After trying a wide range of note-taking apps and project managers this year, I’ve naturally started drifting away from Notion. One of the tools that took its place is Microsoft Loop. I keep it in a pinned tab in my browser so it’s always there and ready for me to drop notes and tasks into. Although Notion has far more powerful features, I’m after convenience, and Loop just gives me way more of that. It requires less maintenance, is very minimal, and is beyond easy to navigate. Less really is more in this case, but that doesn’t mean Loop is lacking - it still gives me everything I need to keep my notes and projects organized and structured. And it’s replaced a big chunk of what I used Notion for…

Note-taking

A quick and easy way to store my writing

The main thing I use Loop for is writing. I almost always write with my browser open - whether for using word counters, grammar checkers, or just doing research as I write. So keeping Loop pinned gives me a quick place to write down what I need to alongside my browser activities. Creating new pages takes less than a second, and I can quickly organize them in a hierarchical structure in the left panel, kind of like files and folders on my desktop.

Like every other productivity app, Loop has the slash command /, which you use to insert headers, lists, quotes, italicize, bold, and so on. You can also use the @ command to link other pages. I don’t see the need to navigate Notion when I can do the exact same thing in Loop, except it’s quicker and less cluttered.

Reusable components

It’s like synced blocks in Notion, but better

One of the features that pulled me further into Loop is how it handles reusable content. You can create a block - like a table, task list, or just a note - and drop it in multiple other pages, thanks to something called Components. Once a component is in place, it will update in real-time across all pages, chats, documents, or wherever you make changes. So it’s live and always up to date, and eliminates the headache of multiple copies floating around that need manual syncing.

Notion’s equivalent of this functionality would be synced blocks. But Loop’s components have a couple of advantages. For starters, they’re quicker to create, and all you have to do to get them into other pages is copy-paste. But probably the biggest benefit to components is that they integrate with the entire Microsoft 365 suite. So you can drop your components in apps like Word, Teams, and Outlook - and they’ll remain synced with any new changes.

Again, I don’t see the need to set up synced blocks in Notion when I can do the same thing in Loop, but faster. Components are a great way to disperse repeated content or share it with collaborators.

Project and task management

It’s much simpler than databases

Another core part of Loop is its table functionality. Tables aren’t databases, but to be frank, databases in Notion can get overwhelming to manage and annoying to navigate once you’ve built a few. Most of the time, I don’t need relations or rollups. I just need a clean table where I can add task/project entries, add some context, and filter what I’m looking at. Loop nails that balance.

Tables in Loop are more lightweight than in Notion, but they’re not lacking. You can still add due dates, collaborators, progress, priorities, links, dates, and whatever else for project management. There’s also a fairly advanced rule-based filtering system - meaning if a table entry meets certain conditions, it will show up in your custom filter. And, of course, I can bring my notes and components straight into these tables as well. Furthermore, you get different views - table, board, and calendar.

Better templates

Loop keeps it simple yet again

Notion does have templates, but to be completely honest, I didn’t actually know where to find them for the first year or so of using the app (they’re in the Marketplace). I will say, Notion’s marketplace is way bigger than Loop’s offerings, combining both official Notion templates and user-created ones. However, I love how Loop keeps things simple.

When you create a new page in Loop, the template gallery is right at the bottom (and clearly labeled “Template Gallery”). There are 24 in total at the time of writing, and this is more than enough for basic task and project management. I’ve written about some of my top template picks before, including Bad Idea Brainstorm, Issue Tracker, and Media List. There’s no need for me to open Marketplace, filter the free templates, and get overwhelmed by all the choices.

Loop is just more convenient

I’m not as brand-loyal as I used to be. If an app keeps things as frictionless and convenient as possible, that’s most likely the option I’m going to stick with. And Microsoft Loop does just that. I’m not trying to position it as a more powerful option than Notion - it clearly isn’t. But it is faster, lighter, and easier to use.