Heptabase is live · pricing from $8.99/mo billed annually · last verified 6 Nov 2026 · viability healthy
Heptabase
Heptabase is a visual knowledge base where an AI Tutor turns your PDFs and YouTube videos into guided study courses.
Heptabase earns its place when the job is understanding, not filing. The AI Tutor turning your PDFs and YouTube lectures into a numbered, interactive syllabus is a real departure from chatting at a document, and whiteboards plus bi-directional links make synthesis spatial instead of linear. The catch is pricing shape: the Tutor, GPT/Claude model choice, and unlimited PDF parsing all require Premium at $17.99/mo billed yearly — Pro at $8.99/mo is a Gemini-only agent with 100 credits.
Verdict generatedVerified 8d ago · liveness 81/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/heptabase
- Students working through dense primary sources in philosophy, history, or the sciences
- Researchers synthesizing many PDFs, YouTube lectures, and notes into one connected space
- Lifelong learners who want syllabus-driven, interactive study rather than passive capture
- Academics who need PDF annotation and Zotero alongside AI-assisted review
- Teams needing shared workspaces with roles and permissions — collaboration here is invite-based
- Anyone requiring open-source or self-hosted software — Heptabase is proprietary and subscription-based
- Quick-capture users who want minimal friction and no whiteboard overhead
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Skip Heptabase if you want a flexible all-in-one workspace database like Notion rather than an opinionated whiteboard-plus-study method, or if you only need the AI Tutor on a sub-$10 budget — it requires Premium at $17.99/mo billed yearly.
AI runs on credits, and Pro at $8.99/mo billed yearly caps you at 100 a month — heavy tutoring sessions will exhaust that and push you to Premium at $17.99/mo billed yearly.
Three paid tiers with a wide spread: Pro at $8.99/mo billed yearly suits a single learner with light AI use, Premium at $17.99/mo billed yearly is the realistic entry point because it unlocks the AI Tutor and GPT/Claude, and Premium+ at $53.99/mo billed yearly only makes sense if you genuinely burn thousands of AI credits. Compared with a general workspace like Notion, you pay a premium for the study method; compared with free local-first tools like Obsidian, you pay for the AI Tutor and hosted
In short
Heptabase — Heptabase is a visual knowledge base where an AI Tutor turns your PDFs and YouTube videos into guided study courses. Best for Students working through dense primary sources in philosophy, history, or the sciences, Researchers synthesizing many PDFs, YouTube lectures, and notes into one connected space, Lifelong learners who want syllabus-driven, interactive study rather than passive capture. Plans from $8.99/mo billed annually.
No head-to-head comparison for Heptabase yet — the alternatives below are the closest matches we list.
What is Heptabase?
Heptabase — Heptabase is a visual knowledge base where an AI Tutor turns your PDFs and YouTube videos into guided study courses. Best for Students working through dense primary sources in philosophy, history, or the sciences, Researchers synthesizing many PDFs, YouTube lectures, and notes into one connected space, Lifelong learners who want syllabus-driven, interactive study rather than passive capture. Plans from $8.99/mo billed annually.
Heptabase is a visual knowledge base for students, researchers, and lifelong learners who want to understand hard material, not just store it. Everything lives on whiteboards: you write atomic ideas as cards, link them bi-directionally, and keep PDFs, highlights, YouTube transcripts, journals, and your own notes in one connected space. The supporting tooling is fuller than most note apps — a block-based editor, PDF annotation, a web clipper, daily journals, Readwise and Zotero integrations, search across 10,000+ notes in under a second, full offline access, mobile apps with voice notes, and native Mac (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows, and Linux desktop apps. Ask AI to explain any sources, take notes, and organize your knowledge base for you. The AI Tutor builds a course syllabus from imported PDFs, YouTube transcripts, notes, and journals, then walks you through each part interactively and checks comprehension along the way. A separate AI agent answers questions across your sources, and the Heptabase CLI plugs into coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex so your knowledge base is queryable from a terminal. The buying decision centers on Premium: unlimited PDF parsing (OCR), GPT/Claude/Gemini model choice, the AI Tutor, and 1,800 AI credits a month all sit there at $17.99/mo billed yearly. Pro at $8.99/mo is the cheaper entry with a Gemini-only agent and 100 credits; Premium+ at $53.99/mo scales to 8,100 credits with a 33% credit discount. A 7-day trial is available. Against Notion or Obsidian, Heptabase trades database flexibility for an opinionated learning method — spatial synthesis instead of endless nested pages. That bet is the reason to choose it, not a compromise to work around.
Key features
- AI Tutor builds a course syllabus with topics, lessons, and numbered parts from your imported sources
- Guided interactive lessons with progress tracking, e.g. 0/4 lesson parts completed
- AI agent answers questions across PDFs, YouTube transcripts, notes, and journals with source citations
- GPT, Claude, and Gemini model choice for the AI agent on Premium
- Unlimited PDF parsing (OCR) on Premium
- Whiteboard-and-card canvas for spatial organization of ideas
- Block-based editor with bi-directional links
- PDF annotation and highlighting
- YouTube transcript import and source extraction
- Zotero reference management integration
- Readwise integration for highlights
- Daily journals for periodic note-taking
- Web clipper for saving web content as cards
- Search over 10,000 notes in less than a second
- Offline access to all notes and files without an internet connection
Behind the verdict
Pick Heptabase when you're working through dense primary sources and want to come out the other side actually understanding them. Philosophy, history, methodology papers, Y Combinator lectures — the workflow of importing the source, annotating it, and then building a whiteboard argument from atomic cards is what the app is designed around, and it shows. The AI Tutor is the reason to pay for Premium rather than Pro. Pro's $8.99/mo billed yearly gets you the same unlimited notes and whiteboards, but the agent is Gemini-only and capped at 100 credits; Premium is where you get GPT and Claude as options, unlimited PDF parsing (OCR), the Tutor itself, and 1,800 credits a month. If you're serious about coursework, Pro is a test drive, not a destination. Premium+ exists for one kind of user: someone burning through credits. 8,100 credits at $53.99/mo with a 33% credit discount only makes sense if you're running the Tutor and agent constantly. Most people will not. Where it bites: real-time collaboration is invite-based and free, which is generous, but there are no roles or permission layers — this is not a team workspace tool, and you shouldn't try to make it one. Anyone who needs open-source or self-hosting has to look elsewhere; Heptabase is proprietary and subscription-based. And if your capture habit is quick snippets with no whiteboard overhead, the method here is heavier than you need. Compared with Notion, you're giving up databases and flexible property systems for a fixed learning method. Compared with Obsidian, you're giving up the plugin ecosystem and local-first file ownership for a polished, opinionated app with AI baked into the study loop. Neither is a downgrade — it's a trade of flexibility for structure. Use the 7-day trial to test one real source end to end: import a
Models under the hood
as of 2026-11-08
Limitations
- AI usage is metered in credits: Pro includes 100 AI credits/month, Premium 1,800, and Premium+ 8,100 (Premium+ also takes 33% off additional credits).
- Model choice is tied to your plan — Pro at $8.99/mo billed yearly allows Gemini models only, while GPT, Claude, and Gemini are available at Premium ($17.99/mo billed yearly) and above.
- The AI Tutor is available only on Premium and Premium+, not on Pro.
as of 2026-10-18
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Is Heptabase still active?
Heptabase is live · pricing from $8.99/mo billed annually · last verified 6 Nov 2026 · viability healthy.
Viability score
How well maintained and how widely used is Heptabase? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: November 2026
How we score →What do users say about Heptabase?
What people actually say about Heptabase — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
Researched33 mentions across 4 sources (Hacker News, YouTube, Product Hunt, App Store), 19 more we could not attribute · researched Oct 15, 2026.
Weighted by the 52 posts each of 4 sources contributed.
- +Whiteboard-plus-cards canvas is repeatedly called the best spatial PKM experience available
- +Daily journal + card linking praised for bridging current thoughts to past notes
- +Fast, frequent product updates shipped by an unusually responsive dev team
- +PDF annotation and multipage Q&A on desktop are strong enough to replace dedicated readers
- +Syncs smoothly across Mac, Windows, Linux desktop and mobile in day-to-day use
- −Pricing is steep versus free competitors like Obsidian and Logseq, and users say so bluntly
- −iPad app can't drag or reorder cards, and lacks kanban and tables entirely
- −Several iOS users report signup and login are broken, blocking access completely
- −AI features are new with zero real community feedback; credit limits unproven at scale
- −Visually less polished than Scrintal according to some reviewers; styling divides opinion
- • AI credit overages require extra purchases beyond the monthly allowance
- • No lifetime license option despite requests from long-term users
- • Pro tier locks you into Gemini only — no model choice until you pay for Premium
How we verified this
Every listed fact about Heptabase — pricing, features, links, status — is re-read from the vendor's own pages by our verification pipeline and each change is logged with a date; the last pass ran on 6 Nov 2026. Analysis is drafted with AI models and checked against our editorial standards before publishing; see how we verify.
Verification history
We have re-verified Heptabase 24 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — changed limitations, pricing page
- — changed our verdict, pricing tiers, pricing model, features, description, summary
- — changed who should skip it, switching in, who it suits, switching out, pricing tiers, summary, our verdict, use cases, features, setup time, hidden costs, description, pricing fit, limitations
- — changed who should skip it, who it suits, description, summary, pricing tiers, features, our verdict
- — changed pricing page
- — changed SSL certificate
Showing the 6 most recent of 24 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
How much does Heptabase cost in 2026?
Heptabase: Plans from $8.99/mo billed annually. Pricing last verified 6 Nov 2026.
Plans compared
Every published Heptabase tier, its price as the vendor publishes it, who it fits, and what it adds over the tier below. The 12-month cost projection follows.
| Plan | Price | Billing | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | $8.99/mo billed annuallyVendor: “$8.99/mo billed yearly” | monthly, billed annually | Solo learners who mainly organize and annotate notes and use AI lightly — not exam drilling.Adds: Adds unlimited notes, whiteboards, and tags, unlimited image uploads, free collaborator invites, PDF highlights, YouTube transcripts, and the Gemini-only AI agent with 100 credits/month. |
| Premium | $17.99/mo billed annuallyVendor: “$17.99/mo billed yearly” | monthly, billed annually | Students and researchers who want the AI Tutor and GPT/Claude alongside Gemini for serious study sessions.Adds: Adds the AI Tutor, GPT and Claude model choice, unlimited PDF uploads, unlimited OCR parsing, unlimited Q&A with basic models, and 1,800 AI credits/month. |
| Premium+ | $53.99/mo billed annuallyVendor: “$53.99/mo billed yearly” | monthly, billed annually | Power users running heavy daily AI study sessions who would otherwise buy large volumes of extra credits.Adds: Adds 8,100 AI credits/month and a 33% discount on additional credit purchases. |
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Heptabase's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Three paid tiers with a wide spread: Pro at $8.99/mo billed yearly suits a single learner with light AI use, Premium at $17.99/mo billed yearly is the realistic entry point because it unlocks the AI Tutor and GPT/Claude, and Premium+ at $53.99/mo billed yearly only makes sense if you genuinely burn thousands of AI credits. Compared with a general workspace like Notion, you pay a premium for the study method; compared with free local-first tools like Obsidian, you pay for the AI Tutor and hosted
Has Heptabase's pricing changed?
No plan price for Heptabase has moved since we began logging in Aug 2026; the pricing page is re-read on every verification pass.
Who should pick Heptabase?
Pick Heptabase if you are Students working through dense primary sources in philosophy, history, or the sciences, Researchers synthesizing many PDFs, YouTube lectures, and notes into one connected space, Lifelong learners who want syllabus-driven, interactive study rather than passive capture, Academics who need PDF annotation and Zotero alongside AI-assisted review.
Look elsewhere if you are Teams needing shared workspaces with roles and permissions — collaboration here is invite-based, Anyone requiring open-source or self-hosted software — Heptabase is proprietary and subscription-based, Quick-capture users who want minimal friction and no whiteboard overhead, Budget buyers who need the AI Tutor, which requires Premium at $17.99/mo billed yearly.
Skip it if Skip Heptabase if you want a flexible all-in-one workspace database like Notion rather than an opinionated whiteboard-plus-study method, or if you only need the AI Tutor on a sub-$10 budget — it requires Premium at $17.99/mo billed yearly.
GeneratedReal-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Heptabase actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
Imports the primary texts as PDFs, lets the AI Tutor build a syllabus from the Pre-Socratics to Aristotle, and works through the numbered lesson parts each evening.
Outcome: Arrives at seminar with a tracked record of which parts are done (e.g. 0/4 completed) and citation-backed answers to the passages that confused them.
Clips papers into cards via the web clipper, syncs highlights from Readwise and references from Zotero, and arranges the cards spatially by argument on a whiteboard.
Outcome: Sees the structure of the field before drafting, and can query the AI agent across every imported PDF for a citation to the source page.
Runs the Heptabase CLI from Claude Code or Codex to pull research documentation and notes into an agentic coding session.
Outcome: Keeps a single knowledge base as the source of truth while the coding agent queries it, instead of copying notes into prompts by hand.
Use cases
- Turn a textbook plus your lecture transcripts into an AI Tutor syllabus and drill the numbered lesson parts before an exam.
- Build a literature review by clipping cards from dozens of papers and arranging them spatially by argument on a whiteboard.
- Annotate a stack of PDFs and ask the AI agent questions across all of them with answers cited to the source page.
- Self-teach a dense subject like Western philosophy from the Pre-Socratics to Aristotle on an AI-generated course.
- Draft a long essay by writing atomic idea cards, linking them, and laying them out before you write prose.
- Query your research notes from the terminal by running the Heptabase CLI inside a Claude Code or Codex workflow.
- Keep a daily journal that feeds the AI agent, so questions can draw on your own reflections alongside sources.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Heptabase — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Individual learner: an account and first whiteboard in minutes, with the 7-day trial covering the paid features; expect an hour or two before the card-and-whiteboard method feels natural. Student preparing for an exam: a day to import PDFs and transcripts and generate a Tutor syllabus. Team: minutes to invite collaborators, since invitations are free, but no roles or permissions to configure.
Switching to or from Heptabase
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From Notion: export pages to Markdown, then rebuild arguments as cards on whiteboards rather than nested pages.
- →From Obsidian: import Markdown notes as cards and use bi-directional links to reconstruct the graph on whiteboards.
- →From Readwise: connect the Readwise integration so existing highlights flow into Heptabase instead of being re-typed.
- →From Zotero: link Zotero references so PDF annotations and citations live beside your notes.
- ↗To Notion: export notes as Markdown and rebuild whiteboard arrangements as nested pages or databases.
- ↗To Obsidian: export Markdown notes into a local vault and recreate whiteboard groupings as a graph view.
- ↗To plain files: download notes and files before cancelling, since offline access is in-app rather than a local folder.
Integrations
Resources & guides
Tutorials & Learning
YouTube returned 6 videos for “Heptabase”, and we withheld 6: 6 could not be judged, because “Heptabase” is a single word that other videos use for other things. We are showing none, because we could not prove any of them are about Heptabase.
Official links
What are the best Heptabase alternatives?
The closest alternatives to Heptabase we list are Notion, Cerebro and Vetis. Ranked by direct product-type match, not category overlap.
| Alternative | Pricing | Starts at | Last verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notion | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
| Cerebro | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
| Vetis | Freemium | Pricing not published | — |
Alternatives to Heptabase
View all
Tools that pair well with Heptabase
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside Heptabase, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Notion
Notion is an AI workspace where docs, wikis, databases and autonomous agents share one system of record.
Cerebro
Cerebro turns saved YouTube videos, articles, and PDFs into a queryable AI knowledge base you ask in plain English.
Vetis
Vetis turns text, voice, and photo fragments into an AI-organized, searchable life archive on Android.
Frequently asked questions
Best-of guides
For makers of Heptabase
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