Notion alternatives without AI, and whether you can turn Notion's off

Type "notion alternative" into Google and watch what it offers to finish for you. On the day I wrote this, the second suggestion was "notion alternatives without ai". It came before "free". People would sooner lose the sparkle button than save money, which is the most honest piece of product feedback I have ever seen.

So this post answers the two questions hiding in that search. Can you simply turn Notion's AI off? And if not, which notes apps do not have any? For the first I read Notion's help centre. For the second I went through fourteen apps' own websites, plus my own, which gets an asterisk that I will print in full. Everything is linked and was checked on 8 October 2026, a date that matters more than usual here, as you will see when we get to Joplin.

🔌 Can you turn Notion AI off?

Partly. And it depends on what you pay, in the opposite direction from the one you would guess.

Notion's help centre describes two situations. On the Free and Plus plans: "You'll see the full sidebar layout, including the AI chat tab." Then a second one, labelled "AI turned off (Enterprise/Business)", in which "The AI chat tab will not appear."

So an off state exists, and the help centre mentions it for the two most expensive plans. I could not find a page describing one for Free or Plus. The off switch, in other words, looks like a premium feature. You pay more to get less, which in fairness is also how minimalist furniture works.

What a workspace owner can switch off, according to the same help centre:

• The AI searching the web. In Settings, under Notion AI, there is an AI Web Search section where you toggle off "Enable web search for workspace". It is in the Notion AI FAQ.
• AI Meeting Notes. Same place, toggle off "Workspace availability". The