The short answer
Pick Notion if
Your team writes docs, wikis and meeting notes, and each database row is something you write about. Every row in Notion opens as a full page.
Pick SeaTable if
You need a grid of typed records that scripts and the API can work on, cloud data processed in Frankfurt and Munich, or a copy running on your own server.
| Notion | SeaTable | |
|---|---|---|
| Built around | pages · each database row is a page with a body | a spreadsheet-style grid of typed columns |
| Free plan | $0 · blocks limited for 2+ members 10 guests · 5 MB per upload | €0 · 10,000 rows per base up to 25 users · 2 GB |
| Entry paid tier | Plus $10/member/mo annual ($12 monthly · €9.50 annual) | Plus €7/user/mo annual (€9 monthly) · 50,000 rows per base |
| Next tier | Business $20 annual ($24 monthly) Notion AI, SAML SSO | Enterprise €14 annual (€18 monthly) 100,000 rows per base |
| Row ceiling | 250,000 rows per database | per base, by plan · Big Data storage on Enterprise for millions |
| API | avg 3 requests/s per connection 10/s on Business and Enterprise | 3,000 calls/mo on Free 10,000 per user on Plus |
| Cloud data location | AWS · EU or Asia region on Enterprise only | Frankfurt and Munich on every plan |
| Self-hosting | not available | Developer Edition, no licence Enterprise Edition free for 3 users |
Checked 8 October 2026 against notion.com/pricing, seatable.com/en/pricing, both help centres, Notion's API reference and SeaTable's admin manual. Annual figures unless stated.
A row is a page in Notion and a record in SeaTable
Open an entry in a Notion database and you get its properties at the top and a full document underneath, with headings, images, files and even other databases inside it. That suits tables of things you write about: project briefs with an owner and a deadline, meeting notes filed by date, a content calendar where each row holds the draft itself. Notion's pricing page counts usage in blocks, the paragraphs, checkboxes and images that make up a page.
A SeaTable row is a record in a grid. Columns have types, formulas and links to other tables, and the pricing page meters what runs against the data: API calls, automation runs and Python script runs per month. Long text goes in a long-text column, and there is no document behind each row. If your Notion workspace is mostly one or two big trackers, SeaTable fits those trackers. If it is mostly writing, SeaTable has nothing to put it in.
Row limits, and what happens near them
Notion allows up to 250,000 rows per database on every plan. Near the limit it shows a warning, and at the limit new rows fail with an error. Each row's properties share a 2.5 MB cap, and a database can have 500 properties. Notion's own help page treats size mainly as a speed problem: the causes it lists are a high page count, many visible properties, sorts and filters on text, formula or rollup properties, and long chains of formulas and rollups. Its suggested fix for very large databases is a filter on Created time that hides old pages.
SeaTable counts rows per base, across all the tables in it, and the count depends on the plan: 10,000 on Free, 50,000 on Plus and 100,000 on Enterprise. Enterprise can switch on Big Data storage, which holds millions of rows in the same base. Those rows lose real-time collaboration, and new rows have to be created in a normal view and then moved across. Dedicated Cloud, from 100 users, has no row cap. A self-hosted server keeps the default of 100,000 rows per base, and because it holds open bases in RAM, big bases need more memory.
Price for the same five-person team
Notion bills by member, and its pricing page shows euros or dollars depending on where you open it. The Business price includes Notion AI, SAML single sign-on and private teamspaces. Custom Agents cost extra on top, at $10 per 1,000 Notion credits. SeaTable's cloud plans are in euros only. A five-person team that would fit in Notion's free plan alone runs into the block limit for workspaces with two or more members; SeaTable's free plan takes up to 25 users.
Where the data sits
SeaTable states that all user data in its cloud, apart from subscription and payment data, is stored and processed in the DE-FRA-1 and DE-MUC-1 data centres in Frankfurt and Munich (SeaTable security page). That applies to the free plan too.
Notion stores data with Amazon Web Services. Data residency is an Enterprise feature: those customers can ask for Frankfurt with backup in Ireland, Ireland with backup in Frankfurt, Tokyo, or Seoul. On Free, Plus and Business you get no choice of region. Notion AI follows a similar split, with zero data retention at the AI providers on Enterprise and 30 days on the other plans.
Running SeaTable on your own server
SeaTable ships two server editions. Enterprise Edition needs a licence; the installer can issue a free two-year licence for three users from the command line, and more users are bought from SeaTable. Developer Edition needs no licence at all. It is limited to 200 concurrent connections and leaves out row and column permissions, Big Data row archiving, custom user and admin roles, external apps and the Universal App. Neither edition may be used to run a SaaS service for others.
The admin manual asks for at least 4 CPU cores, 8 GB of RAM and 50 GB of SSD, which it says is enough for most setups up to about 100 users, and more RAM as bases grow. It runs in Docker, officially on x86 only. That is twice the memory of the small VPS the other cost models on this site assume.
Notion has nothing to install. The nearest thing to a copy you control is the workspace export: a workspace owner can export everything as HTML or Markdown, with each full-page database as a CSV plus a Markdown file per row. Notion says the export can take up to 30 hours, and the download link expires after 7 days. Other users' private pages are left out.
Frequently asked
Is SeaTable a Notion alternative?
For the database part of Notion, yes. SeaTable has no document pages, wiki or notes editor: a row holds typed fields, and long text goes in a long-text column. A team that uses Notion mainly as a tracker with many rows can move that tracker to SeaTable and keep its documents where they are.
Can Notion be self-hosted?
No. Notion runs only as Notion's own cloud service on AWS. Enterprise customers can ask for a data region (Frankfurt, Ireland, Tokyo or Seoul); the other plans have no choice of region.
How many rows can a Notion database hold?
Up to 250,000 rows per database, on every plan. Notion shows a warning as you approach the limit and refuses new rows once you reach it. Each row's properties are also capped at 2.5 MB in total, and a database can have up to 500 properties.
Is SeaTable cheaper than Notion?
Per seat, yes. SeaTable Plus is €7 per user a month billed yearly, Notion Plus is $10 (€9.50) per member a month billed yearly. SeaTable's free plan allows up to 25 users and 10,000 rows per base, while Notion's free plan limits blocks once a workspace has two or more members. Prices checked 8 October 2026.
What self-hosting actually costs
Five people, twelve months, server and hours included. The self-hosted column uses Developer Edition, since the free Enterprise licence stops at three users.
| Notion Plus | SeaTable Cloud Plus | SeaTable Developer Edition, self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licence, 5 users | $600/yr | €420/yr | $0 |
| Server | included | included | ~$576/yr (4 vCPU, 8 GB) |
| Your time | none | none | ~2 h setup + ~12 h/yr |
| Rows | 250,000 per database | 50,000 per base | 100,000 per base by default |
| Year one | $600 | €420 | ~$576 + 14 hours |
Assumptions, so you can argue with them: the server is SeaTable's stated minimum of 4 cores and 8 GB, priced at $48 a month, the list price of a DigitalOcean Basic droplet of that size on 8 October 2026. Other hosts charge more or less, so put your own provider's figure in. Setup and upkeep follow the rest of this site: about two hours to install and an hour a month to keep updated and backed up. At five users the hosted SeaTable plan costs least. Running your own pays off when you already have a machine with 8 GB to spare, or when the data may not leave your network.