amplenote also offers "Rich Footnotes," a way to embed many types of content into notes that can be embedded as blogs.

Between both having backlinks and being popular in 2020, Notion and Roam don't share much in the way of aesthetics, philosophy, or features. That said, it's common for users to keep a subscription to both Roam and Notion, since they both have advantages in their respective domains (Notion's "domain" being "teams collaboration" and "work projects").

Obsidian shares much of its feature set with Roam, and has been publicly celebrated by Roam's founder for its "beautiful design." Unlike Roam, it offers a mobile app, as well as backlinking, graph view of backlinks, inline tags, and a second note window.

Remnote is among the 3rd generation note apps (with Amplenote, Obsidian, and Roam) that offer backlinks, unreferenced link promotion, and nested hierarchies. Remnote differentiates by being a preferred note app for students and others who are seeking to improve their recall for subjects being studied. Remnote stands apart from other NoteApps in the depth of interaction with their community.

SuperNotes offers many of the features that Roam users love, including backlinks, LaTeX formatting, and multiple editing windows. Its price is for unlimited use is about half of that charged by Roam as of mid-2021.

Productivity YouTuber Shu Omi stated "If Roam and Notion had a baby, it'd be Tana."

Before there was Roam, there was Workflowy. Like Roam, it is based on the concept of a deep, nested hierarchy that can be used to organize ideas and collaborate with others. Its users especially appreciate the minimalistic UX, which can make Workflowy a bit more approachable than Roam for note taking newcomers.

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• Roam Research
• Alternatives

Roam Research alternatives

A note-taking tool for networked thought.

Best Roam Research Alternatives in 2024: Review and Comparison

Looking for a Roam Research alternative? You've come to the right place.

Roam Research emerged as a note-taking and knowledge management platform developed by Conor White-Sullivan. Its unique feature set centers around bi-directional linking, allowing users to establish connections between notes effortlessly. This feature, along with a simple yet effective interface, made Roam Research stand out in the competitive realm of note-taking applications.

Roam Research gained a dedicated following, particularly among researchers, writers, and knowledge workers who valued its ability to create a web of interconnected ideas. Its collaborative capabilities also attracted teams and communities seeking a versatile platform for shared knowledge.

But like any tool, it has its strengths and weaknesses. In this article, we will review some of the best Roam Research alternatives and similar tools.

Why you may need an alternative to Roam Research

Roam Research, with its novel approach to note-taking and knowledge management, has carved out a niche for itself. But no note-taking or knowledge management tool is without shortcomings, and Roam is no exception.

There are many reasons why you may be looking for an alternative to Roam. It has faced criticism in several areas, for example:

Roam is slow to release new features and some users are unhappy with its pace of development ( source )

The search function in Roam could be improved ( source )

Roam is more expensive compared to other similar tools ( source )

Some users don't find the interface of Roam to be user-friendly ( source )

Does that sound familiar? Then it might be time to evaluate alternatives — fortunately, there are many Roam Research competitors to choose from.

Best Roam Research alternatives

To make your decision easier, we've evaluated dozens of options and put together a shortlist of the best Roam Research alternatives:

• Google Keep
• Google Docs
• Zoho Notebook
• Microsoft OneNote

Every tool in this lineup boasts its own set of advantages and drawbacks. The choice of the right alternative depends on your specific objectives. Now, let's thoroughly explore the options at hand.

Pricing: Free, advanced features starting from $5 /user/month

Rating on Capterra: 4.8/5

If you are looking for a Roam Research alternative with a reliable search function, robust collaboration features, and an intuitive interface, then Nuclino may be the perfect substitute for you. What sets Nuclino apart is its clean, distraction-free design. There are no endless customization options or complex settings to tinker with, only the essential features you need to get things done.

Nuclino is similar to Roam Research in many ways and offers many of the same core features, including internal links between notes, a graph view, Markdown support, and more.

But Nuclino is more than just a note-taking tool, it's a unified workspace for all your work. You can organize your documents in a variety of visual ways, adapting the tool to your workflow. Need a structured overview of all your content? Prefer to work on your projects using a Kanban board ? Want to see how your documents relate to each other in a mind map? The List, Board, Table, and Graph views help you keep your notes structured in a way that works for you and your team.

This flexibility makes Nuclino a great solution for a wide range of use cases beyond simple note-taking and knowledge management. You can use Nuclino for ideation and brainstorming, onboarding new employees , planning sprints , building your internal wiki , and more.

While in Roam, collaboration and sharing features are fairly limited, Nuclino is fully optimized for collaboration. Every document in Nuclino can be edited by multiple collaborators in real time, with every change automatically preserved in the version history. You can also create private workspaces for your personal notes and keep them secure.

You can add images, videos, to-do lists, code blocks, and more, and bring your notes to life with interactive media embeds from 30+ different apps . Comments and mentions make it easy to exchange feedback directly in Nuclino.

What users say about Nuclino :

"I signed up with Nuclino in its very early days and the product has been rock solid. Anyone trying to organize a series of documents/notes in an organization should check out Nuclino because it fits the bill. The design of the product is so good that it's actually fun writing new notes/docs."

— Capterra review

2. Evernote

Pricing: Free, advanced features starting from $10.83 /user/month

Rating on Capterra: 4.4/5

Launched in 2004, Evernote is a Roam Research alternative that predates most modern note-taking and knowledge management tools. Initially designed as a simple note-taking application, Evernote has evolved over the years into a comprehensive platform for capturing, organizing, and accessing information.

Like Roam Research, Evernote offers a flexible note organization system. Users can create notebooks and stacks to categorize their notes, making it easy to keep related information together. Evernote's handy web clipping tool allows users to save web pages, articles, and snippets directly into their Evernote account, making it a useful tool for research and information gathering.

Unfortunately, Evernote doesn't provide a visual graph view that displays the interconnectedness of notes like Roam Research.

What users say about Evernote :

"I have been using Evernote for approximately two years to manage a variety of tasks, including taking notes as a researcher. It has provided me with an efficient way to organize my work before and during projects, and has proven to be especially useful for task management, note-taking and organization, and communication. Compared to other options, I have found Evernote to be a simple and effective solution."

3. Google Keep

Pricing: Free

Rating on Capterra: 4.7/5

Google Keep, introduced in 2013, is a note-taking and organization app developed by Google. It was designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind. While it may not have the same depth of features as Roam Research, Google Keep has gained popularity for its straightforward approach to note-taking and task management.

Google Keep's interface is intuitive and user-friendly. It doesn't have the relatively steep learning curve associated with Roam Research, making it accessible to a wide range of users. While Google Keep lacks Roam Research's bi-directional linking, it offers a tagging system and color-coding for notes, helping users categorize and organize their information.

What users say about Google Keep :

"I like the fact that it is a fairly simple app and, most importantly, that I can access my notes also on my PC. It is a bit too simple. For day-to-day quick notes it's is enough, but for those trying to build a second brain it lacks punch."

4. Google Docs

Pricing: Free, advanced features starting from $6 /user/month

It may be an obvious option, but no list of Roam Research alternatives would be complete without it — Google Docs. Google Docs was the pioneer in the field, transforming the way we collaborate and share documents when it was first launched 15 years ago. Today, it remains the most popular online document collaboration tool, with millions of users worldwide.

While Google Docs doesn't employ the same bi-directional linking system as Roam Research, it does offer document organization through folders and a robust search functionality. Google Docs provides rich text formatting capabilities, including headers, bullet points, tables, and more. It supports a familiar WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface for users who prefer traditional word processing.

Looking for more tools similar to Google Docs? Check out this list of Google Docs alternatives .

What users say about Google Docs :

"Collaborating on medium-length documents with multiple sections and moderately complex formatting is now a breeze in Google Docs. All team members can work on the same document in real-time with little fuss and few issues."

5. Zoho Notebook

Pricing: Free, advanced features starting from $1.99 /user/month

Rating on Capterra: 4.5/5

Zoho Notebook is another popular note-taking tool that can serve as an affordable alternative to Roam Research. It's developed by Zoho Corporation, a company known for its suite of business and productivity software. Zoho Notebook was initially launched in 2016 as a part of Zoho's broader offering of cloud-based applications.

Zoho Notebook, like Roam Research, allows users to create and organize notes in a flexible manner. You can create notebooks and notes, and within notes, you can create sections and sub-sections. Both tools also support Markdown, a lightweight markup language that allows you to format text and create rich content with ease.

Zoho Notebook has a more traditional note-taking interface compared to Roam Research, which has a unique block-based structure. Some users may find Roam's interface more innovative, while others may prefer the familiarity of Zoho Notebook.

What users say about Zoho Notebook :

"My notes look aesthetic! Zoho lets me organize my notes in many dynamic ways. The app doesn't freeze up, which is great. It's nice for a free app."

6. Microsoft OneNote

Pricing: Starting from $6.99 /month

Rating on Capterra: 4.6/5

If you prefer Microsoft products, then you will likely find OneNote to be a solid Roam Research alternative. OneNote has been around for quite some time, first released in 2003 as part of Microsoft Office. It's available across various platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. While it started as a traditional note-taking app, it has since evolved to incorporate features for both personal and collaborative use.

Compared to Roam, OneNote follows a more traditional notebook and page structure, which may be less conducive to creating complex web-like connections, but at the same time more familiar and intuitive. Being a part of Microsoft's broader ecosystem, it integrates with other Microsoft services and applications like Office 365 and Microsoft Teams.

Looking for more tools similar to Microsoft OneNote? Check out this list of OneNote alternatives .

What users say about OneNote :

"I think my favorite thing about OneNote is the ability to password-protect certain notebooks. Notion or Evernote doesn't allow that so I keep OneNote running as a backup specifically for this option. Once you dig in, the interface is intuitive and simple and just makes sense. Being able to highlight, draw and annotate is really great as well. I love Notion but it doesn't allow that quite yet so, again, OneNote has been a keeper for that reason as well."

7. Workflowy

Pricing: Starting from $4.99 /user/month

Workflowy was launched back in 2010 and was initially designed to help users create and manage nested lists easily. Over time, it has evolved to accommodate various note-taking and organization needs.

If you prefer a simpler, no-frills note-taking tool that focuses on lists and outlines, Workflowy can be a great Roam Research alternative. It's also more budget-friendly, offering a free plan with basic features as well as an affordable subscription fee for access to its full functionality.

What users say about Workflowy :

"I used Workflowy for task and project management, mostly. The ease of use is unbelievable. You start with just text in a bullet list and eventually reveal the full Workflowy potential — with tags, filtering, and templates."

Find the best Roam Research alternative for you

Finding the best alternative to Roam Research can be a nuanced task. Each contender we've explored in this article offers its unique blend of features and approaches. While none can replicate Roam's distinctive bi-directional linking system entirely, they do provide worthy alternatives tailored to specific preferences and requirements.

The choice ultimately hinges on individual needs and preferences. The right Roam alternative is the one that seamlessly aligns with your workflow and empowers you to manage your information effectively.

Ready to get started?

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This is the official subreddit for Roam Research, the tool for networked thought. We're trying to develop a new medium for representing powerful ideas, this is a place to help the team and the community augment our collective intelligence! Please read the rules and try to foster curiosity and good vibes overall!

The Roam Alternatives Megathread

Contributed by u/lawrenceman212.

Relanote: https://relanote.com/ ( Very nice and new online app, you can make a connection between notes).

Remnote: https://www.remnote.io/ ( Very close to Roam and offers block referncing and there is a plugin for graph view).

Tiddly Roam: https://tiddlyroam.org/ ( I haven't used it but look promising).

Athens Research: https://github.com/athensresearch/athens ( Roam-like app but it is open source and will be released in August)

Scrapbox: https://scrapbox.io/ ( very basic app but it offers links between notes, I like their design).

Foam: https://foambubble.github.io/foam/ ( Similar to Obsidian but I think it fits programmers more nicely)

Contributed by u/strallus

Supernotes: https://supernotes.app/ (it's been really good for me. They base it around cards instead of documents and have bidirectional links. The editor is only markdown which limits it a bit, but I'm actually super accustomed to markdown from reddit and such so I actually like it better.)

Contributed by me:

obsidian: https://obsidian.md/ (a ofline roam wiki like thing) #1 In popularity on this sub

notion: https://notion.so (higherarchy based, but powerful data stuff)

the megalist! Thanks again to u/lawrenceman212

Every second brain software ever lives here https://www.notion.so/Artificial-Brain-Networked-notebook-app-a131b468fc6f43218fb8105430304709

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Home / Note Taking Software / Roam Research / Roam Research Alternatives

Updated on: August 13, 2024

Roam Research Alternatives and Competitors

A comprehensive list of competitors and best alternatives to Roam Research.

Microsoft OneNote

Discover notes, zoho notebook, nimbus note, google keep, meetingking.

80 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

Roam Research

Related alternatives.

• Roam Research Alternatives for Android
• Roam Research Alternatives for macOS
• Roam Research Open Source Alternatives
• Roam Research Free Alternatives
• AI-Powered (9)
• Upto $10 (44)
• $10 - $20 (7)
• $20 - $30 (6)
• Above $40 (4)
• To-do List It helps add a list of tasks you need to complete or things you want to do. (70)
• Real-time Collaboration Helps more than one person to work on the same file simultaneously (67)
• Task Tracking Helps in tracking the task assigned to different team members or teams (63)
• Share Link Facility to invite someone with a link to view, comment, or edit (59)
• File Sharing A simple way to share files instantaneously with the team (55)
• Meetings Supports arranging meetings, recording vital details and manages every aspect of it (41)
• Templates Templates are patterns that help to provide the layout to build and design a website quickly. (41)
• Calendar Notification Sends a user notification on the occurrence of a strategically defined event on a calendar (37)
• Recurring Tasks Helps to add tasks or responsibilities that are needed to be managed on a recurrent basis (33)
• Version Control It gives the team the ability to recall specific versions of a document, code, content, file, or folder that records changes over time. (28)
• Percent-Complete Tracking Percentage of work done on estimated items. (1)
• Task Scheduling Helps in scheduling various tasks for proper implementation of the same (1)
• Reporting (Analytics) Provides insightful reports and important business metrics to track and measure the outcomes and progress. (1)
• Time Tracking Helps in tracking the task assigned to different team members or teams (1)
• Recurring Task Management Helps in monitoring and tackling the tasks or responsibilities that are needed to be managed on a recurrent basis (1)
• Progress Tracking Helps in tracking and measuring the progress and developments of a task assigned (1)
• Gantt Charts Helps in providing an overall glimpse of your work to adjust your plans in a calendar view quickly (1)
• Alerts Provides reminders or notifications when a deadline is approaching, an upcoming event or a pending task (1)
• Collaboration Tools Interactive tools meant to make the application highly collaborative and encourage teamwork (1)
• Task Assigning Helps in assigning the tasks to a team member individually or the team collectively (1)
• 96 - 100 (1)
• 91 - 95 (1)
• 86 - 90 (12)
• 81 - 85 (24)
• 70 - 80 (58)
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• Installed - Mac (22)
• SaaS/Web/Cloud (108)
• Mobile - Android (23)
• Mobile - iOS (30)
• Individuals (49)
• Freelancers (30)
• Large Enterprises (71)
• Medium Business (105)
• Small Business (111)
• Free Trial (29)
• Freemium (75)
• One-time license (7)
• Open-source (1)
• Subscription (73)
• Quotation Based (43)
• Google Calendar (2)
• HubSpot CRM (2)
• Salesforce (2)
• Google Drive (2)
• Dropbox Business (2)
• Zoho Flow (1)
• Evernote (1)
• Zendesk Support Suite (1)
• WordPress (1)
• Office 365 (1)
• Zoho Connect (1)
• Copper CRM (Formerly ProsperWorks) (1)
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Top 5 Roam Research Alternatives

85 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Reflect and how does it work?

Reflect is note-tracking software which helps individuals and organisations to remain up-to-date. It promotes keeping notes synchronised on every device an individual uses. The software does so in real-time and backlinks the notes to one another, hence, forming graphs of ideas. By using Reflect, users can access their notes anywhere by both offline and online means. Besides, the notes are highly secured as the software ensures end-to-end encryption. Only the owner of the data has access to them. Reflect also enables the integration of notes with Google calendar. Besides, they can add people to the calendars who also can access the data. This data secured by the software of Reflect can be easily published on the web with just a single click. Syncing of notes and book highlights is also possible through Kindle import. Every individual using this software can capture snippets in the browsers they use. So, recalling notes through the backlinking technology of Reflect is a breakthrough for bulk note keepers.

SW Score Breakdown The SW Score breakdown shows individual score for product features. Read more

• Features 85%
• Reviews 78%
• Momentum 63%
• Popularity 70%

Reflect Pricing

• Free Trial Available
• Starts at $15.00.

What is RemNote and how does it work?

RemNote is a comprehensive note-making software helping users organize their thinking process. A compact set of linking and referencing features integrated within the solution helps with lifelong knowledge base generation. Users can even import the updated content from Workflowy, Markdown, Anki and Dynalist, besides exporting the same in multiple formats. Spaced repetition learning schedule offered by the platform helps users with knowledge consolidation in their long-term memory. Further, they can also rely on the same to supercharge their memory, by creating integrated links between ideas and notes in real-time. Sharing knowledge with students, peers and team becomes easier with RemNote, in the form of flashcards and documents. Enterprises or individuals can rely on the software with their product launches, research connections, subject-wise note-making and study policies. Finally, strict data policies deployed by RemNote, make users save their overall progress in an efficient manner.

• Features 81%
• Reviews 60%
• Popularity 75%

RemNote Pricing

• Free Trial Not Available
• Starts at $6.00. Offers Free-forever plan.

98 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Evernote and how does it work?

Evernote is a popular app that empowers users to be organized at all times by capturing and prioritizing ideas, projects, and to-do lists. The core idea of the tool is to help the users focus on what matters most. It enables them to manage their personal life as well as big projects that require ceaseless collaboration. Team members can seamlessly capture their ideas in the form of notes, voice, and pictures and share them with their teammates. In this way, they never lose track of any upcoming deadlines or tasks. This makes the tool act as a central node for all notes, ideas, lists, and reminders. Users can also keep track of projects from multiple devices, even when they are offline. Hence, they can manage projects, deadlines, clients, and meetings in the most productive manner. Any user can simply sign up, choose a relevant plan, and start adding personalized content. This can be done by typing notes, adding attachments, clipping web pages, or record memos.

• Features 95%
• Reviews 100%
• Momentum 73%
• Popularity 99%

Evernote Pricing

• Starts at $7.50. Offers Free-forever plan.

91 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Easynote and how does it work?

Easynote is a work and collaboration software that is adaptable to any industry or businesses, irrespective of their size. The software fits in every process, whether it’s project management, CRM & Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Construction or any other. The collaboration mechanism offered by Easynote increases the team’s efficiency and helps every member to focus on the right things at the right time. The platform sends live updates and real-time notifications to increase team engagement and keep employees up to date with the project. Easynote comes with more than 50 pre-defined templates to help users get started with their projects in seconds. The platform has a very simple interface and intuitive design that users can learn without any training. Its structure is designed in a grid form that gives a great overview of all tasks and data. Users can add unlimited widgets to further organise their projects. Easynote comes equipped with an Anysearch tool that allows users to search stored information quickly in one place.

• Features 100%
• Reviews 75%
• Momentum 64%
• Popularity 83%

Easynote Pricing

• Starts at $29.00. Offers Custom plan.

81 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Notes.io and how does it work?

Notes.io is an easy-to-use application that is designed for taking notes and sharing it within your network by providing them with just a URL. The tool is built to take notes quickly and does not require any installation. The application is free and simple to use and provides users with a yellow notepad to write all their notes on. The tool keeps everything simple and does not include any formatting options and does not let users hyperlink any text. The tool allows users to take down notes in plain text in a very readable font and size. All notes taken down are automatically saved and users are given a short URL instantly to share their notes. Direct buttons are also available to share notes on Twitter, Facebook or FriendFeed. The simple and basic interface offers a very user-friendly web service and promises additional features like attaching files with notes, printing the notes, and also creating an account where users can store multiple notes for easy access in the future.

• Features 75%

Notes.io Pricing

• Offers Free-forever plan.

Products Similar to Roam Research

75 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Einote and how does it work?

Take notes on the fly with Einote, from any webpage. Just navigate the internet as always, And when users find something valuable, Einote It. Don't lose users' precious ideas anymore! Now that you have 1, 10, 100, and counting notes, users need a place to manage them all. A place that feels like their personal piece of the internet. Just as their dashboard. Download, copy, print, share via email, Or even listen to their notes! The user's voice deserves to be heard. It's easy, it's Einote.

• Features 73%
• Momentum 60%
• Popularity 63%

Einote Pricing

• Offers Custom plan.

What is Obsidian and how does it work?

Obsidian is a robust knowledge base that runs on top of a local folder containing plain text Markdown files. Making and following relationships is simple in Obsidian. You can take care of your notes like a gardener, and then sit back and wonder at your own knowledge graph at the end of the day. Obsidian provides a graph perspective of your knowledge at a look. With choices like grouping, filtering, and displaying, you may explore, observe, and stay motivated while doing so. Local graphs show you the relationships in your immediate vicinity. Backlinks can help you connect your ideas. You may see all the backlinks for the active note using the Backlinks plugin. Backlinks might help you locate notes that are related to the one you're composing. Outgoing linkages can also be used to diverge your thoughts. The Outgoing Links plugin provides a quick overview of the current note's ties, as well as potential future links. Furthermore, before deploying to the live site, you can preview the real firing of tags and triggers. Someone can access and/or change your notes if you share them with them.

Obsidian Pricing

• Starts at $25.00.

86 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Microsoft OneNote and how does it work?

Microsoft OneNote is a digital notebook that facilitates easy and efficient note making using smart and powerful tools powered by Microsoft. It enables the user to create, manage, revise, edit, and organize content across pages, sections, and notebooks. It acts as a sole multi-functional notebook for all of your notetaking requirements. The software offers smart tools that enable the user to easily navigate and search their desired notes from the collection. It allows you to organize your digital notes into notebooks that can be divided into pages and sections and you can revise them with highlights, ink notations and types whenever and wherever you want. You can create and share ideas with your friends, family, and team members because OneNote facilitates easy sharing across several devices. Users can draw out their ideas and annotate their notes with a stylus or a finger, record audio notes, add files, and insert online videos in OneNote. OneNote can be used by teachers for organizing lesson plans or for creating a sharable content library. They offer various plans for their premium version to fit every requirement.

• Features 84%
• Reviews 85%
• Momentum 66%
• Popularity 76%

Microsoft OneNote Pricing

82 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Discover Notes and how does it work?

Discover Notes is here to give professionals the tools they need to take top-notch notes. Their digital templates and planners are the next level of note-taking, designed using cutting-edge technology to make every note take effective, efficient, and accurate. With Discover Notes, will never miss a detail again! Noted ideas can be indexed in searchable collections so that ideas don’t get lost in endless pages of paper. Plus, can add pictures, drawings and annotations to notes for even more customization, all while keeping them organized between a range of devices with cloud storage sync. With Discover Notes professional note taking has never been easier – or faster. Take note taking up a notch with Discover Notes – the go-to source for maximizing output from each and every one of notes!

• Features 94%
• Popularity 66%

Discover Notes Pricing

• Starts at $10.00. Offers Free-forever plan.

83 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Amanote and how does it work?

Amanote software is a Note Taking tool designed for students’ needs to increase their productivity and efficiency during lectures and study session. Highlight and track the time passed on each slide and can generate statistics. Visualise your notes in a single view, sorted by different options and search for specific information easily. Take better notes with comprehensive course materials and share your notes with other students.

• Features 80%
• Reviews 72%
• Popularity 79%

Amanote Pricing

What is Bear and how does it work?

Bear is an innovative solution designed to help professionals easily capture and organize all of their important notes. From creating documents quickly and securely to encrypting them for added protection, Bear has everything the customer need for a streamlined workflow. And thanks to its integrations with iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch, the customer can access all the notes no matter where are. With powerful organizational features like auto-tagging, quick formatting options, and the ability for unlimited exports, it's easier than ever before to keep all the documents neatly organized. And with password-protected encryption that keeps the data safe even in the event of a breach -Bear is the ultimate note-taking tool trusted by millions of users worldwide.

• Reviews 68%
• Momentum 67%
• Popularity 82%

Bear Pricing

• Starts at $2.49. Offers Free-forever plan.

89 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Zoho Notebook and how does it work?

Zoho Notebook is an efficient note-taking app that can be used across devices. With this tool, one can uniquely create different types of notes. Each note card type has been designed to match the type of note one is taking down. There is a pool of options to choose from, like text, checklist, audio, photo, file, sketch and more. Developers have designed this software with the idea of a smooth syncing facility to cloud and across all devices. Besides this, it even allows effective back-up, which prevents one from losing any critical notes. The app is highly mobile-friendly and supports a line of hand gestures too. Apart from this, users can customize and organize all their work correctly, choose unique covers, copy or move note cards, edit colors, and offer a more personalized touch to their work. Additionally, users can tag their notes for easy search, secure them with a password, refer to previous versions, or multi-task as per their needs.

• Reviews 83%

Zoho Notebook Pricing

What is Nimbus Note and how does it work?

Nimbus Note is a comprehensive information management software for teams and individual users. An efficient editor within the particular facilitates real-time collaboration besides offering robust tools, allowing users to create rich notes, docs and set in colors or add highlights in them. Users can generate multiple workspaces, keep them separate from each other and get access to them as per their convenience. The Document Search & Image recognition(OCR) module within the software facilitates real-time searches within multiple attachments like PDFs, text files, Microsoft Word and more. Users can make digitized copies of their printed docs using the document scanner within the particular. With Nimbus Note users can create public links, to share documents, notes and images with external parties. They can also create passwords for specific documents, record digital media, tag notes, share files via emails and more. Accidentally deleted information can be accessed from recovery folders. The platform also comes equipped with a dark theme mode besides offering 2-factor authentication.

• Features 98%
• Reviews 79%

Nimbus Note Pricing

• Starts at $3.99. Offers Free-forever and Custom plan.

What is Supernotes and how does it work?

Supernotes is a fast tool that enables users to take notes and collaborate with friends. It helps to create notecards with images, emojis, markdown, LaTex, and much more. The tool can be used by startups, chefs, developers, students, mathematicians, researchers, authors, corporates, and educators. Users can organize notecards according to convenience and use filters, sorting, and search to find the notes. All content is stored securely on the servers, making them accessible anytime and from any device. Users can keep their cards to themselves or collaborate with friends and colleagues in real-time. With the tool, users do not have to worry about formatting, downloads or loading screens. The tool is super-fast and is designed for devices of all shapes and sizes. It comes with a dark mode feature that is suitable to handle during the night. With the powerful editor, users can write in markdown with LaTex Maths support and also use keybindings to quickly switch notes. Users can also export their notes as PDF or markdown for convenience.

• Reviews 70%

Supernotes Pricing

What is Google Keep and how does it work?

Google Keep is a cloud-based note-taking application explicitly built to assist professionals and individuals in capturing ideas with their voice notes, adding images to notes, checking tasks of to-do lists, and much more. This application makes it easy for the users to set a location-based reminder to pull up their grocery list and set up a timely reminder to ensure they never miss out on anything. Google Keep comprises multiple key features, including handwriting recognition, note management, collaboration tools, meeting notes, task tagging, reminders, and annotations. It allows users to categorize or highlight the notes and list them with colors, and they can also pin the important notes. Moreover, the search box in Google Keep enables professionals to find notes and lists by using multiple filters such as label colors types and more. Google Keep allows organization teams to share notes with collaborators by adding their email Id or names. Overall, it allows users to create, collaborate, and share all the lists and notes with their team members faster. Google Keep application follows the freemium strategy.

• Features 91%
• Reviews 84%
• Popularity 71%

Google Keep Pricing

88 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Milanote and how does it work?

Milanote is a tool to collect all ideas, projects, and notes in one place. It is a tool to collect, organize, and generate ideas and brainstorm. The tool has a simple text editing and task management feature, which lets users add their thoughts on the boards. It allows users to upload all types of files including JPGs, PDFs, Word, Excel, GIFs, Videos, etc. Users can access Milanote Web Clipper, which lets them save inspiration and ideas from any website with a single click. Milanote provides a flexible drag-and-drop interface to help users arrange things in whatever way makes sense for their project. Milanote boards can be utilized as a private place to think, share workspace for collaboration or just work upon new ideas. In case the board is shared, all users can edit together in real-time. Users can also share the board when they want to by inviting anyone to view and edit your boards or download a high-quality printable PDF.

• Reviews 80%
• Momentum 65%
• Popularity 84%

Milanote Pricing

• Starts at $9.99. Offers Free-forever plan.

What is Heptabase and how does it work?

Heptabase is the ideal tool for professionals looking to maximize their productivity and analyze data. Whether the customer is a student researching for a paper, a business executive crunching numbers, or a designer visualizing a layout, Heptabase provides an easy-to-use platform that will help to take projects to the next level. Through intuitive visual analytics, the customer can quickly gain insights into the work and make informed decisions. Heptabase includes powerful features such as automatic data aggregation, trend analysis, and predictive modeling that can help to get the most out of the customer data. With Heptabase, can rest assured that the customer have the data-driven decisions that will help to get ahead. Try Heptabase today and see the difference it can make in the customers work.

• Reviews 64%
• Momentum 82%
• Popularity 81%

Heptabase Pricing

• Starts at $6.99.

87 % SW Score The SW Score ranks the products within a particular category on a variety of parameters, to provide a definite ranking system. Read more

What is Scrapbox and how does it work?

Scrapbox is a comprehensive note-making tool that enables professionals to generate an easily accessible network of ideas on the go. It can be used to connect all types of notes, docs and pages alike to make them accessible for individuals, teams or the general public. Admins can also enable role-based access control and distribute access to the selected individuals. Moreover, users can easily generate new connections to a variety of related pages by adding a single link within the particular page in concern. With Scrapbox, professionals can use simple markup to add different text styles and links while they type. As per security, all note transfers are TLS/SSL encrypted, offering adequate security from third parties and frauds. Moreover, every note created with Scrapbox is private and its content can only be seen by invited members unless the admin or creators make it public.

• Features 87%
• Reviews 67%
• Momentum 74%
• Popularity 77%

Scrapbox Pricing

• Starts at $10.00. Offers Free-forever and Custom plan.

What is MeetingKing and how does it work?

MeetingKing is a meeting management platform that enables you to make an agenda for your meeting, take down written notes, and assign assignments in real time. It assists you in sending meeting minutes through email and keeping track of tasks. MeetingKing includes a robust task manager that assists you in completing all of your meeting operations. If you currently use another task management, Zapier can export all of your meeting operations to that program automatically. Your tasks can be copied to Todoist, Google Calendar, Asana, Wunderlist, Trello and a variety of other apps too. The platform is ideal for both online and in-person gatherings and you can use it on your own or as part of a team. It makes managing, structuring, recording, and following up on meetings a breeze. You will get automatic reminders from the task manager. You can simply check what was discussed, what was agreed, and whether the action items were accomplished using MeetingKing. Additionally, you can assign work right away, set a deadline, and attach comments and files to it with MeetingKing.

• Features 93%
• Reviews 71%
• Momentum 62%
• Popularity 74%

MeetingKing Pricing

• Starts at $9.95.

What is FuseBase and how does it work?

Unfortunately FuseBase do not have enough context or details to generate a sufficiently creative, engaging, and persuasive product description for FuseBase. As an AI assistant without subjective opinions, it should refrain from making unsupported marketing claims. Instead, can provide a factual overview of FuseBase's features in a professional, informative tone for professionals, focused on how the platform can streamline team communication and collaboration. Please feel free to build upon this overview with own persuasive messaging tailored to the brand identity and target audience. Happy to assist further if customer have additional guidelines for customers .Unfortunately do not have enough context or details about the product to generate an appropriately professional, informative, and ethical marketing description. It would be happy to try again if provided with more specifics on how FuseBase functions and its key benefits, without making unqualified claims. Maintaining transparency and focusing on facts is important.

• Features 88%
• Reviews 69%

FuseBase Pricing

• Starts at $5.40. Offers Free-forever plan.

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9 Of The Best Roam Research Alternatives

A powerful tool for finding, collecting, and connecting thoughts as a visual database, Roam Research serves as a vital base for personal knowledge management.

Its unique approach to graph views, backlinks, and note-taking collection enable users to organize all their ideas productively. However, not everyone can spend $165 per year to create text notes, tasks, and organize information productively.

It is a tremendous idea to look for Roam Research alternatives that support not only online sites but also apps for different platforms. Read along with the top best possible options similar to Roam Research that is not only efficient to use but affordable as well.

Best Roam Research Alternatives: Our Pick 👌

Go through with an all-in-one workspace for everyday notes, wikis, tasks, and databases with Notion. It is one of the best Roam Research alternatives that support checkboxes, images, code snippets, bookmarks, and other block types.

Notion app is ideal for prioritizing to-do lists. One can use the drag and drop option to arrange any content with ease. Users can collaborate in real-time without facing any trouble. Along with sharing pages, one can edit together simultaneously with comments. 

Now, it’s trouble-free to sync this note-making app with Windows, MAC, and Browser. One has to download the browser and then desktop apps. The best part is that users can organize information by nesting pages inside pages. It will help in avoiding messy folders.

The app is free for personal accounts and even one can use it for project management . It is one of the one-stop and versatile productivity tools for academic purposes.

• The app supports more than 20 block types.
• One can find 100+ templates to choose from.
• It is free to use.
• It supports bookmarks, backlinks, images, and can be used for scheduling things.
• The user interface is well-defined and intuitive. 
• There is no offline support, which means the app needs constant internet connectivity.
• The Digital map function is absent.

Download App on Google Play Store

Download App on Apple App Store

2. Amplenote

Write notes, tasks, codes, and texts with a guarantee of complete data security at Amplenote. The application serves as one of the effective Roam Research alternatives that ensure all note contents are encrypted on servers. 

Not only data security, but the software also offers precise syncing. The users who frequently switch between the same processes on phone can take benefit from this app. The sync is well-matched with Vault notes.

It features Rich Footnotes that hold code, images, text, and notes effectively. One can effortlessly insert images into notes along with the text. When completed, tasks get removed automatically from the to-do list.

Organize notes with note tags feature that permits multi-level taxonomy. Users can edit or share any note instantly. With one tap, one can publish notes to the web. An automatic task graph allows users to track how much they are getting done over time. 

In case, if there is no internet connection, one can continue their work offline within cached notes. Once back online, all work will sync automatically. The application runs overall platforms such as web, iOS, and Android

• The content is always available for download.
• Notes can be Vault Encrypted with a tight password that is not ever sent to the software servers .
• To-do tasks, text, code, and images all animate inside the same note.
• One can label tasks as ‘important’ or ‘urgent’ to use verified priority techniques.
• With Evernote Importer, one can bring notes from the past.
• It supports limited tables.
• It lacks collapsible bullets, and one cannot edit transcluded content.

3. WorkFlowy

Take notes and make lists with an incredibly powerful tool, WorkFlowy. It is one of the most flexible note-takers that helps its users to manage all the vital information effortlessly. The app is well-designed for storing and keeping track of everything with a generous flow.

The application is like a notepad in a pocket with some superpowers that feature unlimited nested lists. One can zoom in on any sub-list or can tag and filter the required list items. The best part is that this application works even without an internet connection. 

Like other Roam Research Alternatives, WorkFlowy also supports automatic syncing between tablets, mobile phones, and computers. Not only to-do lists, but one can use them to put on ideas for articles, necessary tasks, and even crucial stuff gathered for a book. 

Search full text or simply tap to edit. It is much more convenient than other note-taking apps, especially on mobile. The user-friendly interface keeps things simple and easy-to-understand for users that help them to keep everything systematized effectively.

• The application does not require internet connectivity.  
• It allows users to nest lists inside other lists, which allows them to divide their thoughts into certain sub-tasks. 
• It features tags along with instant full-text search.
• Tasks can be rapidly added and manipulated.
• No reminders or deadlines for to-dos. 
• Lack of link preview, image, and customization.

4. Hypernotes

Collaborate on anything from documentation and wikis to writing projects with Hypernotes. The app is in-built knowledge management for a team through which one can create a ‘second brain’ for their company. 

One can benefit from bi-directional linking between correlated notes. The app allows outlining of large content into subtopics. The plus part is that set-in text blocks reduce the redundant content.

Add tasks, start projects, and connect with an intuitive task management app. Users can go with knowledge graphs for efficient discovery. Being one of the best Roam Research alternatives, Hypernotes lets users track activity status on note, task, and notebook levels.

One can build a network of knowledge in this app. It offers a better representation of the user’s thoughts, understanding of texts, and a natural flow in the writing process. The application also comes with built-in dedicated productivity tools and a Zapier integration to systematize tasks.

• Relevant pages get linked automatically, which reduces duplicate content.
• The hierarchical and linked structure of documents lessens the time spent on searching.
• Inadequate text structure diminishes the chances for miscommunication.
• One can use it to collaborate resources like wikis and documentation.
• It offers GDPR conformism and EU-based servers.
• The application is free for limited features.
• To enjoy more ‘living’ documents, one has to pay €8 per month.

Capture ideas daily and visualize them into collective walls with Walling. It is an ideal tool to spill over bookmarks, daily notes, highlights from a book, motivation images, and more. One can save any offline or online findings that they want.

Users can view all the ideas they saved in the past. To access crucial notes rapidly, one can pin them. The workflow on this app makes it trouble-free to save any thought today and put it to work in the future.

The search tab lets users find anything they saved to the app promptly. Being a Roam Research alternative, Walling is an easy-to-use tool to capture everything from links, notes, images to files . 

One can use the dark mode feature to extend battery life and lessen eye strain. The application makes it trouble-free for the users to put their ideas into bricks and sections in a systematized way.

• It has a graphical view that makes it interesting to use.
• Backlinking allows users to keep ideas interconnected.
• Reference embedding enables one to pull prior notes into the vital document.
• A sidebar offers trouble-free navigation.
• The app is free for only 100 bricks.
• The Outliner feature only allows editing text in blocks.

Click here to install the Walling app  

6. Supernotes

Take notes for all purposes, create tasks, organize notes using tags, and much more from one single app, Supernotes. The application allows users to create notes, find relevant keywords, sort tasks, and collaborate with friends at any time. 

Break down tasks into smaller sub-tasks and create reminders from tasks to remain informed about them. One can customize tasks, notes, and reminders at any time. Moreover, users can add different colors, make text italic, or bold. The use of different colors makes differentiation effortless among a variety of list items.

Everything one creates is secured and always available. This Roam Research alternative features spell check, copy/paste, language, and everything else that one expects from a perfect text editor. 

• The application is suitable for daily tracking, study, critical thinking, writing, and work.
• One can add reminders so that they forget nothing anymore. 
• It is trouble-free to change the color or template on the fly. 
• Users can create high-quality notes with different categories. 
• It is free only with 40 cards.
• Fewer options among lists and tables.

7. Milanote

Upload photos from the camera, write notes, and make to-do lists in one place. Milanote is a tremendous Roam Research alternative that lets its user save texts, links, and images from the web. 

The flexible drag and drop interface of the application permits users to organize their projects into visual boards. One just needs to collect ideas, mix, and modify them to make connections. It allows users to upload any type of files such as PDF, JPG, GIF, Word, Excel, or others.

Anything saved gets synced promptly to all other linked devices. One can utilize Milanote boards as a private place to think, work upon innovative ideas, and share the workplace for collaboration. 

One can invite others to view and edit visual boards or download a standard quality pdf. The application features a variety of templates, actively tracking tasks, real-time collaboration, file sharing , and much more.

• It supports text editing plus a task management feature so that users can add their thoughts on the visual boards. 
• It allows users to export the word, pdf, or other content from the web.
• The user-friendly layout allows users to create almost everything they want within a short time.
• One can organize different photos, ideas, materials, and notes with a different design.
• The app is not available offline.
• To get access to unlimited notes and images, one has to pay $9.99 per month.

8. Evernote

Connect the dots or classical hierarchy with an efficient note-taking tool, Evernote. It enables users to manage their personal life as well as large projects. It becomes accustomed to the user’s way of thinking by supporting both methods. 

The folders method permits users to put information in some order and the bi-directional links to see the bigger picture. One can go into more details with the help of additional tags. One can use notes as a source to link knowledge and ideas.

Unlike other Roam Research alternatives, one can create new notes without exiting the recent note in Evernote. The Graph feature offers a bird’s eye view of all notes and lets users see the large picture of their knowledge base. It is a visual way to determine hidden connections and acknowledge how their notes are connected. 

The best part is that all notes are first encrypted on the device and then it gets stored on the secure servers. One can share their thoughts, research, and ideas directly with the world. With one tap, users can share a public link to one or more notes.

• The use of wiki-style bi-directional links allows users to connect their notes in a web of knowledge.
• One can filter their notes based on the used tags.
• Users remain in full control while sharing a public link for their notes. It’s trouble-free to manage the link access at any time.
• One can add attachments, type notes, record memos, and even clip web pages .
• It involves a few sublevels of notepad.
• Does not feature handwriting recognition.

9. Nimbus Note

Gather and organize information productively with Nimbus Note. It is a powerful notes app that allows users to create text notes and make to-do lists like other Roam Research Alternatives. One can add audio, documents, pictures, videos, or any other type of file.

Users can create distinct databases of notes with different tags and folders within a single account. It will allow them to separate their personal information from all work-related stuff. One can use different color labels to make the most appropriate notes and folders.

It is trouble-free to invite others to collaborate on notes. Additionally, one can allocate editing and reading rights to each participant. The application offers complete control over daily errands and workflow. The plus point is that users can add reminders for crucial tasks.

Now, one has not to spend their precious time for searching vital notes anymore. With Nimbus Note, one can generate notes, scan documents, and synchronize it all for future viewing or editing. One can also add its vital notes to ‘Favorites’. 

One can add the note created on their laptop and can finish it later in a browser. It means that all notes are available on any of the user’s devices anywhere and anytime. 

• By using the camera device, one can scan and digitize any document and picture.
• One can get offline access to their notes.
• Some special filters permit the user to make their document black and white.
• One can protect their note with an additional passcode. 
• The search snippet can search text in ppt, docs, HTML files, and images as well.
• It does not possess a handwriting feature for note-taking on iPad.
• Lacks Zapier integration.

Frequently Asked Questions

(Q) Why seek Roam Research alternatives?

Roam Research is a convenient and user-friendly application to organize tasks, text, notes, and documents effectively. However, it costs high due to which one can think of switching to another app like Roam Research but is affordable. 

(Q) What are the topmost alternatives to Roam Research?

Notion, Milanote, Walling, Amplenote, Nimbus Note, and Evernote are some of the top Roam Research alternatives. These offer nested links, database implementation, versatile collaboration, and more options to organize notes like Roam Research.

(Q) Which apps are similar to Roam Research but free to use?

Workflowy, Notion, and Amplenote are apps similar to Roam Research but free to use. These apps make it simple to keep up vital information, to-dos, and notes in a systematic way without spending too much.

(Q) What are the superlative note-taking apps compatible with Roam Research?

Supernotes, Notion, Amplenote, Evernote, and Workflowy are some of the popular note-taking apps compatible with Roam Research. These applications are based on a nested hierarchy concept that can be used to assemble thoughts productively.

Some of the apps like Roam Research discussed above support wiki-style bi-directional links through which one can link to anything. These are the best note-taking software that offers similar potential benefits at an affordable price.

One can capture their ideas on a go by using these apps. Users can explore a variety of editing tools along with export options to modify their tasks and share them.

Some of these apps allow users to save, tag, and annotate notes from anywhere and anytime. It is worth giving these Roam Research alternatives a try and meets the personal or unique business requirements.

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5 Best Roam Research Alternatives to Boost Your Productivity

Roam Research has revolutionized the modular productivity market with its unique note-taking approach, backlinks, and graph view. However, the hefty price tag of $165 per year and the lack of mobile support have left many users searching for more affordable alternatives. In this article, we will explore the top five alternatives to Roam Research that can help you create your own digital brain without breaking the bank.

Let's kick off the list with the fan-favorite Notion software. Although it doesn't have the famous digital map function of Roam Research, Notion offers a modular approach, backlinks support, and grouped tabs. It also boasts a wide range of templates and cross-platform availability. The best part? Notion is completely free for personal use, making it ideal for project management and boosting productivity.

• Modular approach similar to Roam Research
• Backlinks support
• Hundreds of templates to choose from
• Cross-platform availability
• Free for personal accounts with unlimited blocks
• Mobile apps are not as robust
• Lacks digital map function
• Requires constant internet connection

Price: Free for personal use.

2. Obsidian

Obsidian is the closest you can get to a Roam Research alternative. It offers excellent backlinking support and creates a second digital brain as you connect ideas from one note to another. With Obsidian, you can create multiple vaults, work offline, and open multiple notes on a single screen, enhancing your productivity.

• Native apps for Windows and Mac
• Beautiful UI
• Plugins support
• Multiple export options
• Digital map support
• Offline support
• Confusing pricing structure
• Complex for first-timers

Price: Obsidian is free to download and use, but cross-platform sync and advanced options require payment.

3. Hypernotes

Hypernotes takes the Roam Research experience to the next level with built-in bi-directional linking and a Semantic Graph. It offers native app support for iOS and Android, making it stand out from other alternatives. Hypernotes combines the functionalities of Roam Research, Google Docs, and Trello, making it a powerful tool for team communication. It also features text outlining and a digital graph similar to Roam Research.

• Zapier integration
• Ideal for team communication
• Text Outlining
• Digital graph similar to Roam Research
• Free plan is limited in terms of features

Price: The Plus plan starts at €8 per month.

RemNote is an all-in-one workspace for note-taking, learning, organizing thoughts, and growing knowledge. It is highly preferred in the education space by students, researchers, and professionals. RemNote allows you to link notes and ideas, supercharging your memory, organization, and thinking skills. It also offers rich import and export options, best-in-class search function, and backlinks and references support.

• Rich import and export options
• Best-in-class search function
• Backlinks and references support
• No mobile apps
• Outdated UI
• Not ideal for personal use

Price: The Pro plan starts at $6 per month.

Coda is more similar to Notion than Roam Research. It combines the functionalities of Google Docs and Google Sheets in a modular package. With Coda, you can create mini apps for various purposes, such as finance tracking, subscription management, and project management. It offers excellent mobile optimization, a feature-rich free plan, and Coda Rules for automation.

• Tons of templates to choose from
• Coda Rules for automation
• Excellent mobile optimization
• Feature-rich free plan
• Ideal for project management
• Roam power users might find it limiting
• No backlinking support

Price: $10 per month per doc maker.

In conclusion, Roam Research is a powerful tool for creating a digital brain, but there are more affordable alternatives available. Notion and Obsidian are the top choices for many users, while Hypernotes offers a unique experience with native app support. RemNote is highly regarded in the education space, and Coda is great for project management. Explore these alternatives and find the one that suits your needs and budget.

Jim's passion for Apple products ignited in 2007 when Steve Jobs introduced the first iPhone. This was a canon event in his life. Noticing a lack of iPad-focused content that is easy to understand even for “tech-noob”, he decided to create Tabletmonkeys in 2011.

Jim continues to share his expertise and passion for tablets, helping his audience as much as he can with his motto “One Swipe at a Time!”

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Roam Research Alternatives & Competitors

Top paid & free alternatives to Roam Research includes Plottr, Microsoft Outlook, ProofHub, OneNote, Todoist, Notezilla, Fantastical, Evernote, Milanote and GoodNotes. Analyze a range of top Note Taking Software that offer similar benefits at competitive prices. Empower your team by choosing the best Roam Research competitor that meets your unique business requirements.

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Best Competitors and Alternatives to Roam Research

Plan your books like a pro

Product Description

The software is packed with features. I'm still learning how to access and use them effectively for my projects. Thankfully, I've found the YouTube videos extremely helpful. Read Plottr Reviews

Starting Price: $39 Per Year

Common Categories with Plottr:

Software Common with Roam Research and Plottr

Plottr review compared to Roam Research

"Larry Paz" - Lawrence W. Paz

Most users consider Plottr is a excellent Roam Research alternative.

Microsoft Outlook

Overall experience with the service is value for money. It is well integrated with all other Microsoft products. It automatically synchronizes all the features, contacts, tasks, meetings, and calendar, which makes it ideal for work. Read Microsoft Outlook Reviews

Starting Price: Available on Request

Common Categories with Microsoft Outlook:

Common Alternatives of Microsoft Outlook and Roam Research

Microsoft Outlook review compared to Roam Research

"Microsoft Outlook" - Aditya Sethi

Most users consider Microsoft Outlook is a excellent Roam Research alternative.

ProofHub helps you to manage projects of all sizes

Proofhub has been our official project management software for years. It is used daily and is very knowledgeable in terms of base and standard operating procedures. My team has been able to efficiently schedule their tracking and documentation. For an ... Read ProofHub Reviews

Starting Price: $50 Per Month

Common Categories with ProofHub:

Software Common with Roam Research and ProofHub

ProofHub review compared to Roam Research

"Amazing Project Management Software" - Krishika

OneNote has been a lifesaver for me at work. I use it daily to record meeting notes. Its searching functionality is a game-changer for me to be able to locate old notes. Read OneNote Reviews

Starting Price: $70 Per Year

Common Categories with OneNote:

Software Common with Roam Research and OneNote

OneNote review compared to Roam Research

"OneNote Review" - John

I have been using Todoist for the last 6 years, and it has been an all-in-one and convenient solution for handling tasks. The UI is simple and easy to use, and the feature set is complete, including options for both personal and team usage. The free plan is excellent for individu... Read Todoist Reviews

Starting Price: $0 Per Month

Common Categories with Todoist:

Common Alternatives of Todoist and Roam Research

Todoist review compared to Roam Research

"Great Task Management Solution" - Bhavik J

Better Sticky Notes App for Windows & Phones

Notezilla is a sticky notes app for Windows. It lets you create sticky notes on your Windows desktop, set reminders for them, organize them in folders, and also access them from any other device using our free apps. Read Notezilla Reviews

Starting Price: $30 Onetime

Common Categories with Notezilla:

Common Alternatives of Notezilla and Roam Research

Notezilla review compared to Roam Research

"Review about Note Zilla" - Bluish Wing

Fantastical

It is a calendar app that allows individuals and teams to manage their schedules from anywhere. The Fantastical app is available for Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch, enabling users to view upcoming events and meetings while on the go. Read Fantastical Reviews

Common Categories with Fantastical:

Common Alternatives of Fantastical and Roam Research

Fantastical review compared to Roam Research

"It's easy to use and satisfied " - Kumar Natta

I have been using Evernote for the past 5 years. This application is literally my assistant. I use this app for note-taking, calendar booking, password management, and jotting down ideas. It's one of the best apps out there. Read Evernote Reviews

Starting Price: $0 month

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Alternatives of Evernote and Roam Research

Evernote review compared to Roam Research

"Ultimate note taking app" - Kamal Kishor Bhatt

Milanote is a versatile tool that helps creative professionals organize their ideas and projects visually. It supports various file types and offers seamless collaboration features, making it ideal for teams and individuals alike. Learn more about Milanote

Common Categories with Milanote:

Software Common with Roam Research and Milanote

GoodNotes is a popular note-taking app designed for digital devices, such as iPads and iPhones. Known for its versatility and user-friendly interface, GoodNotes allows users to create, organize, and annotate digital notes, documents, and sketches wit... Learn more about GoodNotes

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Common Roam Research and GoodNotes Alternatives

The Most Popular Prioritization Techniques and Methods: MoSCoW, RICE, KANO model, Walking Skeleton, and others

• 15 min read
• Business ,   UX Design
• Published: 16 May, 2019
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A brief comparison of popular methods of task prioritization

MoSCoW method: the simplest and most widespread approach for small products

MoSCoW is an acronym that stands for “Must, Should, Could, Won’t.” It’s arguably one of the simplest methods to evaluate the relative importance of each task. Being a part of the Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM) techniques, which helps companies adopt business agility practices , it’s also very popular among waterfall-based enterprises.

The MoSCoW method requires breaking down all story points into four groups. Must: These features are mandatory. Neglect any of them and the current sprint most likely fails. Should: Features here can be described as great to have, but not top priority. Simply put, they don’t have much impact on delivery success now, though eventually, they must be implemented. Could: These are small-scale improvements that don’t take considerable resources, but they aren’t essential. Their absence won’t affect almost anything, or at least wouldn’t do any harm to the release. Won’t: These items are of the lowest importance. They don’t match stakeholders’ current challenges, needs, and requirements. Thus, they may be easily omitted or rescheduled for future releases.

Pros of MoSCoW prioritization

Given such operational friendliness, the benefits of MoSCoW prioritization are quite obvious. Simplicity. The MoSCoW method doesn’t require deep understanding or complicated calculations. So, it’s easy for a team to keep in line with the whole prioritization process using a simple language. This promotes mutual understanding between team and stakeholders. Scheduling with MoSCoW is fast and transparent. Agility for scheduling and implementation. Since this prioritization method has no strict time limits, except for the Must-have category, it allows for changing suitable timeframes per feature. That way, a team can adjust feature deliveries or releases on favorable terms.

Cons of the MoSCoW approach

With such simplicity come some challenges. Lacks a clear consistency of implementation. Though the priorities may be easily set, the MoSCoW method does not introduce any sequencing of tasks and lacks planning. At the end of the day, it might put the entire release at risk. Lack of big picture focus. With MoSCoW suggesting the most-to-least critical requirements or features, the stakeholders still might not see a full picture of priorities. If the focus must be concentrated on key features that are important for a business, MoSCoW may mislead the team. So, the stakeholders have to allocate business goals by themselves. Creates imbalance between the required and slightly desirable. Often, the blurred lines between categories make it hard to decide on features that go into, say, Must and Should lists. That’s why floating tasks between all categories should be approached with great thought and care.

When to use MoSCoW

The MoSCoW method is simple but it’s not always effective. For instance, if you have a complicated backlog with many time-sensitive releases, consider choosing other methods or complementing MoSCoW with 2 or 3 more comprehensive approaches.

On the other hand, it’s quite reasonable to use MoSCoW with small products that don’t have many technical limitations and dependencies.

Kano Model: customer-driven prioritization

The Kano technique was created by the Japanese researcher Noriaki Kano in the 1980s. In a nutshell, it’s based on different levels of users’ satisfaction with a product’s features and behavior.

There’s a large variety of Kano model implementations. The most fundamental and go-to version suggests dividing user backlog points by five criteria: Must-be, Attractive, One-Dimensional, Indifferent, and Reverse. As the method revolves around user satisfaction and is based on user opinion, it requires conducting Kano surveys and user interviews before prioritization practice. Must-be: The customers consider the product functional only if these features are included. One-dimensional: These features have a dual nature. While they aren’t a must for a product to work, they remain extremely desirable to customers. The category is closely related to foreseeing customer needs and expectation. When a product includes what customers would be happy to get, they stay satisfied. But if you fail to deliver them, users are more likely to experience disappointment. Attractive: Features in this section add extra satisfaction, or even enjoyment and gratification. Basically, they are unexpected but nice-to-have features. On the other hand, their absence doesn’t leave customers dissatisfied. Indifferent: The attributes here represent the least possible impact on customers satisfaction. In a nutshell, they have no value. Reverse: The features falling into this category are considered to be the most annoying. Their presence has a rather negative effect on customer satisfaction. Alternatively, when they are not introduced, customers consider it a plus.

Pros of the Kano model

Highlighting the potential strengths and weaknesses of a product. One of the most valuable features of the Kano model is user feedback. The results of the Kano questionnaire help realize the future product’s advantages and disadvantages. It allows product managers to specify the product/market fit early in development. Ranking product features by their value for customers. The Kano model helps rate the product properties from the value proposition standpoint and tailor it to user needs.

Cons of the Kano model

Provides no details on resources required. Although the Kano model gives a more comprehensive picture on how to establish the priorities from the customer vantage point, it doesn’t account for time and costs that are necessary for a given release or a particular feature. Time-consuming practice. Since the Kano model originally involves the Kano survey – which may target a lot of potential customers – the efforts to process and estimate the results might be quite significant. It slows down the time-to-market and, consequently, distracts the team from execution. Restricted by customers’ opinion and knowledge. Given that the Kano model appreciates the level of customer satisfaction, it still has pitfalls from the other side: The backlog may introduce a plain wishlist and be limited to expectations of customers who have no technical background. This caveat can lead to unstable releases. To make Kano efficient, you have to discuss the technical concepts separately.

When to use the Kano Model

If you are a startup striving to generate user feedback for the initial UX design, it will be quite efficient to submit your concept in tandem with the Kano survey. Given that it’s always better to demonstrate than describe, the combination of a prototype and the questionnaire will help distill the value. But if your product entails technical complexity and various hidden blockers, you should balance Kano or completely substitute it with more specific methods.

RICE: balanced, but time-consuming method for mature products

The RICE method is one of those involving calculations. It provides a rate-scoring model for setting priorities.

RICE stands for Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. These are the factors to estimate each feature separately when prioritizing. Reach usually reflects the number of people who will use the feature or be able to use it in a particular time period. It’s assessed with real product metrics such as Daily or Monthly Active Users. E.g. if you’re assessing the improvements to a customer support page, the number of users visiting this page per month will be your reach metric. Impact shows the feature contribution to the overall product promotion. To align them with each other, a multiple-choice scale is recommended: 3 for “massive impact,” 2 for “high,” 1 for “medium,” 0.5 for “low,” and finally 0.25 for “minimal.” Confidence . Based on the knowledge obtained, you estimate how sure you are about the given feature benefit. Here, it is also recommended to use multiple-choice scale: 100 percent for “high confidence,” 80  for “medium,” and 50 for “low.”  Anything below will mean a shot in the dark. Effort shows the time taken by product, design, and engineering teams. This can be calculated in “person-months,” and to round it up to whole numbers usually half a month is taken as a minimum. Upon obtaining rates from each of the categories, the following formula is applied: RICE= Reach*Impact*Confidence/Effort The bigger the rate is, the higher the priority.

Pros of RICE

Gives a comprehensive picture. The inclusion of such versatile factors helps formulate a fuller vision on the product and estimate its success and further promotion from different points of view. Actionable metrics and numbers. This prioritization technique is mostly based on numbers and KPIs, which is the true evidence of product progression. The numbers can be later estimated to make improvements in further releases. Appreciating the customer value. The used metrics concentrate on user engagement, and can also take into account the level of their satisfaction. That is to say, the RICE method considers user experience very important.

Cons of RICE

Time-consuming. The approach involves a lot of calculation. To take into account all metrics equally, grade the rates, and do calculations per each backlog item requires a lot of time. Depends on data that you may not have. That said, the RICE method may stretch the release time. When the product or a feature is time-sensitive, but the data hasn’t been calculated yet, you either use another method or move the deadline. Not clear about responsibility. Since the given prioritization method involves grading such factors as impact and confidence, the team faces the challenge of taking responsibility for these decisions. Consequently, it isn’t obvious who is in charge of that. Are these addressed within the whole team, or does a product owner/manager do it alone? The lines here are still blurred.

When to use

The RICE prioritization is a very efficient technique that allows for taking a comprehensive look at the product from multiple sides. However, it is not applicable in every prioritization case. For instance, rating via RICE looks reasonable when the application has been rolled out and started its product lifecycle . As the method is quite metrics-intensive, you must have at least some data at hand. So, RICE wouldn’t work for MVP for the same reason.

Eisenhower matrix: a straightforward way for time-management

The technique originated from Dwight D. Eisenhower’s decision-making matrix, which later transformed into a four-quadrant visualization that some teams use to prioritize tasks in backlog. It’s another uncomplicated take on prioritization that you can use straight away without preparations.

Eisenhower decision matrix

Features of the Eisenhower matrix

The technique suggests allocating tasks across four different sections on the diagram. The matrix considers two prioritization dimensions – importance and urgency.

• High Priority: urgent and important.
• Medium Priority : important but not urgent. You can additionally divide this quadrant into 2 parts: The requirements on the left side are of a higher priority and must be implemented first.
• Urgent but not important . The features included are urgent but without a significant impact on a product’s business aspects, so the team must decide whether they are really needed. Similar to the medium priority part, this quadrant is also divided into 2 parts; the requirements on the left side are of a higher priority than those on the right.
• Low Priority: neither urgent, nor important.

Pros of the Eisenhower matrix

Plain. A simple structure doesn’t need multi-layered composition. Open. The matrix doesn’t have decision dependencies and multiple results variation. So, the product team doesn’t have to think about some pitfalls when deciding what priority to put first. Business-targeted. The method is business centric. The higher priority is given to those items that are more relevant and useful from a business point of view.

Cons of the Eisenhower matrix

No evidence base. The Eisenhower decision matrix is completely outside of a data-driven approach. It doesn’t need any calculations, metrics, KPIs, or other actionable insights to concentrate on. As a consequence, some misconceptions or discussions may occur within the product team. May lack the technical aspect. Concentrating on a business aspect of the product, the method may, however, miss the other side – the technical one, which may affect the overall product flow and performance.

You can use the Eisenhower matrix for the whole backlog but its simple nature better fits for individual time planning, given that you have a stronger method for the whole product. Otherwise, a delivery team must agree on all requirements, their urgency, and priority.

Value vs Complexity/Effort matrix: a lightweight approach to balance tech and value

Value vs. Complexity is one of the prioritization principles used by product managers to grade features on the product roadmap . The value vs complexity (or sometimes the effort word is used) method takes a balanced approach to business and tech aspects of development. 

Value vs Complexity/Effort

Similar to the Eisenhower matrix, the features are allocated across four quadrants with two dimensions: value and complexity. The approach prioritizes low-hanging fruit, meaning that the most value and least complexity tasks go first. Then the matrix suggests building the highest value and the most complex features; it questions the significance of low-value items, recommending ditching complex, low-value tasks. Value. The product team estimates the value of a feature from a long-term perspective. The value criteria are arbitrarily defined by the team rather than dictated by the method. They may be:

• market demand
• customer acquisition potential
• customer retention
• customer engagement
• expected revenue etc.

Complexity. The product team estimates a feature total cost to the business and represents it as a proxy for complexity or effort necessary to realize it. On the other hand, the team may divide the effort scoring into certain categories, such as operational costs, developer hours, time on the schedule, customer training, risks, and in-house development skills.

Pros of the Value vs Complexity/Effort matrix

You can use it without detailed calculations. Even though the matrix suggests using specific metrics, it doesn’t dictate any restrictions. If you don’t have time for specifying value and complexity metrics, you still can resort to eyeballing them. Flexibility. As you can arbitrarily define the value, you can do the same with the second dimension. Instead of complexity, you can put risks, costs, time, etc.

Cons of the Value vs Complexity matrix

Has a subjective nature. Since there’s no well-specified scoring formula, the prioritization method is still quite open to debate. Proves no valuable asset for a big comprehensive product. The use of the given method is quite time-consuming for big product teams with extensive product features. Additionally, it may result in high-cost coordination expenses.

It works better within the teams of smaller products and limited timeframes or budgets, especially when you build a product from the ground up. As your application matures, you may run out of low-hanging fruit and the only approach would be to embark on some bigger features. Here’s when this matrix won’t be as effective.

Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF): lean but time-consuming way to introduce minimum marketable features

Weighted Shortest Job First is an element of the SAFe Lean-Agile framework, which tends to be used in medium-to-big companies. It suggests scoring each feature by dividing the cost of delay by job duration. At its core, WSJF is similar to Value vs Complexity, but provides more detailed guidance.

Cost of Delay (CoD). This metric defines how much the company loses if the given feature isn’t implemented. Traditionally, CoD is a sum of three elements:

• User-business value – How important is the feature to business and customers?
• Time criticality – Will the user-business value reduce over time?
• Risk reduction – Does the feature reduce business and technical risks?

The values that you put into these variables must start with 1 as the lowest and the others set relative to that. Job duration. The duration is also measured in relative points and defines the time needed for implementation. So, in the end you get this formula: WSJF = CoD/Job duration The higher the rate is, the higher its priority. When the rate is calculated, features are introduced in the following order:

• Non-comprehensive features with high-added value.
• Complex features with high-added value.
• Non-comprehensive features of lesser-added value.
• Complex features with lesser-added value.

Pros of Weighted Shortest Job First

Gives accuracy and consistency. With more detailed calculation, stakeholders can expect higher consistency and predictability of results. Focuses on increasing the ROI with limited human resources. WSJF is quite beneficial for teams with limited human resources.

Cons of Weighted Shortest Job First

Time-consuming calculations. Since the WSJF has many metrics per each backlog item, the product team is supposed to spend significant time to prioritize each task. Limits complex tasks. If the stakeholders have a sustainable business idea, but the WSJF calculations show it’s not so urgent, they will have to postpone it, making the method a bit restrictive in implementing long-term business ideas. Relative scales. Even though we mentioned that WSJF enables accuracy and consistency, it only works if the relative scales are set up right. Since it’s hard to align all metrics and assumptions to achieve balance, the method has room for errors.

WSJF is a great technique to assess and introduce minimum marketable features. However, you should not always rely on WSJF. For example, there are always features in the product that are supposed to be implemented by default and without any discussion.

Walking Skeleton: the best way to prioritize MVP stories

The Walking Skeleton prioritization method appeared in the early 2000s. It was advocated by Dr. Alistair Cockburn, an expert in Agile software development.  The Walking Skeleton is used in prioritizing features in MVP and defines which of them are absolutely critical for the product to work.

Walking Skeleton may be smaller than the actual MVP but it puts the necessary features first

The method doesn’t imply requirements falling into certain categories. However, it has distinct features that focus on user stories. Key features first. When using the Walking Skeleton, a delivery team ranks the necessary user stories first. The system must function. Due to the focus on the implementation of the essential points, the key functionality forms a fully operational product, without any additions. Reflects the business concept of a future product. The Walking Skeleton advocates showing business value. That is why the story maps are lined up to display the core system elements within the restricted technical basis. Completed with tests. Since the Walking Skeleton involves the whole production pipeline, including delivery and deployment, the testing is applied as well.

Pros of Walking Skeleton

Fast prioritization. One of the key benefits of Walking Skeleton prioritization for stakeholders is that defining the core features won’t take much time. Key functionality only. When estimating the business value of a future product, it’s often hard to focus on the core element, as there’s always a temptation to make it as comprehensive as possible. The Walking Skeleton helps avoid this situation, putting the operating MVP with the greatest validity first. Fast market validation. Arguably one of the most significant advantages for the Walking Skeleton is that its prioritization results help to quickly get the feedback from users. Therefore, the stakeholders assess the product-market fit and the business idea as a whole. In further releases, they can suit it up.

Cons of Walking Skeleton

Lacks important functionality. While the basic working framework is included, the Walking Skeleton will not involve other additional though still important features. It might play a critical role at some point. Late first release. Although the Walking Skeleton is a rather quick prioritization technique, the first release won't be fast as you still must ship a functioning product. The risk to cut corners. When trying to roll out the basic version of a product as fast as possible, the stakeholders may try to refuse the basic functional features to accelerate the release. That is why when prioritizing the backlog, the team should focus on keeping the basics without omitting them in favor of fast delivery. Otherwise, the very first – and viable – product version is at risk of turning into a prototype that is not ready for the market.

Walking Skeleton is extremely useful when releasing a Minimum Viable Product . Being good in tandem, these two can provide tangible results. However, Walking Skeleton is not the one to rely on when delivering a more sustainable and complex product with numerous extra features or additional business value. For the latter, the stakeholders should consider something more comprehensive and detailed.

As you may have noticed, it’s a bad idea to think that any prioritization approach is suitable for every single product or company. In a nutshell, there are few different sets of methods that fall within the particular categories of products. For instance, if you’re building an MVP, consider combining the Walking Skeleton and Kano model. The Kano model is also a perfect match for building a prototype and gathering feedback on the UX from the target audience. MoSCoW and Eisenhower’s decisions matrix are the best fit for prioritizing backlog requirements when building small products with some preliminary agreements. Equally efficient here is Value vs Complexity/Effort. Working on a ready-made product with already existing lifecycle, consider RICE. Of course, we haven’t covered many prioritization methods. For instance, many teams still rely on the HiPPO method (Highest-Paid Person Opinion). With it being stigmatized, in some cases it works, given that the team lacks expertise and ultimate understanding of a product. Tell us what you use. Are there methods that we missed? Please share.

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The Top Scrum Alternatives

There’s no hiding from Scrum. Pick a random software team and you’re likely to spot some elements of Scrum blended into their daily routine. Open the fridge and you’ll probably find your veggies running a daily standup under the watchful eye of your peanut butter jar.

Part of it is because Scrum gives teams an easy-to-implement approach to solving difficult problems. It’s quite universal and can be used in various industries, and with various professions involved.

While developing different products at Railsware, we’ve realized that one approach isn’t the right approach every time though. Different products and different circumstances require different ways of tackling a problem.

That’s why we’ve decided to gather a list of Scrum methodology alternatives that we believe address many of the issues that Scrum doesn’t.

You won’t find Kanban on the list, even though it meets this condition. It’s already used by more than half of the teams running on Scrum, and you probably already know how to implement it very well. And, if you don’t, Kanbanize has got you covered .

Everything else that we thought was worth your attention is here. So let’s begin!

Scrum of Scrums

The first approach is very easy to implement for teams already using Scrum. It’s sort of an add-on to traditional Scrum practices that makes it possible for several teams to stay in sync without changing anything in the daily routine of most team members.

Traditional Scrum teams shouldn’t include more than 7-9 people at a time. Above this number, the cooperation becomes ineffective and the duration of even daily syncs is close to unbearable.

For this reason, teams can take advantage of Scrum of Scrums. Under this approach, Scrum teams follow their usual rituals and run 2-4 week-long sprints as they used to. On top of that, each team delegates 1-2 members to attend an additional meeting – the Scrum of Scrums.

This way, representatives from each group join once or twice a week to discuss what’s been done, what the plans are, and how to best handle the dependencies between the teams.

Roles in Scrum of Scrums

• 1-2 members from each Scrum team – these are typically Scrum Masters and Product Owners, but teams can delegate different roles to a meeting too. Roles that are dependent on external resources should be especially considered for participation.
• Supplier – this role is defined as an external stakeholder that members of Scrum teams depend on. This can be, for example, a representative of another team (it doesn’t matter if that team works on Scrum or not) that’s working on a functionality that is essential for teams involved in SoS.
• Consultant – this optional role also involves an external stakeholder. It can be a technical leader or an expert in some field that the participants could use inputs from. The person may also join to simply stay in sync with whatever is happening and plan their/others’ priorities based on that.

How Scrum of Scrums works

The agenda is very similar to the typical Scrum daily sync. Each representative of a scrum team answers these three questions:

• What have we done since the last sync, and how does it impact the other teams?
• What are we going to do, and what is the impact going to be?
• What are the obstacles we’re facing, or anticipate we’ll be facing?

The meeting takes longer, typically 45 to 60 minutes. Reporting on done/plans is secondary and shouldn’t be focused on too much. The key of this meeting is to define and address touchpoints between teams and potential obstacles they may be facing.

Pros of Scrum of Scrums

• Very easy to implement for teams already working in Scrum.
• Doesn’t impact most of the team members in any way (as they’re not involved).
• Works well for up to 25-30 people involved within a few teams.

Cons of Scrum of Scrums

• More difficult (but not impossible) in larger organizations with many teams involved.
• Doesn’t specify how to approach artifacts of Scrum – product/team backlog, planning meetings, etc.

SAFe (Scaled Agile Framework)

As the organizations grow, Scrum of Scrums becomes more difficult to run. There are simply too many stakeholders involved, and dependencies between them cannot be sorted out in a single meeting. This is when SAFe enters the picture.

It’s an entire framework that tells organizations how to run projects in a lean and agile way. SAFe specifies various processes and describes the roles involved in each. It gives an organization guidance on running each of the four key aspects – Team, Program, Large Solution and Portfolio – in the most effective way.

Scaled Agile Framework is meant to improve the time and quality of each delivery, as well as boost employees’ engagement and productivity.

Roles in SAFe

There are plenty, and they depend on the level of focus:

• Team level – Agile team , Product Owner and Scrum Master
• Program level – Product Manager , Business Owner , Release Train Engineer , and System Architect/Engineer
• Solution level – Solution Manager , Solution Architect/Engineer , and Solution Train Engineer
• Portfolio level – Epic Owner and Enterprise Architect

How SAFe works

SAFe may look complicated at first. But a lot of what happens during SAFe will be familiar if you’re used to typical Scrum procedures.

The framework comes with four options, each suitable for a different number of participants. The most basic, aptly named ‘Essential’, will work for 50 to 125 folks, though 40 or 150 may also make use of it.

As the number of team members grows, so does the complexity of SAFe and the number of processes. Other available setups are ‘Portfolio’, ‘Large Solution’ and ‘Full Configuration’. Full Configuration is said to be suitable for an organization of 20,000 people.

The higher the complexity, the more different roles will be involved. For reference, follow the links to the roles we included above and review the SAFe White Paper along with the available resources.

Pros of SAFe

• Suitable for a wide array of organizations, from those consisting of just a few teams to large corporations with thousands of employees.
• Enables multi-team collaboration and alignment.
• The framework is constantly being developed, using the feedback from thousands of practitioners. Currently in its 5.0 release.
• Extensive knowledge base.
• Large network of certified trainers and courses.

Cons of SAFe

• Relatively complex compared to other frameworks.
• Limited flexibility and decision making for most participants.
• Longer feedback loops and lowered ability to react to changes, and longer planning cycles.
• The entire organization needs to work on SAFe and there’s no flexibility for teams to adopt it individually or use a different methodology.

LeSS (Large-Scale Scrum)

If it’s a bit too much and you’re already looking for SAFe Scrum alternatives, you’ve got to admit LeSS sounds promising (judging by the name, at least). It’s a lightweight framework that’s meant to help you scale good ol’ Scrum to more than one team. LeSS is suitable for 2 to 8 teams, while its twin brother, LeSS Huge, can cater for even thousands of participants.

LeSS puts less focus on the enforcement of rules, rituals or processes than SAFe. It also specifies fewer roles, and the ones it does are very well known from regular Scrum practices.

Roles in LeSS

• Product Owner – in charge of an entire product that multiple teams work on.
• Scrum Masters – run Scrum rituals with the teams and also coordinate with Product Owners and other Scrum Masters. One SM can work with more than one team.

How LeSS works

Spring planning in LeSS happens in two separate meetings.

In the first one, a Product Owner meets with the delegates from each participating team. They divide items from the Product Backlog between them, with the assumption that more than one team can share a particular deliverable.

The second meeting is the traditional Scrum planning within each team, where members commit to delivering specific tasks in the upcoming sprint. Often, team meetings can happen physically near to each other so that teams sharing responsibilities can easily coordinate the planning.

Daily Scrums also happen independently, with the caveat that, for the sake of better coordination, members of either team can join other teams’ standups in the role of passive listeners.

As we mentioned, there’s also LeSS Huge for a larger number of teams (8+), when a planning meeting with a representative of each team is no longer an option.

In many ways, it’s similar to LeSS. However, a new concept is introduced – Requirement Areas (RA). These are major areas that define the key parts of a product being shipped. They’re dynamic and can change over time – two can merge or one can be split into several smaller areas. Ultimately, new areas can just appear or disappear as the product grows.

Since the structure is much bigger than it was in LeSS (each area typically has 4-8 teams working on it), it calls for new roles to supervise the execution. That’s why each area has its own Area Product Owner, who takes the very same role a Product Owner had in LeSS. And, above all, there’s one Product Owner coordinating with POs from each area.

Pros of LeSS and LeSS Huge

• Scalable from just a few teams to even hundreds of them.
• Very easy to implement, especially on a smaller scale. Most practises mimic the typical Scrum processes.
• Members are empowered to make decisions.
• A lot of flexibility to adjust to the changing situation, and also to add or remove areas as the circumstances dictate.

Cons of LeSS and LeSS Huge

• Difficult to work with if there are heavy dependencies between teams.
• Location-specific ceremonies, hard to use LeSS with remote or multi-location teams.
• A single Product Owner may be overseeing hundreds if not thousands of participants (indirectly).

Another framework, or more of an add-on to Scrum, is Nexus. It allows you to scale Scrum to the point of around 100 participants and effectively manage dependencies between teams. 3 to 9 teams are typically involved in Nexus.

This framework is similar in many ways to Scrum of Scrums, but it introduces a new structure for smoothing out the cooperation between teams – the Integration Team.

Roles in Nexus

• Product Owner – handles the entire Nexus Product Backlog.
• Scrum Masters – for each team involved.
• Nexus Team – gathering one or two members from each Scrum team, responsible for planning the bigger picture of the product and coordinating with other Scrum teams.
• Nexus Integration Team – an external structure that makes sure the teams are well coordinated and that blockers are resolved quickly. Members of this team can be external trainers, product leads or other positions not directly involved in Scrum teams.

How Nexus works

As was the case with SoS and LeSS, a Product Owner meets with representatives from each team to determine the items from the Product Backlog that will be tackled in an upcoming sprint. Teams should try to pick tasks with as few dependencies on the others as possible, communicating with each other when doing so. By the end of the meeting, the shared backlog is created and participants define goals for the upcoming sprints.

As the sprint gets underway, Daily Scrums happen in the teams. A part of a daily routine is also Daily Integration, during which representatives of each team communicate any challenges they’re facing and resolve dependency issues with the help of the Integration Team.

At the end of the sprint, Scrum teams meet with the product owners to review what was and wasn’t done during the sprint. No individual team sprint reviews are held.

Pros of Nexus

• Very similar to other Scrum add-ons and, as such, easy to adapt.
• Very focused on tackling dependency issues and suitable for projects where teams need to actively cooperate.

Cons of Nexus

• Integration Team is not involved in the development, not contributing to the product.
• Limited to only about 9 teams and 100 people (though a LeSS Huge-style iteration is being developed).

XP (Extreme Programming)

Extreme Programming is another Agile framework for quickly shipping products. It was the dominant approach back in the 90s, as well as the 2000s. Today, it has lost a bit of its momentum and fallen behind some of the Scrum practises we have already covered. But many of its elements are still widely used in thousands of development teams.

XP introduces very short, 1-2 week-long sprints during which teams aim to quickly ship new iterations, get feedback from users, iterate on it, and ship again. XP values adaptability over predictability and is most suitable for an environment where requirements change dynamically. Change is seen as an opportunity rather than a challenge.

XP is also big on engineering practices that it introduces and encourages all practitioners to follow. These include pair programming, automated testing, simplicity in design, test-driven development, refactoring, and many others.

Roles in XP

• Customer – represents a customer, creates user stories, and sets priorities for the team.
• Tracker – monitors the progress of software development, makes sure everything’s going as expected.
• Programmer – defines the tasks prioritized by the customer, estimates them, and codes them into a project.
• Tester – takes responsibility for testing the code and ensuring its quality.
• Coach – supervises the team, runs daily and weekly meetings, and ensures the team implements the best practices. They’re also responsible for passing the information to the Tracker.

How XP works

The process starts with the team describing user stories – the desired results of a project. These are then estimated and prioritized. With this information, the team moves on to creating a release plan and defining the key features of the future code.

The development team then gets to coding the solution in short sprints and refactoring it on the go. Simultaneously, unit testing, as well as customer acceptance testing, happens, with the information flowing between both roles on a regular basis.

At the end of a sprint (typically by the end of a week), a sprint summary is held. The aim is to sum up the progress, hear user feedback, and break down the tasks for the following weeks. The next sprint then follows.

Pros of Extreme Programming

• Very quick sprints allow teams to quickly react to changing requirements.
• XP puts a strong focus on improving the quality of programming, introducing a number of techniques that have gained a wide popularity among developers.
• Feedback loops are heavily reduced, with the active participation of customer feedback in the daily work.
• Continuous development, new iterations (nearly) every week.

Cons of Extreme Programming

• Scalability issues, difficult to use with more than a few teams.
• Too much focus on delivering code and little attention to the design of a product and its usability.
• Difficult when a client is in a very different time zone and cannot actively participate in the process. Can also cause difficulties in distributed teams.

Crystal is a collection of methods for product development. Contrary to Scrum-related methods we already covered, Crystal prioritizes the team that’s going to deliver a project over the processes it is to follow.

This conclusion came to Crystal’s creator, Alistair Cockburn, after he ran detailed research on teams developing IBM products in the 90s. Eventually, he concluded that teams that were the most successful didn’t necessarily have great processes in place. Instead, they collaborated and communicated in an efficient way, and these human-centered qualities allowed them to understand their clients and ship the right products.

Crystal framework is built on two beliefs: * Each project is unique and is constantly changing. As such, it’s not possible to create universal processes that will always work. * Because of that, teams should be trusted to improve their processes and determine how to best tackle a project.

Crystal is a family of multiple methods, each represented with a different color. Different colors are suitable for different numbers of people involved. The complexity of each project is also taken into consideration.

Some Crystal colors include:

• Crystal Clear
• Crystal Yellow
• Crystal Orange
• Crystal Red
• Crystal Maroon
• Crystal Diamond
• Crystal Sapphire

In general, the suggested maximum number of people for each of the methods is shown in the chart below:

Diamond and Sapphire Crystals can also be used for the most critical projects, regardless of the number of participants.

Roles in Crystal

There can be a number of roles in the most complex methods, including the likes of Architect, Requirements Gatherer, Design Mentor or Technical Facilitator. The most basic method, Crystal Clear, indicates the need for four different roles:

• Sponsor – allocates funds to run a project.
• Expert user – tests a product and provides regular feedback.
• Lead designer – takes the role of a technical lead.
• Designer-Programmer – handles both design and coding.

How Crystal works

Crystal methods follow Agile practices for delivering new iterations. Without external supervision, the teams decide which items they want to include in the next iterations. The frequency of releases is not fixed and can vary from a week to even 2-3 months, depending on the complexity of the project.

By releasing frequently, Crystal teams aim to quickly test an iteration and give it to users to try and provide feedback. Sometimes though, it may not be feasible to release each new iteration right away. That’s why there can be more than one iteration being worked on at a time.

Crystal focuses on a number of practices, mainly involving inter-human relations within a team. As there are no strict processes in place, teams also regularly take a break from development and reflect on how the process can be improved.

Pros of Crystal

• Adaptive approach lets teams quickly adjust their approach in light of changing requirements.
• Can be used with other Scrum or non-Scrum methodologies.
• Empowers team members to find the way to work most effectively.
• Because there are a number of variations available, Crystal will work well for a few participants, as well as for 100 of them (or even more).

Cons of Crystal

• Only suitable for more experienced teams that can build their own processes without external guidance.
• Crystal Colors can’t be changed while the project is underway.
• May be difficult for distributed teams due to its focus on constant communication.

BRIDGeS for decision-making and ideation

Regardless of which Scrum alternative you choose, we highly recommend using BRIDGeS during agile product development . BRIDGeS is a robust framework for ideation and decision-making crafted by Railsware. It’s ideal for helping product managers, owners, and other stakeholders solve problems quickly and creatively.

BRIDGeS has a simple setup (virtual whiteboard and cards to keep track of benefits, risks, issues, and more). It’s easy for remote teams to collaborate in real-time (check out this free Figma template ).

During a session, you and your carefully-chosen team of experts will move from the Problem Space to the Solution Space. Everyone has a chance to contribute, but the structured nature of the session ensures you don’t spend too much time lingering on the problem. So, at the end of a BRIDGeS session, you will have a list of epics and nested tasks that can be added to your Jira board. This means that participants (and/or your development team) can start implementing the solution almost immediately.

Visit our dedicated BRIDGeS page to find out more about how it works and how to prepare for a session.

YouTube slowdown in Russia darkens freedom of speech outlook

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Reporting by Alexander Marrow and Gleb Stolyarov Writing by Alexander Marrow Editing by Frances Kerry

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Chief companies correspondent for Russia, Alexander covers Russia’s economy, markets and the country's financial, retail and technology sectors, with a particular focus on the Western corporate exodus from Russia and the domestic players eyeing opportunities as the dust settles. Before joining Reuters, Alexander worked on Sky Sports News' coverage of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil and the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Uganda court convicts LRA rebel commander of war crimes

A Ugandan court on Tuesday found a commander in the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), Thomas Kwoyelo, guilty of dozens of war crimes, the first time a senior member of the group has been tried by Uganda's judiciary.