Capacities Review (Australia 2026): Object-Based PKM With a Genuine Free Tier

Pricing figures updated 6 September 2026: USD prices are converted at the current rate (1 USD ≈ 1.40 AUD, verified 5 September 2026) and shown ex-GST, replacing the retired 1.55 + GST basis. A GST-registered Australian business that supplies its ABN is not charged GST on an imported digital service; other buyers should allow ~10% on top (Methodology).

Verdict (TL;DR): Capacities is one of the most structurally interesting note-taking apps available. Rather than storing everything as flat notes, it lets you define typed objects — Books, People, Projects, Meetings — each with their own properties, templates, and linking behaviour. The free plan is permanent and generous. The AI assistant on paid tiers is useful for summarising and querying your knowledge base. Data is stored in the EU under GDPR, which is meaningfully better than US-only infrastructure for privacy-conscious Australians. At USD $9.99/month (Pro, annual), it is fairly priced for a structured thinker who will use it seriously. It is not for everyone — the object model requires patience to learn — and the AI is a complement to the PKM system, not a replacement for thinking.

Score: 15/25 — ⭐⭐⭐ Good

Last reviewed: 26 June 2026 by Adam.

What Capacities is

Capacities is a personal knowledge management (PKM) app built around the concept of typed objects. In most notes apps, everything is a page or a document. In Capacities, you define what something is: a Book has an Author, a Rating, and Notes fields. A Person has a Role, Company, and linked Meeting objects. A Project has a Status, Deadline, and linked Tasks. These objects connect to each other, and a visual graph shows how your knowledge is structured.

The app is made by Capacities Labs GmbH, founded in 2020 by Steffen Bleher and Michael von Hohnhorst, and based in Sankt Wendel, Germany. It is bootstrapped, backed in part by Media Lab Bayern (a German public media innovation fund), and deliberately independent. The team has published a "promise" committing the free core product to remain free permanently.

The AI layer, available on Pro and Believer tiers, adds a chat assistant that can query your entire knowledge base, summarise notes, draft content from what you have captured, and — as of recent updates — connect to external AI tools via Chat Connectors 2.0, which can create and update Capacities objects from Claude, ChatGPT, or other AI tools. This is genuinely powerful for users who already use AI writing tools and want their outputs to land directly inside their knowledge base.

What it costs in Australia

On capacities.io, Capacities is priced in USD with no AUD billing. (Corrected 21 Sep 2026 — there is an AUD path, in the app, and it costs about 60% more. See below.)

AUD conversions at approx. 1 USD = 1.40 AUD as of September 2026. Figures are ex-GST: a GST-registered business that supplies its ABN is not charged GST on an imported digital service; other buyers add ~10%.

The app-store price is Australian dollars — and about 60% dearer. The Australian App Store listing declares "priceCurrency":"AUD" with Capacities Labs GmbH as seller of record, and sells Capacities Pro at A$29.99/month or A$299.00/year, GST included, on an Apple tax invoice. That annual figure is about A$271.80 ex-GST against roughly A$168/year for the same plan on the web. Buy on the web unless a GST-inclusive Australian tax invoice is worth a 60% premium to you — for almost everyone it is not. Read 21 September 2026.

The free plan includes unlimited notes, unlimited objects, unlimited blocks, device sync across Mac, Windows, iOS, and web, and 5 GB of media storage. The AI assistant is not included in the free plan — that requires Pro or Believer.

Pro adds the AI assistant, unlimited media storage, and priority support. Believer includes everything in Pro plus additional project support for the company's continued development — effectively a patronage tier for users who want to back the team.

At ~AU$14/month (Pro, annual, ex-GST), Capacities is affordable relative to Notion AI or Mem. Given that the free plan is permanent and fully functional for non-AI workflows, there is a genuine evaluation path before committing.

How it works in practice

The first thing to understand about Capacities is that it requires more upfront thinking than most notes apps. You need to decide which object types you want to use. Do your book captures go in a Book object, or just as regular notes? Does every person you meet become a Person object with linked Meeting objects, or is that overkill for your workflow?

Users who put in that setup time report that Capacities becomes the most useful knowledge base they have ever maintained. The connections between objects surface relationships that would be invisible in a flat filing system — you open a Project and see all the Meetings, Decisions, and People linked to it automatically.

Daily Notes is the core capture mechanism. Every day gets its own note, and anything you capture in Daily Notes links forward to the relevant objects. This is how most people start: capture everything in Daily Notes, tag objects inline, and the structure builds itself over time.

The graph view shows your entire knowledge base as a network. It is visually impressive but practically useful mainly as a navigation shortcut rather than a primary work surface.

The AI assistant (Pro+) uses retrieval-augmented generation to answer questions from your knowledge base. Ask "what are the key decisions I made about the Henderson project?" and it searches your objects for relevant content, summarises the answer, and cites the source objects. This is genuinely useful for a knowledge base you have maintained for months — the retrieval quality improves as your base grows.

Chat Connectors 2.0 let you create Capacities pages, tasks, and custom objects directly from Claude or ChatGPT via an API connection. A meeting transcript processed in Claude can create a Meeting object in Capacities with participants, action items, and decisions filled in automatically. This is the most sophisticated AI integration in the product.

Mobile apps (iOS and Android) cover the basics — capture, search, and browsing — but the full object-management experience is desktop-first.

What it does well

The object model is genuinely different. This is not a feature gimmick. If you have ever maintained a Notion database and found yourself spending more time maintaining the system than using it, Capacities' approach — where object types are the structure, not manually built databases — removes significant overhead. Linking a book note to its author, linked projects, and relevant highlights happens with inline tags, not database configuration.

The free plan is among the most generous in PKM. Unlimited notes, unlimited objects, unlimited device sync, and no AI paywall on the core functionality. Capacities earns trust by giving you the full product free.

EU data storage is meaningfully better than US alternatives. All data is stored on encrypted servers in the EU. The company is GDPR compliant and applies EU-level privacy protections globally, including to Australian users. This is not AU data residency — but it is a materially stronger privacy position than US-hosted alternatives with vague data practices.

The team has published a "free forever" promise for the core product. For long-term users who worry about apps dying or paywalling their notes, this commitment matters. The company is building for sustainability, not for venture capital exit.

Chat Connectors 2.0 is a serious productivity feature. The ability to push structured output from Claude or ChatGPT directly into your Capacities knowledge base — creating typed objects, not just pasting text — is the kind of AI integration that actually saves meaningful time.

What it doesn't do well

The learning curve is steep. Capacities rewards structured thinkers who enjoy designing systems. For users who want to open an app and capture a note immediately, the object model adds friction. There is no meaningful onboarding that shortcuts this — you will spend an evening reading documentation before the system clicks.

The AI assistant is a complement, not a centrepiece. The retrieval-based chat is useful once you have a mature knowledge base. In the first few months, when your base is sparse, the AI adds little. This is different from Mem, where the AI works immediately by helping you capture and link notes as you go.

No task management. Capacities has simple checklist blocks but no dedicated task manager, no due dates, no reminders, no inbox. If you want your tasks to live in your PKM, you will need a workaround or a companion app. This is a deliberate product choice but it is a notable gap compared to Saner.ai or Notion.

No real-time collaboration. There is no shared workspace, no live co-editing, no team views. This is a single-user tool. It cannot be the team's shared knowledge base.

Mobile experience is limited. The iOS and Android apps are adequate for capture and search but the object-management features are significantly reduced. If you are often away from a desk, Capacities can feel incomplete.

No AUD billing worth taking, no Australian infrastructure. The web checkout is USD; the App Store does bill in Australian dollars with GST included, but at about 60% more, so it is not a path we recommend. Data is stored in the EU, which is a positive for privacy but is not in Australia. (Corrected 21 Sep 2026 — this line previously said there was no AUD billing at all.) There is no AU-specific support channel, no Australian case studies, and no AEST-timezone support hours. This is a European product that works globally.

Australian fit

Capacities is accessible to Australians with no geographic restrictions. The app is in English and works across all Australian timezones.

The data residency story is better than most tools in this category. EU storage under GDPR provides stronger protections than US-hosted alternatives, and the company applies those protections globally. For most Australian personal and business users, this is sufficient. For healthcare, finance, or government users with Australian data residency requirements, EU storage still does not satisfy AU obligations — check directly with your compliance team.

Pricing in AUD with GST applied brings the Pro annual plan to approximately AU$14/month, which is competitive. The permanent free tier removes pricing as a barrier for personal use.

Support is European-timezone focused. The Discord community is active and international, which provides some peer support outside business hours.

Australian Fit score: 3/5. The EU data storage and GDPR compliance are genuinely positive differentiators versus US alternatives. The permanent free plan reduces financial risk. Deducted for no AU data residency, no AU-specific support, and a web checkout in USD whose only Australian-dollar alternative costs about 60% more.

Alternatives worth considering

Mem — AI-first notes app where the AI does the organising for you. No object model needed; the AI surfaces connections automatically. Better for users who do not want to design a system.

Reflect — Elegant networked note-taking with AI assistance. Simpler than Capacities; no object types but a fast, opinionated writing experience.

Notion AI — Full workspace with databases, project management, and AI writing. Much more complex; much more powerful for teams. Overkill for a personal PKM; right for a team knowledge base.

Bottom line

Capacities is the right tool for a specific kind of user: someone who thinks in systems, wants to build a long-term personal knowledge base, and is willing to invest time upfront designing how their objects connect. If that describes you, Capacities is one of the best apps in this category. The free plan removes any reason not to try it.

The AI is good but not great. The retrieval assistant is most useful at six months in, when your knowledge base has depth. The Chat Connectors for Claude and ChatGPT are a genuine power feature for AI-heavy workflows. But if you want an AI assistant that transforms your notes from day one, Mem or Saner.ai are better entry points.

For Australian users, the EU data storage is a meaningful advantage over US-hosted competitors. It is not AU data residency, but it is a stronger baseline than most tools offer. At AU$14/month for the Pro plan — or free for the core product — Capacities is worth a serious trial.

Score

Note: Per the AID Australian Fit gate, a score of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent requires Australian Fit ≥ 4/5. With a score of 3/5 on Australian Fit, the rating is capped at four stars regardless of total. See our Methodology.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Capacities cost in Australia?

Capacities' core product is free permanently, with unlimited notes, unlimited objects, and device sync included at no cost. The Pro plan costs USD $9.99/month billed annually (USD $11.99/month billed monthly), which converts to approximately AU$14/month ex-GST on the annual plan. The Believer plan is USD $12.49/month annually (~AU$17/month including GST). Web pricing is in USD with no AUD billing; the App Store sells Pro in Australian dollars at A$29.99/month or A$299.00/year, GST included, which is about 60% dearer option.

Is Capacities a good Notion alternative for PKM?

Capacities is a strong alternative for personal knowledge management if you want more semantic structure than Notion's flat pages but find Notion's database setup cumbersome. The object model — where notes have types like Book, Person, or Meeting with specific properties — creates a more interconnected knowledge base over time. However, Capacities lacks Notion's team collaboration features, task management depth, and integration library. It is better suited to individual researchers, writers, and structured thinkers than to teams.

Where is Capacities data stored?

Capacities stores all data on encrypted servers in the European Union. The company is Capacities Labs GmbH, a German company, and is fully GDPR compliant. It applies EU-level data protection standards to all users globally, including Australians. This is not Australian data residency, but it is a stronger privacy baseline than US-hosted alternatives. Australian businesses with specific data residency obligations should verify with their compliance team.

Sources

• Capacities pricing page: https://capacities.io/pricing — confirmed free, Pro $9.99/month annual, Believer $12.49/month annual, June 2026 — Wayback 2 July 2026
• Capacities data protection documentation: https://docs.capacities.io/more/data-protection — Wayback 14 July 2026
• Capacities privacy policy: https://capacities.io/privacy-policy/ — Wayback 16 June 2026
• Capacities AI features: https://capacities.io/pro — re-pointed 22 September 2026; the previously cited capacities.io/product/ai returns HTTP 404 and no longer appears in Capacities’ sitemap. The Pro page lists “AI Chat & auto-fill properties” among the paid-tier features, which is the claim this review cites it for — read live 22 September 2026. Last capture of the retired page: Wayback 19 January 2026 — context only, five months before this review’s check date
• Capacities team and company: https://capacities.io/about/team — Wayback 14 May 2026
• European Alternatives listing (confirms Germany incorporation): https://european-alternatives.eu/product/capacities — Wayback 24 May 2026
• AUD conversion: 1 USD ≈ 1.40 AUD, September 2026

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