Cortex vs Tana
Tana is the power user's outliner — supertags turn notes into databases. Cortex trades that configurability for zero-friction capture and automation: speak, get structure, and let agents handle the maintenance work Tana asks you to design.
Where Tana shines
- Supertags are genuinely innovative — schema on top of an outliner
- Extremely powerful for people who build workflows
- Strong voice memo capture into your inbox
Where Cortex differs
- Learning curve: Tana rewards weeks of investment. Cortex is opinionated — useful in the first minute.
- Structure: supertags are manual schema; Cortex infers tags, links, and tasks at capture time.
- Agents: Tana has AI commands you trigger; Cortex agents are durable and scheduled — they work between your sessions.
- Format: Cortex is markdown files at heart; an outliner's node structure is harder to take with you.
Side by side
| Cortex | Tana | |
|---|---|---|
| Capture | Voice-first — speak, get a structured note in <3s | Outline nodes + voice memos to inbox |
| Bi-directional links | Yes — [[wiki-links]] + auto-suggested connections | Yes — references + supertags |
| Knowledge graph | Self-organizing, with vector semantic search | Node network view |
| Autonomous agents | Yes — durable agents run on your notes 24/7 | AI commands on demand |
| Chat with your notes | Yes — chat with your whole graph (Cmd+K) | AI features in workspace |
| Local-first / offline | Local-first with offline support | Cloud-first |
| Privacy | E2E encrypted sync, never trains on your data | Cloud storage |
| Bring your own key | Yes — bring your own OpenAI/Anthropic key | No |
| Pricing | Free tier planned · Pro $15/mo | Free tier · paid plans |
Who should stay with Tana
Common questions
Tana has voice capture too — what's different?
Tana transcribes into your inbox for you to process. Cortex skips the processing: the note arrives already structured — titled, tagged, tasks extracted, linked to related notes.
Is Cortex an outliner?
No — Cortex is a markdown notes graph. If nested outlining is core to how you think, Tana may fit better.
Can Cortex replace my Tana workflows?
The agent library covers common ones (weekly review, meeting debrief, topic watch) without setup. Custom agents let you build your own.
Try the Cortex wedge in 10 seconds
Speak a thought on the early-access page and watch it become a structured note.
Join the founding queue →Cortex is in early access. This page reflects our understanding of Tana as of July 2026 — if we got something wrong, tell us and we'll fix it.