If you have an online side hustle or you’re trying to build a one-person online business writing and notetaking are inevitable.
Moreover, more and more jobs are moving to a work-from-home or a hybrid model.
This means that finding a tool that can help you organize your writing online is now more important than ever.
And Craft is a tool that does just that. It lets you take notes, and manage and collaborate on your online writing.
Craft is kind of a hybrid between Notion and Google Docs because it aims to be an all-in-one place for your writing projects.
So how does it compare to more popular and free alternatives like Google Docs or Microsoft Word?
To answer that question here is my Craft.do review.
Craft.do pros and cons at a glance:
Pros:
- Available on Mac, iPad, iPhone and Windows.
- Allows for organizing documents with internal links.
- Similar to Notion
- Has calendar integration.
- Has easy-to-understand FAQ’s for beginners.
- User-friendly interface.
- Looks beautiful.
- Has a universal search across all your documents.
Cons:
- Not available for Android
- The free plan has very low storage and blocks.
- All the features could be difficult to learn for complete beginners.
What is Craft.do?
Craft.do an online document creation and notetaking tool that aims to simplify the process of writing online.
Craft is similar to Notion because its content is made up of separate blocks from which you’re able to create pages.
Those pages can then be linked together.
How does Craft compare to Notion?
Craft is easier to get used to compared to Notion.
Notion has a lot more advanced features and customization abilities that cater to a wider audience.
But craft is tailored more for one purpuse. It’s a one-stop shop for all your document needs.
The platform has all the templates that you need to create any kind of document you want, from presentations to legal agreements to resumes.
The tool is simple to use with a user-friendly interface that lets you create your document in minutes by filling out pre-set fields on template documents or choosing from one of Craft’s many pre-installed templates.
People at Craft aim to make this tool in such a way that it doesn’t interfere with the doc creation process.
So everything from the user interface to aesthetics and templates is designed to help you create better documents faster.
If you’re going to use Craft on a Mac I would recommend getting it through Setapp. It’s a subscription that gives you access to more than 250+ Mac apps including craft and many other useful Mac apps.
Here’s my Setapp review if you’re interested.
Who is Craft.do suited for?
Craft.do is for anyone who needs help with their content.
It can be in a personal or professional setting and it doesn’t matter if you are a business owner, student, blogger, or a YouTuber.
Craft themselves say that the tool is for:
- Freelancers
- Agencies
- Consultants
- Remote teams
- Startups
Next up I’m going to compare Craft plans which will make it more clear about what clients Craft.do are aiming to attract.
Starter vs. Personal Pro vs. Business vs. Enterprise plans
There are four plans: Starter ($0 per month), Personal Pro ($5 per month), Business ($10 per month), and Enterprise.
Prices for these plans are per seat.
However, the good news is that you can apply for an education discount if you’re a student or a teacher.
Starter plan
With the starter plan, you are able to generate only 1000 blocks of content.
Think of them as paragraphs of text.
If you’re familiar with Notion, content blocks work the same in Craft.
It’s a place where you can store text, PDFs, images, audio files, and so on.
Blocks can also be linked to each other to make an incredibly sophisticated web of your notes.
The starter plan also comes with 1GB of storage so if you plan to upload a lot of high-resolution images or large PDFs it could run out very fast.
However, if your main media type is text, you won’t have to worry about upgrading your storage for a while.
Personal Pro plan
This plan is probably my best recommendation.
It’s the best option if you’re not a business and are serious about creating the best online workspace for producing written content and organizing your documents.
The Personal Pro plan comes with 50GB of storage which is going to be plenty even if you upload large images or PDFs.
Business plan
As the name of this plan implies, it’s for businesses and entrepreneurs.
It offers shared content analytics and 180-day version history so that accidental mistakes don’t ruin your projects.
You also get access to Craft’s priority customer support and more advanced admin tools.
However, keep in mind that the plan’s cost is per seat!
Enterprise plan
This plan’s pricing is not displayed on Craft’s website because it will differ from one client to the next.
It’s for “organizations who have advanced customization, control, and support needs“.
Craft.do top features
Craft.do is not only useful for creating documents but also with its other features like reminders, comments, and the ability to share with others. So here are its best features:
1. Document organisation with internal links
Craft allows you to link one document to another using the internal linking system.
Once you have more than one document, you can type the @ symbol and link to another page from the current one.
You can also tag people to a specific document by using the same @ symbol.
This linking system is used by apps like Google Docs and Notion which brings me to the next Craft feature:
2. Similar to Notion
If you’re already used to Notion or have a rough understanding of it then getting used to Craft will be easy.
These two tools are very similar in the way they operate so you won’t have to re-learn the basic concepts when switching from one to another.
3. Quick calendar notes
With Craft, you can go to the calendar view and add quick notes, reminders, or to-do lists for each day.
It’s a very intuitive way to organize your calendar and view your daily to-do lists.
Craft will also outline days that have something important written “inside” so you don’t have to search for them.
You can also utilize the search bar which allows you to search within your whole Craft document database.
4. Actually useful FAQ's
Unlike many other help FAQs, Craft’s is actually useful.
Their help center lets you:
- Learn the basics of Craft.
- Has advanced feature showcases and tips for power users.
- Has a collection of frequently asked questions.
- Offers a page with common troubleshooting solutions.
This platform has one of the best if not the best help centers I’ve ever seen.
It’s worth checking out even if you consider yourself to be a power user.
You’ll still find an odd useful tip or something that you didn’t know existed.
5. Universal search
Craft offers a universal search feature. It lets you search for a key phrase across your whole document database.
Whether you’re trying to find a document that you know has a specific word or are searching for a specific date in your calendar just click on the search icon and you’ll get there in no time.
6. iOS support
Craft is available to download for your browser, for your Mac, iPad, iOS and Windows. Which makes it an incredibly versatile tool especially if you’re in the Apple ecosystem.
Unfortunately, there’s no stand-alone app for Android.
7. Formula snippets
Within your documents, you can easily write down complex formulas using snippets.
Here’s the official formula cheatsheet.
8. Modern interface
One of the things that I love most about Craft is its design.
It has a sleek and modern interface which makes creating documents feel like child’s play.
Of course, these are only the features that I found extremely useful for my needs within Craft.
There are many more to explore.
But now let’s turn to the dark side and explore the downsides of Craft:
Cons of Craft.do?
The downsides of Craft are that the free plan comes with only 1GB of storage and that Craft is difficult to learn for complete beginners who have never used similar document creation and management software.
1. Free plan has extremely low storage and blocks
If you upload larger files like photos or PDFs to Craft you’re going to quickly run out of the 1GB of storage that the free plan offers.
There are also only 1000 content blocks that you can create with the free plan which means that after only a couple of documents, you’ll run out of blocks.
This may mean that you’ll need to upgrade to the personal pro plan within a few months of using the software.
2. Could be difficult to learn for beginners
If you’re not used to Notion or have never created and navigated between documents in Google Docs then Craft may be difficult to learn.
However, the good news is that with time everything’s possible. At first, I had trouble adjusting to Craft’s interface and learning all the ins and outs.
But after 2 weeks of use, I can confidently say that this software feels like home.
Was this Craft.do review useful?
I hope that this Craft review was useful.
And if you’re still open-minded about increasing your productivity I’ll leave you with a few cool resources:
13 Best Content Creator Tools (To Create 10x Faster)
17 Best Apps For Macbook (Productivity + Utilities)
Best Online Side Hustle Websites To Make Extra Money From Home
Thanks for reading 👋!