Coda is an interesting tool, and it genuinely surprised me. After spending several weeks using it, I wanted to share my experiences and thoughts in this Coda.io review and tell you why it surprised me.
Whether you consider using Coda to manage projects or take notes, I tested it for almost every use case. In this Coda.io review, I will cover this app’s key features, pricing, my experience, Coda’s alternatives, and its pros and cons so you can easily decide in the end whether this tool is for you.
Let’s dive in!
What is Coda?
Coda is an all-in-one collaborative workspace for individuals and teams. It integrates note-taking, task management, project management, document management, and team collaboration features into one platform.
More than 50,000 teams use Coda to manage documents, track projects, automate recurring tasks, and centralize information in a hub. Thanks to this wide range of use cases, Coda can replace many apps like Google Docs, Trello, Monday.com, and even Notion.
Hang on a minute on Notion. I have reviewed numerous note-taking and project management apps in the past few years. However, Coda is probably the closest alternative to Notion. While there are small differences in the features, Coda’s learning curve is shorter, and ultimately, it is a more user-friendly app.
Let’s discuss all the features of Coda you need to know!
Coda’s features
In this part of the Coda.io review, I collected the essential features of this productivity tool.
Project management tools
Coda is not a business intelligence tool, but it has sufficient depth when it comes to project management tools. During my Coda.io review, I discovered that this tool makes it easy for people to get the information they need quickly, as it has advanced visualization features.
Coda offers numerous view options that help to visualize dependencies, making the project planning and tracking much smoother. It is very easy to create customized dashboards.
You can choose from numerous view layouts when creating your projects. Just click on the options tab next to the block, and you can access the tables, grids, boards, calendars, Gantt charts, and more views.
Coda excels in customizing the way how you track projects. For example, you can apply filters, change the details of how Coda displays the information, or set the order for the rows.
Overall, Coda’s project management tools allow smooth collaborative work. It is also great that this productivity tool offers in-depth customization options.
Let’s move on to the task management features of Coda and how they work with its project management tools.
Task management
Task and project management come hand-in-hand, as the tasks are mostly related to one of your projects. Regarding the tasks, Coda gives you many options to structure them in a way that suits you.
You can add different columns for each task. When adding columns, you can change their types, which is great, as it makes filling the data easier and organizing your tasks.
When considering what type you want to add, there is a full list from which you can choose. You can insert text, dates, checkboxes, links, files, assignees, and many other elements.
Coda has a pretty solid formula editor, so you can add conditional formatting, colors, etc. Using these, you can organize your data in a way that helps you to overview the relevant information.
Furthermore, Coda allows you to comment, mention someone, and attach files to each task. This way, you can discuss the tasks and project details in one place without switching between numerous apps.
Note-taking
Coda is an ideal tool for note-taking as well. It uses building blocks when creating notes.
The note-taking is quite intuitive and works similarly to Notion. It has a drag-and-drop interface, and you can structure your content with headings, texts, bullet points, tables, and more.
If you click on the “/” tab, you can insert many text formats besides the essential ones. For example, you can use callouts, codes, pull quotes, and embed pages.
The text formatting is decent, as you can apply bold, italics, underline, and strike-through to your text. Also, you can choose from different text and highlight colors.
Embedding audio, video files, pictures, maps, files, and socials is also possible. Coda allows direct import from other tools like Notion, AirTable, Google Sheets, and Docs to your page.
If you push the “/” and go below, you will access the version history and share the page with your team members.
Lastly, you can utilize the nested pages to connect your notes and create your personal knowledge base. With this feature, you can create sub-pages for your notes or projects.
Data and document management
Coda is a great tool for creating different types of documents, such as spreadsheets, databases, and wikis. Its document management capabilities are similar to those of Dropbox Paper.
Coda has a permission management feature as well, which you can use to set up the published Coda Docs. There are three types of permission settings.
You can let your team members view, play, or edit the document. If choosing the view option, anyone can view the Coda Docs, but they can not interact with it. This option is helpful for blog posts, for instance.
If using the play mode, your team members can use the buttons and reactions in your Coda Docs. This is ideal for quizzes, calculators, or worksheets.
Finally, you can let your team members edit the document so they can add rows, columns, and text. The editing is useful when creating trackers for project management or brainstorming.
Automation
Automation allows you to create workflow rules and automate repetitive tasks. If you click on the settings icon in the top-right corner of your document, you can create rules.
You can select triggers, conditions, and actions. So, Coda uses the When and Then conditional logic for workflow automation.
The first step in workflow automation is the When. Here, you can select the time, row changed, the form submitted, and webhook invoked-based triggers.
Second, you can add an additional rule to the automated actions if needed. Finally, you can decide what actions Coda should take if the conditions are met.
To ensure the workflow automation works fine, you can run a test. If everything works well, you are good to go!
Coda AI
Coda AI utilizes artificial intelligence and helps you in many ways to make you more productive and save time. If you push”/”, you will quickly access Coda AI. It will instantly give suggestions on what topic it should generate for you, from blog posts to sales emails or meeting agendas.
Essentially, Coda AI helps you to edit, write, summarize, and paraphrase your content. However, you can implement it in more workflows. For instance, it can help you brainstorm projects and tasks, or you can ask to analyze customers, summarize meetings, and convert text into tables.
The use cases of Coda AI are almost endless. As you use Coda along the way, you will implement it in more workflows than you think.
Templates
Coda’s Gallery includes many templates for project management, meetings, knowledge management, project briefs, OKRs, and more. Templates are great for creating documents and projects faster.
If you click on the workspaces, you will see the templates tab next to your workspace’s name. There are not as many templates as Notion has, but they are quite practical and useful, and you do not need to start your documents from scratch.
Collaboration tools
Coda has a wide range of team collaboration features. You can edit text in real-time, mention and tag others, or assign tasks to your team members.
You can share documents easily with your team members with a click, so you can be on the same page. Both permission management and workflow automation are key to collaborating more efficiently.
With permission management, you can create and properly use more types of documents. For example, you can create only a viewable document about company policies and a playable document about voting on where the next team should be building.
When it comes to automation, you can easily trigger actions that will send data or notifications via Gmail or Slack. This feature can be quite helpful to eliminate repetitive communication or tasks within your team.
Coda’s user interface
Coda is a beautiful and simple productivity app. Personally, I experienced a short learning curve, and it was easy to navigate through its features.
While Coda a simple app, it has the depth to manage documents and projects in more detail. So, it will take some time to learn all the features. Nevertheless, it has some tutorials and guides, so you will quickly master Coda.
Coda’s integrations
You can connect Coda with multiple third-party apps, including Zapier. Thanks to the Zapier integrations, Coda supports integrations with more than 7,000 third-party apps.
Coda’s pricing
Coda offers four pricing plans.
The free plan has essential features like unlimited doc size for unshared docs, collaborative docs, tables, charts, kanban boards, forms, and automation. The free version is ideal for individuals or teams that want to test whether Coda suits the whole team.
The Pro plan is $10 per month and is ideal for small businesses or individuals who need advanced features. This plan includes a 30-day version history, hidden pages, custom domains, brandings, icons, and AI credits as well.
If you want unlimited automation, version history, and AI credits, you need to go for the Team plan, which is $30 per month. This plan is great for small and bigger teams as well. Using Coda’s Team plan, you will access the folder access, which can be crucial for teams.
Lastly, Coda offers an Enterprise plan for large businesses. It is $60 per month, and you will have access to advanced security features and a dedicated customer success manager.
My experience with Coda
Coda was a surprise to me, especially its project management features. Its ease of use, wide range of display options, and customization possibilities make Coda a perfect choice.
Coda has many templates for specific use cases, so you can speed up the document creation process. Also, I appreciated that it has powerful note-taking capabilities.
During my Coda.io review, I discovered that we can mention Coda on the same page as Notion. More likely, this is the app that has similar extensive features to become an all-in-one app.
I had only two issues with Coda.
First, it does not have a desktop app that you can access even without an internet connection. Secondly, the Enterprise plan is quite pricey.
Overall, my experience with Coda was 10/10, and I highly recommend it to individuals and small teams.
Coda’s pros and cons
Let’s summarize the pros and cons I found during my Coda.io review!
Coda’s pros
Coda has solid project management features that you can customize in detail. I particularly loved how many view options it has and how easy it is to change between them.
Furthermore, Coda is an ideal tool for note-taking. It uses building blocks for your notes, and you can easily move them around.
Moreover, Coda AI is a useful addition that saves you time when creating documents, projects, and notes.
Finally, Coda has a generous free plan that is ideal for individuals.
Coda’s cons
My biggest issue is that Coda does not have a desktop app. So, you always need to have internet access when using Coda.
Additionally, the Enterprise plan is pricey compared to other tools.
Coda alternatives
Here are some alternatives to Coda if you are not completely sure whether this is the right tool for you:
- Notion: An all-in-one app for note-taking, data management, and limited project management.
- Taskade: An AI-powered workflow and lightweight project management app.
- Xtiles: An easy-to-use note-taking app with visual boards.
- Obsidian: A massive note-taking app with fantastic graph view.
- ClickUp: An easy-to-use AI-powered project management software.
- Wrike: A more robust project management software with advanced features.
- Monday.com: An online collaboration and work-management app.
Wrap-up: Coda.io review
After the features I tried during my Coda.io review, it was easy to conclude that this is a great productivity app. Thanks to its project management and collaboration features, Coda is an ideal tool for small teams as well as individuals.
Overall, if the lack of a desktop app is not a deal-breaker for you, I highly recommend Coda.
Frequently asked questions
Is Coda.io reliable?
Coda is a reliable app, and it uses daily backups, cross-regional backups, and recovery procedures for restoring data if needed.
Is Coda.io safe to use?
During my Coda.io review, I checked their safety policies. When it comes to the safety of their infrastructure, Coda utilizes AWS security best practices. Also, Coda logs audit events and monitors all infrastructure layers for security threats.
Is Coda.io better than Notion?
Coda is better than Notion in terms of project management and automation features. You have more customization options when managing your projects, tasks, documents, and workflows if using Coda. If we consider note-taking, I think it’s a draw, as they have very similar features.
Is Coda a document management solution as well?
Coda is an ideal document management tool. You can let your team members either view, play, or edit the document.
Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read the full privacy policy here.
Hey there! I am Aron, the founder of Thebusinessdive. I created Thebusinessdive to help you elevate your productivity to the next level. It is a place where you find the best tools, ideas, and tips to supercharge your productivity and performance. Subscribe to my YouTube channel to hear more about the best productivity tools. Let’s dive in!
