Invoice Hana Studio
kempt vs notion
Notion is a system you build. Kempt is how you finish.
Notion may be the best blank canvas in software: databases, saved views, a template for everything. Kempt skips the building and starts on the finishing.
Free forever. No account needed. Your files stay on your disk.
Choose Notion if
- You work with a team: comments, permissions, publishing. Kempt is single-player.
- You want relational databases, saved views, and forms.
- You enjoy designing your own system from a template gallery.
Choose Kempt if
- Your workspace is immaculate. Your plans still stall.
- One sentence becomes a dated task. No schema first.
- Plain files on your disk: offline, no account, free version history.
- AI you can audit: what it learns is Markdown in your vault.
One question decides it: coordinating, or finishing. If it is finishing, keep reading.
Side by side
The five differences that matter. The verdict above covers the rest.
| Kempt | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Data format | Plain Markdown files on your disk | Cloud database, no local files |
| Offline | Complete. Local app, no account | Per-page downloads, none on web |
| New task | A sentence becomes a dated task | Usually a database and properties first |
| AI | Optional. Memory is editable Markdown | Bundled into Business and up |
| Price | Free forever. Sync from $5/mo Beta | Free. Plus $10, Business $20/member/mo |
Compared against public Notion documentation, as of July 2026. Spot something outdated? Tell us.
PLAN IN ONE LINE
A sentence becomes a scheduled task.
Type "tomorrow submit the report p1" and it lands on Today, dated and prioritized. No schema to design, no properties to configure.
Today every area, one list
Each row is its own .md file. Check one here and status: done is written into that file, so Board, Calendar, and Timeline show it too.
ONE FILE, FIVE VIEWS
Check it off anywhere. It is done everywhere.
A task is one .md file on your disk. Complete it on the Board and it is done on Today, Calendar, Timeline, and the Project Map.
Tuesday, Jul 22 4 tasks
AddQ Overdue 1
Booth time for the festival P1 D+2 family
Today 1
Poster board for Mina family
Upcoming 2
Invoice Hana Studio P2 D-3 freelance
Ship launch notes D-6 side-project
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Ship launch notes
18
19
20
Poster board for Mina
21
22
Call the venue
23
24
25
Invoice Hana Studio
26
27
28
29
30
31
Aug 1
To do 21
Poster board for Mina
New task
In progress 2
Call the venue
Ship launch notes
New task
Done 01
Drag cards here
Invoice Hana Studio
New task
July
20 22 26 28 24
Call the venue
Invoice Hana Studio
Poster board for Mina
Ship launch notes
Area freelance
Goal
Grow freelance
Project Hana Studio
Invoice Hana Studio
To do Done P1 Jul 25
Call the venue
In progress
Project Studio rebrand
Draft the moodboard
To do Aug 3
TURN ON THE AI
What the AI learns is a note you can read.
It runs on your own Claude login and saves what it learns as Markdown in your vault. Read it, correct it, delete the wrong parts.
--- area: freelance learned: 2026-07-02 --- Hana Studio pays net-30. Draft the invoice on the 25th. You plan Mondays. You plan Sundays, execute Mondays. edited by you, saved.
edited by you · saved see the real file →
Moving your notes out of Notion
- 1
Export from Notion
Settings, Export, Markdown & CSV. The link expires in 7 days.
- 2
Point Kempt's AI at the export
Unzip it anywhere, open the folder in Kempt, and ask.
- 3
It files things where they belong
Tasks get dates and areas. Pages stay plain Markdown.
One ask, not an afternoon of pasting. And a Kempt vault is plain files, so there is no second lock-in.
Running Notion and Kempt together
Keep the team wiki and shared databases in Notion. Put your own plan in Kempt as plain files. Notion is where you coordinate, Kempt is where you finish.
Questions people actually search
Is Kempt a Notion replacement?
For a team, no. Notion's collaboration, databases, and web publishing have no Kempt equivalent, by design. For one person finishing their own work: notes, dated tasks, optional AI, one local app.
Can I move my Notion data into Kempt?
Mostly. Export as Markdown & CSV, then point Kempt's AI at the folder and it files tasks and notes where they belong. Database properties land in CSV, and Notion's own docs say an export cannot recreate a workspace.
Does Kempt have a mobile app?
Native iOS and Android apps are landing now, with the same encrypted vault in your pocket. Check tasks, scan the calendar, and read notes on the move. Dispatch follows, so your phone can hand work to the AI on your desktop.
Is Kempt free?
Everything local is free forever, automatic version history included. Notion meters history by plan, 7 to 90 days, unlimited only on Enterprise. The one paid piece is Kempt Sync (beta), end-to-end encrypted, from $5 a month.
Organizing was never the point. Finishing is.
A free, signed desktop app for Windows and macOS. Point it at a folder, type tomorrow's plan in one line, and see if the week ends differently.