What tool do most creators use to run projects?

Notion is the most-adopted tool for this job among the creators we track: 38 tracked creators have an active usage record for it. 87% of its classified mentions are organic, meaning no sponsorship signal was found in them (mentions we cannot classify are excluded from that ratio). Adoption counts, not editorial opinion, order this list, and the receipts behind it are linked above.

What is the runner-up to Notion, and when is it the better choice?

NotebookLM is the runner-up with 21 active creators, against 38 for Notion, in the same category. We do not editorialize the gap. What the data offers: 89% of NotebookLM's classified mentions are organic, versus 87% for Notion. Read the receipts on both tool pages and weigh the quotes yourself; that is what they are there for.

How is this ranking decided?

By counting creators, not opinions. Every mention we ingest carries a receipt: a source link, a timestamp or position, a verbatim quote of at most 120 characters, and a sponsorship classification (organic, sponsored or ambiguous). The list orders tools by how many tracked creators actively use each one; organic mentions weigh four times more than sponsored ones in scoring. Affiliate links on this page have no path into that computation. Full detail is on the methodology page.

How fresh is this data?

The scores behind this ranking are snapshotted weekly, and the data behind the current list was computed on 14 Sept 2026, the same date the stamp at the bottom of this page shows. After a recompute, the page refreshes within roughly ten to twenty minutes (two stacked 600-second caches). Recency also shapes the ranking itself: mention weight decays with a 14-day half-life, so current usage counts more than last year's.

Are these affiliate recommendations?

No. Some links on this page, marked with an arrow, are affiliate links, and if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That revenue has no path into the ranking: positions, trending scores and sponsorship labels are computed exclusively from creator-mention data. The full disclosure, in FTC wording and the German paragraph 5a UWG wording, sits on this page above the list.

Where do these creator mentions come from?

From public content by the creators we track: YouTube videos, podcast episodes, X posts and newsletters. When a tracked creator mentions a tool there, we ingest the mention together with its receipt: a source link, a timestamp or position, a quote of at most 120 characters, and a sponsorship classification. Rankings are computed exclusively from that mention data; money never changes them.

What do creators use to run their projects?

Notion is the most-adopted tool for this among creators we track, used by 38 creators (87% of its mentions organic over the past 90 days). This ranking counts real, receipt-backed creator usage — no editorial opinion, no paid placement.

Spans: 2 categories · ranked by active tracked creators

Affiliate links · Werbung›

Affiliate disclosure: links marked with ↗ on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This never influences rankings, trending scores or organic/sponsored labels — those are computed exclusively from creator-mention data.

Werbehinweis gemäß §5a UWG: Mit ↗ markierte Links auf dieser Seite sind Affiliate-Links (Werbung). Bei einem Kauf über diese Links erhalten wir eine Provision; für Sie entstehen keine Mehrkosten. Dies hat niemals Einfluss auf Rankings, Trend-Scores oder Organisch/Gesponsert-Kennzeichnungen — diese werden ausschließlich aus Creator-Erwähnungsdaten berechnet.

1
NotionNote-taking & PKM
Connected workspace combining notes, documents, wikis and databases. Pages are built from blocks and can embed tables, boards and calendars; teams and solo creators use it for planning, documentation and content pipelines. Includes the Notion AI add-on.
38 active creators · 87 mentions · 87% organic (past 90 days) · Free plan; paid plans from ~$10/user/month
“Get My Notion Templates” — Better Creating source ↗
try Notion receipts →
2
NotebookLMNote-taking & PKM
Research notebook that answers only from the documents you upload, and cites the passage behind every answer.
21 active creators · 45 mentions · 89% organic (past 90 days)
“how you can use NotebookLM to research, structure, and build the foundation” — Success With Sam source ↗
try NotebookLM receipts →
3
GranolaNote-taking & PKM
Meeting notepad that listens along, fills in around your own bullet points and summarises afterwards.
19 active creators · 28 mentions · 32% organic (past 90 days)
“📝 Granola → Your meeting brain. Captures conversations and turns them into structured notes without a bot joining your c” — Aishwarya Srinivasan source ↗
try Granola receipts →
4
Google CalendarProject Management
Calendar with shared events, invitations and suggested meeting times.
17 active creators · 17 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days)
“Level 1: I connect Google Calendar and ask Claude what it sees.” — Tiago Forte source ↗
try Google Calendar receipts →
5
Google SheetsNote-taking & PKM
Browser spreadsheet with shared editing, formulas and links into the rest of Google Workspace.
14 active creators · 23 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days)
“I created a functional CRM and business toolkit with Google Sheets called Sheetify CRM that connects to Google Workspace” — Stewart Gauld source ↗
try Google Sheets receipts →
6
ExcelNote-taking & PKM
Microsoft's spreadsheet, with formulas, pivot tables and charts.
13 active creators · 41 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days)
“Learn Excel, SQL, Power BI + AI tools, build real dashboards” — WsCube Tech source ↗
try Excel receipts →
7
ObsidianNote-taking & PKM
Local-first Markdown note app built around bidirectional links and a graph view. Notes are plain files on disk, extended by thousands of community plugins. Optional paid services add end-to-end-encrypted sync and web publishing.
12 active creators · 18 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days) · Free for personal use; Sync ~$5/month, Publish ~$10/site/month
“I can build plugins for Obsidian far faster than I could keep building an app” — ICOR with Tom | AI Productivity source ↗
try Obsidian receipts →
8
Microsoft WordNote-taking & PKM
Microsoft's word processor, with styles, tracked changes and comments.
11 active creators · 11 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days)
“In this APA 7th edition tutorial I set up a complete student paper in Microsoft Word from scratch” — Andy Stapleton source ↗
try Microsoft Word receipts →
9
HubSpotProject Management
CRM with marketing, sales and service in one system.
9 active creators · 16 mentions · 69% organic (past 90 days)
“Get Hubspot’s LinkedIn Success Database: 50 Viral Posts Decoded here” — Lara Acosta source ↗
try HubSpot receipts →
10
AirtableProject Management
Spreadsheet-database hybrid for structured data: tables with rich field types, linked records, multiple views (grid, kanban, calendar) and automations. Creators use it for content calendars, sponsorship trackers and lightweight internal tools.
9 active creators · 15 mentions · 93% organic (past 90 days) · Free plan; Team from ~$20/user/month
try Airtable receipts →
11
Google DocsNote-taking & PKM
Browser word processor where several people write in the same document at once, with comments and version history.
8 active creators · 14 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days)
“You will see how Spark seamlessly integrates into your existing Google Workspace, interacting natively with Gmail, Googl” — ProgrammingKnowledge2 source ↗
try Google Docs receipts →
12
LinearProject Management
Fast, keyboard-driven issue tracker and project management tool for software teams. Covers issues, cycles, roadmaps and triage with opinionated defaults and deep Git integrations; widely adopted by startups and indie product teams.
7 active creators · 8 mentions · 63% organic (past 90 days) · Free plan; paid from ~$8/user/month
“Linear helps teams track issues, manage projects, collaborate on docs, and ship products” — ThePrimeTime source ↗
try Linear receipts →
13
TodoistProject Management
Task manager with projects, natural-language due dates and recurring tasks.
6 active creators · 53 mentions · 96% organic (past 90 days)
“Get Todoist here” — Carl Pullein source ↗
try Todoist receipts →
14
ClickUpProject Management
Work management with tasks, documents, goals and time tracking in one place.
6 active creators · 25 mentions · 88% organic (past 90 days)
“Team’s Project Management Tool (ClickUp)” — Modern Millie source ↗
try ClickUp receipts →
15
OdooProject Management
Open-source business suite of modules for ERP, CRM, accounting and ecommerce.
4 active creators · 16 mentions · 25% organic (past 90 days)
try Odoo receipts →
16
MiroProject Management
Infinite whiteboard for planning, sorting and sketching together.
4 active creators · 5 mentions · 80% organic (past 90 days)
“how Miro + MCP replaced Heptabase for visual thinking” — ICOR with Tom | AI Productivity source ↗
try Miro receipts →
17
MomentumProject Management
Browser new-tab dashboard with a daily focus, to-do list, weather and a photo backdrop.
2 active creators · 3 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days) · Free; Plus from ~$3/month
try Momentum receipts →
18
AkiflowProject Management
Pulls tasks in from many tools and blocks time for them directly in the calendar.
2 active creators · 4 mentions · 75% organic (past 90 days)
try Akiflow receipts →
19
TrelloProject Management
Kanban-board project tool from Atlassian. Cards move across lists to track work, extended by Power-Ups, automation rules and templates. Its simplicity keeps it popular with solo creators, small teams and personal planning.
1 active creators · 2 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days) · Free plan; paid from ~$5/user/month
try Trello receipts →
20
Roam ResearchNote-taking & PKM
Outliner-based networked note tool that popularized daily notes and bidirectional block references. Every bullet is an addressable block that can be embedded and linked across pages, aimed at researchers and writers building long-term knowledge graphs.
1 active creators · 1 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days) · ~$15/month or ~$165/year; long-term 'Believer' plan available
try Roam Research receipts →
21
AsanaProject Management
Work management platform for teams: tasks, projects, timelines, goals and workload views. Strong templates and reporting make it common in marketing and operations teams; integrates with Slack, Google Workspace and hundreds of other apps.
1 active creators · 1 mentions · 100% organic (past 90 days) · Free plan; Starter from ~$11/user/month
try Asana receipts →
22
ShortformNote-taking & PKM
Book summaries with commentary and cross-references to related titles.
1 active creators · 1 mentions · 0% organic (past 90 days)
try Shortform receipts →

FAQ

What tool do most creators use to run projects?: Notion is the most-adopted tool for this job among the creators we track: 38 tracked creators have an active usage record for it. 87% of its classified mentions are organic, meaning no sponsorship signal was found in them (mentions we cannot classify are excluded from that ratio). Adoption counts, not editorial opinion, order this list, and the receipts behind it are linked above.
What is the runner-up to Notion, and when is it the better choice?: NotebookLM is the runner-up with 21 active creators, against 38 for Notion, in the same category. We do not editorialize the gap. What the data offers: 89% of NotebookLM's classified mentions are organic, versus 87% for Notion. Read the receipts on both tool pages and weigh the quotes yourself; that is what they are there for.
How is this ranking decided?: By counting creators, not opinions. Every mention we ingest carries a receipt: a source link, a timestamp or position, a verbatim quote of at most 120 characters, and a sponsorship classification (organic, sponsored or ambiguous). The list orders tools by how many tracked creators actively use each one; organic mentions weigh four times more than sponsored ones in scoring. Affiliate links on this page have no path into that computation. Full detail is on the methodology page.
How fresh is this data?: The scores behind this ranking are snapshotted weekly, and the data behind the current list was computed on 14 Sept 2026, the same date the stamp at the bottom of this page shows. After a recompute, the page refreshes within roughly ten to twenty minutes (two stacked 600-second caches). Recency also shapes the ranking itself: mention weight decays with a 14-day half-life, so current usage counts more than last year's.
Are these affiliate recommendations?: No. Some links on this page, marked with an arrow, are affiliate links, and if you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. That revenue has no path into the ranking: positions, trending scores and sponsorship labels are computed exclusively from creator-mention data. The full disclosure, in FTC wording and the German paragraph 5a UWG wording, sits on this page above the list.
Where do these creator mentions come from?: From public content by the creators we track: YouTube videos, podcast episodes, X posts and newsletters. When a tracked creator mentions a tool there, we ingest the mention together with its receipt: a source link, a timestamp or position, a quote of at most 120 characters, and a sponsorship classification. Rankings are computed exclusively from that mention data; money never changes them.

data updated 14 Sept 2026