Microsoft Lists vs Notion for a small team

Choose Notion if you want notes and a task table on one page and do not use Microsoft 365. Choose Microsoft Lists if your team is already in Microsoft 365 and needs a tracker beside files and Teams.

Disclosure: my business, 250 High Street, builds on Microsoft 365, so I lean toward Microsoft Lists. This guide still gives Notion a fair hearing, and I say below where it comes out ahead. Either one can hold a table with dates, owners and statuses. The real differences are how each grows, how access is controlled, and what the bill looks like.

What each tool is

Notion describes its databases like this: "Databases in Notion are collections of pages." Each entry is a full page where you can add notes, files and more. Notion also says: "By default, your database will be displayed in Table view, but you can add as many views as you'd like." Its help page adds that you can organize a database "as a list, calendar, chart, and more."

Microsoft Lists is built on the same lists platform as SharePoint lists. Microsoft's limits page says so: "Applies to Microsoft Lists and SharePoint lists - both based on same lists platform." Each row is an item, and each column has a type, such as date, person or choice.

A Notion row opens into a page, so a long write-up can sit under the fields. A Microsoft list row stays a single record of typed columns. Pages suit writing; records suit sorting, filtering and counting.

Permissions side by side

Notion's sharing help page names four levels. "Full access" means people "can edit any of the content it contains and share the page with anyone they want." "Can edit" lets people change content but not share. "Can comment" allows comments only. "Can view" is read-only.

Notion says database page-level access is available on Business and Enterprise plans. On its pricing page, Business describes granular database permissions as "Collaborate in Notion databases without giving access to the entire database." Notion's help page also warns that broader access wins: if someone has workspace-wide Full access to the database, a narrower page-level rule will not restrict them.

Guests in Notion "will need their own Notion account" to open a page, per the sharing help page.

Microsoft Lists: permissions are set on the list or on single items. Microsoft documents a limit for items with their own permissions (see Where Microsoft Lists wins). Remember that a view is not security. A filtered view only changes what a person sees first, so use permissions when data must stay private.

One way to start: decide before you build who must never see which rows. If the answer is "nobody on this team", both tools are fine. If the answer is "clients and staff share one table", test the exact permission setup on a copy first.

Where Notion wins

Notion is a good tool, and it wins in these cases.

Notes and tracking together. Because each database entry is a page, the task and the notes about the task sit in one place.
It does not need Microsoft 365. If your company does not use Microsoft 365, Lists is not an option. Notion works for any team.
A Free plan exists. Notion's pricing page lists Free, Plus, Business and Enterprise plans, and shows a Free plan.
Extra views. Notion says you can add as many views of a database as you like.
Guests on every plan. Notion's pricing page lists 10 external guests on Free and "Unlimited guests" on Plus, Business and Enterprise.

Where Microsoft Lists wins

Possibly no extra cost. Microsoft's limits page marks SharePoint as included in Microsoft 365 Business (Basic, Standard, Premium), and Lists runs on that same platform. Ask your admin what your own plan covers.
Row count. Microsoft says: "A list can have up to 30 million items." A task table for a small team is nowhere near that.
Bigger files on every item. Microsoft lists "250 MB - File attached to a list item." Notion's pricing page says: "On the Free plan, you can upload images, videos and file attachments up to 5MB each." Paid Notion plans list "Unlimited" uploads with about 5GB as the maximum per file.
Documented limits for item-level access. Microsoft says: "The supported limit of unique permissions for items in a list or library is 50,000. However, the recommended general limit is 5,000." Notion also offers page-level access for database entries, but only on Business and Enterprise (see Permissions side by side).
One sign-in. Lists sits beside SharePoint, Teams and Power Automate, so staff who already live in Microsoft 365 skip a second account.

Automation

Notion's database automation help page says: "Database automations are available on paid plans on all platforms." It also says: "Free Plan users can create Slack notification automations, but no other kinds of automations." Triggers include "Page added," "Property edited" and a recurring schedule. Actions include editing properties, adding pages, sending a Slack notification and sending a webhook.

Microsoft's route is Power Automate. Microsoft says: "Power Automate helps you optimize business processes across your organization and automate repetitive tasks." Whether your plan covers the flows you want depends on the connectors and your license, so check with your admin. If you use Get items in a flow, remember it returns only 100 rows by default. Set Top Count and turn Pagination on to read more.

What it costs

Notion sells Free, Plus, Business and Enterprise plans. I print no dollar figures for them, since vendors revise prices. Open Notion's pricing page and match each feature you need to a plan: database automations need a paid plan, page-level database access needs Business or above, bigger uploads need a paid plan, and page history grows with the tier. The pricing page gives 7 days of history on Free, 30 on Plus, 90 on Business and "Unlimited" on Enterprise.

For Microsoft Lists, the cost depends on your Microsoft 365 plan. A business plan that includes SharePoint already includes Lists. Microsoft's own pricing page has the current plan prices.

Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: work out a real total before choosing. Count the people who edit, write the features you must have, and price each tool for exactly that list. Count the subscription you already pay for as part of the Microsoft side.

Limits side by side

Items: Lists, up to 30 million per list. Notion's pages do not state one number I can compare, so ask Notion if you expect very large tables.
Attached file: Lists, 250 MB per list item. Notion Free, 5 MB each. Notion paid, about 5GB maximum.
Guests: Notion Free, 10 external guests. Notion paid, unlimited. Microsoft says there is "no distinct limit to the number of guests you can invite to SharePoint sites."
Page or item history: Notion, 7 days to unlimited by plan. Lists keeps a version history for each item. See "See who changed a row: SharePoint version history".

Which one fits your team

Notion fits a team outside Microsoft 365, or one whose tasks carry long notes, plans and documents that belong next to the table. It also lets you start today on a Free plan, with paid plans added later for automation and finer permissions.

Lists fits a team that already signs in to Microsoft 365 every day, sorts work by owner, due date and status, and wants Power Automate for approvals and reminders. It reuses the groups and Teams you have, and it holds very large tables. Board-style tools get a head-to-head in "Microsoft Lists vs Trello for a small team".

Where Planner and To Do fit

Lists holds records in typed columns. For tasks, Microsoft says the Planner app "brings together the simplicity of Microsoft To Do, the collaboration of Microsoft Planner, and the power of Project for the web into a single experience." Those are the Microsoft tools closest to a Notion task table. Our advice, not a Microsoft rule: use Lists when the thing you track is a record, such as Asset 12 or Order 31.

A one-week test

Confirm whether your company pays for Microsoft 365. If it does not, Notion is the likely pick.
Note the questions you ask of the tracker: "what is late?", "who owns it?", "what did it cost?" Questions like these favor a table with typed columns.
Note which rows each person must never see, then check that case against each tool's permission levels.
List the automations you need and the plan that holds each one.
Put about 20 real rows in each tool and run both for a week. Keep whichever one people open on their own.

Moving off a spreadsheet? The steps are in "Replace a spreadsheet tracker with a SharePoint list". Plain task boards get one in "Microsoft Planner vs SharePoint list for tracking team work". Overdue items are the subject of "Late tasks nobody notices".

What to avoid

Choosing from a feature checklist. Ask who will open the tracker every morning and choose for that person.
Keeping live work in both tools at once. Nobody can tell which copy is current.
Rebuilding a Notion page field by field in a list. Keep only the handful of columns you will sort or filter on, and leave long notes where they are.
Trusting a remembered price or plan limit. Reopen the vendor page on the day you buy.
Treating a view as access control. In Lists, a view only changes what shows first; set permissions when an item must stay hidden.
Switching the whole team without a trial week on a small copy.

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: Tools I built

FAQ

Do we pay extra for Microsoft Lists?

Not if your Microsoft 365 business plan includes SharePoint, because Lists runs on the same platform. I print no Microsoft prices here. Check with your admin or Microsoft's pricing page.

Does Notion have a free plan?

Yes. Notion's pricing page shows a Free plan. It lists 10 external guests, 5 MB per uploaded file and 7 days of page history. Database automations are on paid plans, with Slack notifications the one exception on Free.

Can I give a client access to one row only?

In Notion, page-level database access is listed for Business and Enterprise plans, and broader access can override it. In Lists, you can set unique permissions on single items. Microsoft's recommended limit is 5,000 such items per list. Test on a copy first.

Which tool has automation built in?

Notion has database automations on paid plans. Lists uses Power Automate. Check your license for the connectors you need, and set Top Count and Pagination in Get items so a flow does not stop at 100 rows.

Which Microsoft tool matches Notion tasks?

Microsoft says the Planner app in Teams brings together Microsoft To Do, Microsoft Planner and Project for the web, so Planner is the closest match for a Notion task table.

Can I move from Notion to Lists later?

One way to start: export the table, build a list with matching columns, and import a small batch. Check column types and test a copy first. The notes inside each Notion page will not become columns, so decide where those notes should live.