Kortex
AI-powered second brain for writers and creators, transitioning to Eden
Kortex is a smart, AI-powered writing companion for solo creators who want a focused second brain. The free tier is generous for basic note-taking, but the 15 AI requests per month is tight. The transition to Eden is a real red flag for new buyers—if you're comfortable betting on that shift, it's worth a try, but otherwise, wait for Eden or consider alternatives like Mem or Reflect.
Verified 9h ago · liveness 64/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/kortex
- Minimalist writers and bloggers who want a distraction-free writing environment with AI help.
- Content creators who need to draft social posts, scripts, or articles from saved ideas.
- Note-takers building a second brain with interconnected notes and highlights.
- Students who want to create study plans from notes and YouTube videos.
- Teams needing advanced collaboration—member limits are capped (1 on Free, 10 on Kore, 100 on Premium).
- Heavy AI users on the free plan—only 15 requests per month.
- Users who need large file uploads—limited to 5MB on Free, 1GB on Premium.
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Skip Kortex if you need mature team collaboration (member caps are 1-100), heavy AI use on the free plan (only 15 requests), large file uploads (>5MB on Free), or if you're risk-averse about the transition to Eden.
The free plan only includes 15 Kortex AI requests per month, so if you rely on kAI regularly, you'll need to upgrade to Kore at $10/seat/month (annual).
For solo creators and writers, Kortex's free tier offers a generous amount of storage and unlimited notes, but the AI request limit (15/mo) pushes you to the $10/mo Kore plan if you want regular AI help. Compared to Mem ($10/mo) and Reflect ($10/mo), Kore is competitive, but Premium at $17.50/mo is pricier for just 500 premium model requests. If you only need basic AI, Kore is the sweet spot; for heavy AI use, consider other tools or wait for Eden's pricing.
In short
Kortex — AI-powered second brain for writers and creators, transitioning to Eden. Best for Minimalist writers and bloggers who want a distraction-free writing environment with AI help., Content creators who need to draft social posts, scripts, or articles from saved ideas., Note-takers building a second brain with interconnected notes and highlights.. Free to start; paid plans from $17.5021/mo.
What's new in Kortex
Checked todayAcross the latest 4 updates: 2 feature updates, 1 launch and 1 pricing change.
Kortex To Eden: Everything You Need To Know
Kortex is being renamed to Eden; guide explains changes and workspace transfer.
Kortex AI V2
Kortex AI V2 released, described as the most powerful release to date.
Kortex AI V1 Changes, capabilities, and use cases
Details on Kortex AI V1: capabilities and use cases documented.
Next Releases & Price Increase
Upcoming features kAI, offline mode, mobile, chats announced; price increase coming.
What people actually say about Kortex — 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.
41 mentions across 2 sources (Hacker News, App Store) · researched Jul 3, 2026.
- +AI assistant (kAI) can summarize, research, and create study plans from various sources.
- +Interconnected writing surfaces related ideas from notes and highlights in real time.
- +Kortex Elements offer templates and outlines to guide writing projects.
- +Advanced search by tags, related words, and contents across captures and highlights.
- +Markdown export and Readwise integration support data portability and external highlights.
- −Mobile app is buggy, crashes often, and lacks basic scrolling and navigation.
- −Does not save reading position when switching apps on mobile.
- −No chapter selection on mobile; must exit book fully or type page numbers.
- −Freezes every few minutes on MacBook Air requiring restart.
- −Customer support is slow and only via email.
- • No pricing details found; free plan likely lacks premium AI models and voice transcription as hinted by 'limited on free plan'.
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is Kortex? 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: August 2026
How we score →Key Features
- AI assistant (kAI) with 25+ prebuilt workflows for content creation, marketing, learning, planning
- Chat with your second brain for summaries, advice, research, study plans from YouTube, highlights
- Use documents as context for AI chats
- Multiple AI models: Gemini 2.0/2.5 Flash, Llama 4 Scout (base); premium models on Premium plan
- Tab-to-synthesize: capture ideas to notes and toggle kAI to expand chat into notes
- Interconnected writing with idea surfacing (related documents, captures, elements, highlights)
- Pane navigation for side-by-side reference while writing
- Focus mode for distraction-free writing
- Advanced search by tags, related words, document contents, captures, elements, highlights
- Highlight library from PDFs, books, tweets, articles; searchable
- Readwise integration for highlight import and auto sync
- Markdown export for data portability
- Document sharing and duplication across workspaces
- Voice transcription (limits by plan)
- Web and desktop apps
About Kortex
Kortex is an AI-powered second brain workspace for writers, note-takers, and content creators who want to capture ideas, connect them, and turn them into finished content without the chaos of scattered apps. The tool combines a distraction-free text editor with an interconnected knowledge base: you can save documents, captures, and highlights, then have them surface related ideas as you write, which helps eliminate writer's block. Its built-in AI assistant, kAI, can summarize, research, advise, and create study plans from your notes, highlights, and YouTube videos, and you can use your documents as context for AI chats. Kortex also offers 25+ prebuilt AI workflows for content creation, marketing, learning, and planning, plus multi-model support including Gemini 2.0/2.5 Flash and Llama 4 Scout on paid plans. Kortex is designed for minimalist workflows—capture and create—and avoids feature bloat. You can capture an idea to a specific note, toggle kAI with the Tab key to synthesize chat into fleshed-out notes, and use pane navigation to reference documents side-by-side while writing. Focus mode provides a clean, distraction-free environment. For organizing knowledge, Kortex offers advanced search by tags, related words, document contents, captures, and highlights, so you can find long-lost ideas without knowing exactly what to search for. You can also export your files or workspaces as markdown to avoid being locked in, and share individual documents or templates with others. The tool supports highlights from PDFs, books, tweets, and articles in a searchable library view, with Readwise integration available for seamless import. Native Kindle highlights, web clipper, and audio highlighter are planned. Kortex offers web and desktop apps, and voice transcription is available (limited on the free plan). Important: Kortex is transitioning to Eden, a new venture that will bring over the best parts of Kortex while adding features like auto-tagging of any file or link, search to the exact video frame, and spatial AI canvas. If you're a current Kortex user, you can sign into Eden and continue. New buyers should consider whether they're comfortable betting on that shift—otherwise, waiting for Eden or considering alternatives like Mem or Reflect may be safer.
Behind the Verdict
Kortex shines in its minimalist approach to the second brain concept. Unlike Notion or Obsidian, which can feel overwhelming with plugins and configuration, Kortex strips away the noise and focuses on two things: capturing ideas and turning them into content. The pane navigation lets you reference your notes, highlights, and captures side-by-side while you write, and the Tab-to-synthesize feature feels natural — you toggle kAI, have a chat, and press Tab to turn that conversation into a fleshed-out note. That workflow is genuinely faster than copying and pasting between apps. The advanced search is a standout: you can search by tags, related words, document contents, captures, elements, and highlights. That means you can find a long-lost idea even if you don't remember the exact phrase — you just search for something related and it surfaces. For writers who accumulate hundreds of highlights and notes, this is a killer feature. However, the elephant in the room is the transition to Eden. Kortex announced it's becoming Eden, a new product with a different focus — spatial AI canvas, auto-tagging of any file or link, and frame-level video search. While the company says all the best parts of Kortex are being brought over, the future of the current product is uncertain. If you buy Kortex today, you're essentially betting that Eden will be a smooth upgrade. That's a real risk for a tool that's supposed to hold your entire knowledge base. On the pricing side, the free tier is generous for basic note-taking: unlimited documents, captures, and sources, but only 15 AI requests per month. If you plan to use kAI regularly, you'll need the Kore plan at $10/seat/month (annual), which gives you unlimited base model requests. The Premium plan at $17.50/seat/month adds premium models (500 requests/month) and unlimited voice transcriptions. For a solo creator, that's competitive with tools like Mem or Reflect, though both of those have more mature team features. Where Kortex falls short is collaboration. Even on Premium, member limits are 100 (coming soon), and workspaces are capped at 10. If you're a team of 20+, you'll quickly hit those walls. Also, offline mode and file transcription are listed as 'coming soon', so don't rely on them today. Overall, if you're a solo writer or creator who wants a focused, AI-assisted second brain, Kortex is a solid choice today. But given the Eden transition, I'd recommend waiting for Eden's launch or trying a free trial first to see if the workflow fits before committing your entire knowledge base.
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Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas Kortex actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
Capture ideas as standalone notes throughout the week, then use kAI to synthesize them into a draft outline, referencing past highlights and documents in the pane.
Outcome: You produce a well-structured newsletter draft in under an hour, with related ideas surfaced automatically, reducing writer's block.
Import YouTube lectures and notes, then ask kAI to create a study plan and summaries, using your documents as context.
Outcome: You get a personalized study schedule and condensed notes, saving hours of manual review.
Use Kortex Elements to build templates for posts, then use kAI to generate variations from your saved ideas, and export as markdown for scheduling.
Outcome: You maintain a consistent posting schedule with on-brand content, leveraging your knowledge base for fresh ideas.
Use Cases
- Capture fleeting ideas as standalone notes and later synthesize them into full articles using kAI.
- Import highlights from Readwise and search across all your knowledge in one place.
- Use Kortex Elements to create templates for consistent social media posts or video scripts.
- Chat with kAI to get study plans or summaries from YouTube videos and notes.
- Export your entire workspace as markdown to migrate to another tool at any time.
Models Under the Hood
as of 2026-08-21
Limitations
- The Free plan includes 15 Kortex AI requests per month with base models only, 5 MB file uploads, 5 GB storage, and 5 voice transcriptions per month.
- The Kore plan offers unlimited Kortex AI requests with base models, including unlimited Gemini 2.0/2.5 Flash and Llama 4 Scout requests, with more models coming soon.
- The Premium plan adds premium models (500 requests/month) and unlimited voice transcriptions.
- Kortex is transitioning to Eden, which may affect features and workspace.
- Offline mode, file transcription, and some team features are listed as 'coming soon' and are not yet available.
as of 2026-08-24
Verification history
We have re-verified Kortex 6 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.
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
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.
Plans compared
For each published Kortex tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Free
$0/mo
Ideal for
Solo note-takers and writers who want unlimited notes and basic AI features without paying; ideal for trying out Kortex's core writing and knowledge management.
What this tier adds
Starting free tier with unlimited documents and captures, but only 15 AI requests/month, 5MB uploads, and 5 voice transcriptions.
Kore
$10/seat/mo (annual) or $14/mo
Ideal for
Individual creators who need more AI assistance and storage but don't require premium models or unlimited voice transcription; best value for most solo users.
What this tier adds
Adds unlimited base model AI requests (Gemini 2.0/2.5 Flash, Llama 4 Scout), 50MB uploads, 250 voice transcriptions, and Readwise auto sync.
Premium
$17.50/seat/mo (annual) or $21/mo
Ideal for
Power users who rely on Kortex as their primary AI writing companion, needing premium models, unlimited voice transcription, and early access to new features.
What this tier adds
Adds premium models (500 requests/month), 1GB uploads, unlimited voice transcriptions, private community, and first access to new features.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where Kortex's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
For solo creators and writers, Kortex's free tier offers a generous amount of storage and unlimited notes, but the AI request limit (15/mo) pushes you to the $10/mo Kore plan if you want regular AI help. Compared to Mem ($10/mo) and Reflect ($10/mo), Kore is competitive, but Premium at $17.50/mo is pricier for just 500 premium model requests. If you only need basic AI, Kore is the sweet spot; for heavy AI use, consider other tools or wait for Eden's pricing.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of Kortex — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Within 5 minutes you can sign up, create a workspace, and start capturing notes. Importing Readwise highlights takes about 10 minutes to connect and sync. You can begin using kAI immediately; learning the Tab-to-synthesize and pane navigation takes about 30 minutes to feel natural. Overall, expect to be productive on your first day.
Switching to or from Kortex
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 your notes as markdown and import them into Kortex to centralize your knowledge.
- ↗To Obsidian: Export your Kortex workspace as markdown and import it into Obsidian's vault structure.
Integrations
Resources & Guides
Tutorials & Learning
Official links
Tools that pair well with Kortex
Common stack mates teams adopt alongside Kortex, with the specific reason each pairing earns its keep.
Featured Head-to-Head Comparisons
Kortex vs Letterhead
Choose Kortex if you're a solo creator who wants an AI-powered second brain for writing and knowledge management. Choose Letterhead if you're a team scaling multi-newsletter operations with advanced automation and analytics. They serve fundamentally different needs, so pick based on your primary workflow.
Kortex vs Gem
Gem and Kortex serve fundamentally different needs: Gem is a B2B recruiting platform for talent teams to source, screen, and hire efficiently with AI agents, while Kortex is a personal productivity tool for writers and creators to capture ideas and generate content. Buyers should choose based on their primary workflow—recruiting vs. personal knowledge management. Gem's recent GeMCP preview and AI fraud detection show heavy investment in recruitment-specific AI; Kortex's transition to Eden and price increase signal a pivot, making it less stable for long-term use.
Kortex vs Poke Interaction Co
Kortex is for deep writing and knowledge management, while Poke is for automating life via messaging. Choose Kortex if you need a distraction-free workspace to turn highlights into content. Choose Poke if you want an AI that manages your email, calendar, and health data from your chat app.
Alternatives to Kortex
View all
Reflect AI
Open-source, markdown-first, AI-native note-taking with end-to-end encryption
Notability
AI-powered note-taking that turns handwriting, audio, and PDFs into study materials and summaries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Best-of guides
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