Freedom251 › Personal Knowledge Management Software
Heptabase
What Heptabase is
Heptabase is a visual knowledge base for students, researchers, and lifelong learners. Whiteboards and cards help users work through ideas, while a block-based editor, bidirectional links, PDF annotation, daily journals, and a web clipper provide ways to organize material. Its AI can explain sources, take notes, and organize a knowledge base using PDFs, YouTube, notes, and journals. Readwise and Zotero are listed as integrations.
The free plan is available through collaboration, letting users edit shared whiteboards and cards; it excludes journals, personal libraries, tag databases, tasks, highlights, and AI features. Heptabase supports web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. The desktop app stores data locally for offline use, and the site says notes and files remain accessible without an internet connection. For AWS cloud storage, Heptabase says data is encrypted in transit and at rest, but clarifies that this is not end-to-end encryption. After a subscription or trial ends, users can access and export content indefinitely, but must renew to create or edit notes. A seven-day trial is listed.
Who it suits
Heptabase suits students, researchers, and lifelong learners who organize material visually. Its collaboration-based free plan may suit people who only need to edit shared boards and cards.
What it does well
- Whiteboards and cards support visual organization.
- AI can explain sources and organize knowledge.
- Desktop data is available offline.
- Supports six listed operating systems and web.
- Content remains accessible and exportable after a subscription ends.
What to know first
- Free plan excludes AI features.
- Free plan excludes personal libraries and journals.
- Cloud storage is not end-to-end encrypted.
- Renewal is required to create or edit notes after a trial or subscription.
Limits
The free collaborative plan is limited to editing shared whiteboards and cards; journals, personal libraries, tag databases, tasks, highlights, and AI features are excluded. After a subscription or trial ends, content remains accessible and exportable, but creating or editing notes requires renewal.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Premium | Yearly (Save 25%) · Everything in Pro · Unlimited PDF uploads and parsing (OCR) · Unlimited Q&A with basic AI models · AI agent (GPT, Claude, Gemini) · AI tutor · 1,800 AI credits/month | $17.99 a month |
| Premium+ | Yearly (Save 25%) · Everything in Premium · 33% discount for AI credits · 8,100 AI credits/month | $53.99 a month |
| Pro | Yearly (Save 25%) · Unlimited notes, whiteboards, tags, image uploads, and collaborator invites · 100 AI credits/month · AI agent (Gemini models only) | $8.99 a month |
As heptabase.com lists them, read 3 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Getting started
- Open https://heptabase.com/
- Use the free collaborative plan or start the seven-day trial
- Choose web, desktop, mobile, or Chrome extension access
- Invite collaborators to edit shared whiteboards and cards
- Select a paid plan when you need excluded tools or AI features
Verdict
Heptabase combines visual knowledge tools with source-based AI and offline desktop access. Review the free-plan exclusions and the limits on editing after a trial or subscription ends.
Questions
Is there a free plan?
Yes. The free plan is available through collaboration and supports editing shared whiteboards and cards.
How much do paid plans cost?
Annual billing starts at $8.99/user/mo. Monthly plans listed are Pro at 11.99 USD, Premium at 23.99 USD, and Premium+ at 71.99 USD.
Which platforms are supported?
Heptabase supports web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and a Chrome extension.
Does it work offline?
Yes. The desktop app stores data locally, and notes and files are accessible without an internet connection.
What integrations are available?
Listed integrations are Readwise and Zotero.
Is there a trial?
Yes. A seven-day trial is available.
Facts from Heptabase's own pages
- After subscription
- After a subscription or trial ends, users can access and export their content indefinitely but must renew to create or edit notes. · support.heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- API and agent access
- Heptabase says it has no public REST API covering all app operations and supports integrations through MCP or its desktop-app CLI. · support.heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Company
- The site footer identifies the company as Hepta Platforms, Inc. · heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Free plan
- Yes · heptabase.com, 20 Sept 2026
- Free plan limits
- The free plan is available through collaboration; it supports editing shared whiteboards and cards but excludes journals, personal libraries, tag databases, tasks, highlights, and AI features. · support.heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Free trial
- Eligible users can try the regular subscription plan with a 7-day free trial. · support.heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The site shows Readwise and Zotero integrations; its help center says Zotero sync is one-way, manually initiated, and skips attachments over 100 MB. · support.heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Knowledge tools
- The site lists a block-based editor, bidirectional links, PDF annotation, daily journals, and a web clipper. · heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Note sharing
- Yes · heptabase.com, 20 Sept 2026
- Offline access
- Yes · heptabase.com, 20 Sept 2026
- Offline use
- The desktop app stores data locally for offline use, and the website says notes and files are accessible without an internet connection. · support.heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Supported platforms
- web,windows,macos,linux,ios,android,chrome_extension · heptabase.com, 20 Sept 2026
- Product
- Heptabase describes itself as an intelligent, visual knowledge base for students, researchers, and lifelong learners. · heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Real-time collaboration
- Yes · heptabase.com, 20 Sept 2026
- Research and AI
- Its AI can explain sources, take notes, and organize a knowledge base; the site names PDFs, YouTube, notes, and journals as source types. · heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Security
- For the AWS cloud storage described in its help article, Heptabase says data is encrypted in transit and at rest, with AWS server-side AES-256 encryption and SSL/TLS transfers; it clarifies this is not end-to-end encryption. · support.heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Paid from
- 8.99 · heptabase.com, 20 Sept 2026
- Support
- Support is available in-app or by email, and the team says it aims to reply within 24 hours during its Monday-to-Friday working hours. · support.heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
- Visual thinking
- Whiteboards and cards are designed to help users clarify their thinking. · heptabase.com, 3 Oct 2026
Where Heptabase stands on Freedom251
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