An object-based personal knowledge management app built by Capacities GmbH. Every note is a typed object (Book, Person, Project, Daily Note, or custom type) with defined properties that form a connected knowledge graph. The Pro tier adds an AI assistant for writing, chat over notes, and auto-tagging.
Free tier is genuinely unlimited on notes and objects. Pro is $9.99/mo annual, Believer $12.49/mo annual.
Recent changes
- Release 64 (2026): Choose your own AI model provider, pick from ChatGPT, Claude, or Cursor as the AI backend for Capacities AI. Recurring tasks and flexible scheduling shipped in the same release.
- Release 63: Related Content surfaces connected information automatically across the vault.
- Release 62: AI Chat Connectors arrived, integrating Capacities with ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor as external surfaces.
- Release 61: Image and media analysis with new object categories (Photo (animal), Cover), OCR, and color preview.
- Release 58: Search 2.0 rebuilt fully on-device for speed and privacy.
System Verdict
Pick Capacities if structure is the point. Object typing forces intentionality at the moment of capture. Every Book gets an author property, every Project gets a status, every Person gets links to meetings. That structural prior is what Obsidian and Notion leave to the user.
Skip it for team work or plain-Markdown portability. No real-time collaboration, no shared workspaces. Export exists but the proprietary database structure loses fidelity on the way out. If you might leave, Obsidian is a safer long-term home.
Who pays which tier: Free for indefinite solo use without AI, Pro $9.99/mo annual ($11.99 monthly) for the AI assistant and custom object types, Believer $12.49/mo annual for users who want to support development and get early features.
Key Facts
| Core model | Typed objects with custom properties |
| Pre-built object types | Book, Person, Project, Daily Note, Article, Video, Podcast |
| Custom objects | Pro and Believer tiers only |
| AI assistant | Writing, chat over notes, auto-fill properties, auto-tagging |
| AI backend | Frontier LLMs (model routing varies) |
| Graph view | Visual map of object connections |
| Platforms | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android |
| Offline | Full, with sync on reconnect |
| Encryption | End-to-end on sync |
| Free tier | Unlimited notes/objects, 5GB media, core object types |
| API | None public |
Every data point was verified against vendor docs on 2026-05-13. See Sources.
What it actually is
A typed-object database dressed as a notes app. Creating a note starts with picking an object type. Each type carries properties that auto-link across the graph: a new Book links to its Author (a Person object), the Person links back to every Book and Project they appear in.
The AI assistant layers on top. Writing aids generate or rewrite text. The AI Chat queries the whole vault (“what links to this project”). Auto-fill populates object properties from prompt input. Image generation creates object thumbnails.
The moat: no other mainstream PKM tool enforces object typing at the capture step. The ceiling: the proprietary format limits export fidelity, and there is no plugin marketplace to extend behavior.
When to pick Capacities
- You think in systems. Researchers tracking sources, authors tracking characters, founders tracking decisions all benefit from typed objects.
- You want structure without Obsidian’s setup cost. Capacities ships the object system on day one. No plugin stack to assemble.
- Daily notes plus object links is the habit. Daily notes auto-link mentioned objects so a journal entry becomes part of the graph.
- Free tier covers the need. The unlimited free plan on notes and core objects is rare and generous for solo use.
- E2EE sync matters. Cross-device sync is end-to-end encrypted.
When to pick something else
- Local-first with plugins: Obsidian. Free, portable Markdown, 1,000+ plugins.
- Team wiki with databases: Notion AI. Real-time collab, full database depth.
- AI-first capture without typing: Mem. Skip the object step entirely.
- Cited document Q&A: NotebookLM. Free, citation-grounded research.
- Reading-plus-retention: Readwise Reader. Ingestion and spaced-repetition review.
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Key Limits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Unlimited notes/objects, core types, 5GB media, all platforms, offline |
| Pro | $9.99/mo annual ($11.99/mo monthly) | AI assistant, custom object types, unlimited media, advanced views |
| Believer | $12.49/mo annual ($14.99/mo monthly) | Everything in Pro plus project support, early features |
Prices verified 2026-05-13 via capacities.io/pricing. Annual billing applied in EUR and USD.
Against the alternatives
| Capacities Pro | Obsidian | Notion AI | Reflect | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99/mo annual | Free | $10-$20/mo | $10/mo |
| Storage format | Typed objects | Local Markdown | Pages + databases | Markdown + backlinks |
| AI built-in | Yes, Pro+ | Via plugins | Yes | Yes |
| Offline | Full | Full | Limited | Full |
| E2EE sync | Yes | Local only | No | Yes |
| Team collaboration | None | None | Real-time | None |
| Plugin ecosystem | None | 1,000+ | Limited | None |
| Best viewed as | Structured PKM | Power-user vault | Team wiki | Privacy-first PKM |
Failure modes
- Proprietary storage. Export to Markdown/CSV exists but loses object relationships. Migration off Capacities is a one-way rebuild, not a file move.
- Learning curve on setup. Object types and properties need upfront design. Users who want to just write tend to bounce.
- AI is general-purpose, not note-optimized. The assistant uses frontier LLMs, not a model tuned for long-vault context. Quality is solid, not specialized.
- No real-time collaboration. Shared workspaces and team editing do not exist.
- Smaller ecosystem than Notion or Obsidian. Fewer templates, community resources, and integrations.
- No public API. Programmatic access and custom automations are limited.
- AI requires internet. Core notes work offline, but AI chat and property auto-fill need a live connection.
Methodology
This page was produced by the aipedia.wiki editorial pipeline, an automated system that ingests vendor documentation, verifies pricing and model details against primary sources, and generates the editorial analysis. No individual human wrote this review. Scoring follows the four-dimension rubric at /about/scoring/ (Utility × Value × Moat × Longevity, unweighted average). Last verified 2026-05-13 against capacities.io/pricing, capacities.io/product/ai, and the Capacities changelog.
FAQ
Is the free plan actually unlimited? Yes. Free covers unlimited notes, unlimited objects across core types, all platforms, full offline, and 5GB media. AI and custom object types require Pro.
Capacities vs Obsidian? Obsidian stores notes as local Markdown files with manual linking. Capacities uses typed objects in a proprietary database with property-driven auto-links and built-in AI. Obsidian suits tinkerers with strong file-ownership preferences. Capacities suits structured thinkers who want the object system out of the box.
Does AI work offline? No. Writing aids and AI Chat require internet. Core note creation, editing, and browsing all work offline with sync on reconnect.
What’s the difference between Pro and Believer? Both include the AI assistant and custom object types. Believer is a support tier at $12.49/mo annual that funds ongoing development and ships early features first. Functionally Pro is sufficient for most users.
Can Capacities handle teams? No. Capacities is solo-focused. No shared workspaces or real-time collaboration. Notion is the right tool for team knowledge bases.
Sources
- capacities.io/pricing: current Free, Pro, and Believer tiers
- capacities.io/product/ai: AI assistant scope and capabilities
- Capacities changelog: recent feature releases
Related
- Category: AI Notes
- Comparisons: Capacities vs NotebookLM · Capacities vs Obsidian · Capacities vs Readwise · Capacities vs Fireflies · Capacities vs Otter.ai
