Sprint Zero or Notion: pages without the platform
Sprint Zero started as a personal replacement for Notion. Not because Notion is bad. It is one of the most capable tools ever made for teams. It was simply more than one person’s notes and checklists needed, and it showed in small ways every day.
This is a fair comparison of the two, written by the people who make one of them. We will say plainly where Notion wins.
The short version
| Sprint Zero | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | One person | Teams and individuals |
| Built with | Native Swift | Web technology |
| Account | None | Required |
| Where notes live | On your devices | On Notion’s servers |
| Offline | Always | For pages made available offline |
| Task states | To do, working, blocked, snoozed | Whatever you design |
| Databases and views | No | Yes |
| Sharing and comments | No | Yes |
| Windows, Android, web | No | Yes |
| Price | One purchase | Free plan and subscriptions |
Details change, so check Notion’s own site for its current plans and features.
Where Sprint Zero is better
It opens and you type. Sprint Zero is a native Mac app with native text editing. There is no loading state between you and a page, and typing is never waiting on a network.
It works without a connection. Your pages are saved on your Mac and iPhone as you type. Notion added an offline mode in 2025, which helps, but it works page by page. In Sprint Zero there is nothing to prepare before you get on a train.
There is no account. You do not sign up, and your notes are not stored on our servers, because we do not have any. If you want your iPhone and Mac to match, sync runs through your own iCloud.
Tasks understand waiting. In Notion you can build a status property with a Blocked option. In Sprint Zero, blocked and snoozed are built in, and a task blocked until Thursday comes back by itself on Thursday. We wrote more about that in why work has at least four states.
Nothing to set up. A new page is an empty page. You do not choose a template or design a database before writing the first line.
Where Notion is better
Working with other people. Sprint Zero has no sharing, no comments and no team workspace. If more than one person needs to edit the same page, use Notion.
Structured information. Notion’s databases, with tables, boards, calendars and relations between them, have no equivalent in Sprint Zero. A CRM, a content calendar or a company wiki belongs in Notion.
Every platform. Notion runs on Windows, Android and the web. Sprint Zero runs on Mac and iPhone only.
Integrations. Notion connects to a long list of other services. Sprint Zero has one deliberate connection, a local link to Claude and Codex, and Markdown import and export.
Moving your notes across
You do not have to choose all at once. Copy a page in Notion, paste it into Sprint Zero, and the headings, lists, checkboxes and quotes arrive as proper blocks. You can also import Markdown files. Many people keep Notion for shared work and use Sprint Zero for their own.
Which should you pick?
Choose Notion if you work in a team, need databases, or use Windows or Android.
Choose Sprint Zero if the notes are yours alone, you live on a Mac and an iPhone, and you want something that opens instantly, works anywhere and keeps your pages on your own devices.