# Achriom vs Notion for Tracking Your Media

**Published:** April 29, 2026
**Author:** Achriom Team
**URL:** https://www.achriom.com/blog/achriom-vs-notion-media-tracking

> Should you use Notion or Achriom to track your books, movies, and music? A fair comparison of flexibility vs. purpose-built tools.

**Tags:** comparison, notion, productivity

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Notion can do anything. That's its strength and its problem.

You *can* build a media tracker in Notion. People do. Custom databases, relation properties, gallery views - it works.

But should you?

This is a fair comparison of using Notion vs. Achriom for tracking books, movies, and music. We'll cover what each is good at and who should use what.

## What Notion Is

Notion is an all-in-one workspace: notes, databases, wikis, project management, docs. It's Lego blocks for productivity.

If you want to track media in Notion, you build it yourself:
1. Create a database
2. Add properties (title, creator, rating, status, etc.)
3. Set up views (gallery, table, calendar)
4. Manually add each item

You can customize everything. That's the appeal.

## What Achriom Is

Achriom is a purpose-built media library with an AI librarian.

You don't build the structure - it's already there. You add items (manually, by camera scan, or import), rate them, and talk to the AI about your collection.

You can't customize the database schema. That's the trade-off for having it work immediately.

## The Flexibility vs. Purpose-Built Spectrum

| What You Want | Use Notion | Use Achriom |
|---------------|------------|-------------|
| Total control over structure | ✅ | ❌ |
| Works out of the box | ❌ | ✅ |
| Custom fields and properties | ✅ | ❌ |
| Automatic metadata (cover art, cast, etc.) | ❌ | ✅ |
| Build your own views | ✅ | ❌ |
| AI that understands your taste | ❌ | ✅ |
| Camera scanning | ❌ | ✅ |
| Import from Goodreads/Letterboxd | ❌ (manual) | ✅ (automated) |
| Integrate with other workflows | ✅ | ❌ |

Neither is better. They're designed for different use cases.

## When Notion Makes Sense

### You're Already Using Notion

If your life is in Notion - notes, projects, goals, reading lists - adding a media database feels natural. Everything stays in one place.

### You Want Custom Properties

Maybe you track:
- Where you bought a book
- Who recommended it
- What room it's in
- Whether you've lent it out

Notion lets you add any field. Achriom doesn't.

### You Like Building Systems

Some people enjoy designing databases. Choosing properties, setting up filters, tweaking views. Notion is excellent for this.

It's satisfying to build something that works exactly how you want.

### You Track More Than Media

Notion can also track:
- Your reading goals
- Quotes and highlights
- Book clubs and discussions
- Gift ideas based on people's taste

Everything connects. You can link a book to a person to a gift idea to a calendar event.

Achriom only tracks media. If you need broader integration, Notion wins.

## When Achriom Makes Sense

### You Want to Start Immediately

Open Achriom. Add a book. It pulls in the cover, author, description, and genre automatically. You rate it. Done.

In Notion, you'd need to:
1. Create the database structure
2. Add properties
3. Manually find and paste cover art
4. Type the author, genre, and description
5. Set up views

Achriom removes all that setup. It just works.

### You Have a Large Collection

Adding 200 books to Notion means:
- 200 manual entries
- 200 cover art uploads
- Typing 200 titles, authors, and details

In Achriom:
- Scan your bookshelf with your camera (47 books in under a minute)
- Or import your Goodreads library in one click

Metadata comes automatically. Achriom is built for large collections.

### You Want AI Insights

Notion can't do this:

> "What patterns do you notice in my collection?"
> "Recommend something based on my highest-rated books."
> "What books inspired movies I loved?"

Achriom's AI librarian knows your entire collection and can have real conversations about it.

Notion's AI can summarize notes or generate text, but it doesn't understand your taste across all your media.

### You Don't Need Custom Fields

If you just want to track:
- Title
- Creator
- Rating
- Status (want to, reading, finished)
- Notes

Then Achriom gives you exactly that. No need to build it.

## Real-World Scenarios

### Scenario 1: The Notion Power User

You're a productivity enthusiast. Your entire life is in Notion: tasks, goals, journals, book notes, gift ideas.

You want your media tracker to link to your "Recommendations Given" database and your "Annual Goals" page.

**Use Notion.** The integration matters more than convenience.

### Scenario 2: The Casual Reader

You read 20 books a year. You want to remember what you've read and maybe rate favorites.

You don't want to spend an hour setting up a database. You just want it to work.

**Use Achriom.** The setup friction in Notion isn't worth it for casual use.

### Scenario 3: The Collector

You have 500 books, 200 movies, and 150 albums. Manually adding them to Notion would take days.

You want AI recommendations and cross-media insights.

**Use Achriom.** Camera scanning and imports save hours. The AI makes large collections useful, not just cataloged.

### Scenario 4: The Tinkerer

You love customization. You want a "Read in 2026" filter. A "Books by Decade" gallery. A "Lent To" field for tracking who borrowed what.

You enjoy building systems and iterating on them.

**Use Notion.** The flexibility is exactly what you want.

### Scenario 5: The Cross-Media Enthusiast

You consume books, movies, and music. You want to see connections:
- "What books inspired movies I loved?"
- "What albums came out the same year as my favorite novels?"

You don't want three separate databases.

**Use Achriom.** It's designed for unified media tracking with AI that understands cross-media patterns.

## Setup Time Comparison

### Setting Up Notion Media Tracker

**Estimated time: 2-4 hours for initial setup**

1. Create databases (Books, Movies, Music)
2. Add properties (Title, Creator, Rating, Status, Genre, Year, Cover Art, etc.)
3. Set up views (Gallery, Table, Filtered views)
4. Add first 10-20 items manually
5. Upload cover art for each
6. Tweak layout and filters

Then, ongoing maintenance:
- Manual entry for each new item (~2-3 minutes per item)
- Finding and uploading cover art
- Typing metadata

**Pros:**
- Fully custom to your needs
- Integrates with other Notion pages

**Cons:**
- High upfront cost
- Ongoing manual work for metadata

### Setting Up Achriom

**Estimated time: 5-10 minutes**

1. Sign up
2. Import Goodreads/Letterboxd library (optional)
3. Or scan your bookshelf with camera
4. Start using it

Then, ongoing maintenance:
- Search and add items (~10 seconds per item)
- Or scan shelves (~1 second per item)
- Metadata automatic

**Pros:**
- Instant start
- Low ongoing friction

**Cons:**
- No customization
- Doesn't integrate with other tools

## Data Portability

**Notion:**
You can export your database as CSV or Markdown. You own the data structure.

**Achriom:**
You can export your library as CSV. Ratings, statuses, and notes come with you.

Both allow you to leave if you want.

## Cost Comparison

**Notion:**
- Free tier: Limited blocks (may hit limit with large media databases)
- Plus: $8/month (unlimited blocks)

**Achriom:**
- Free tier: unlimited items, 10 AI chats/month
- Pro: $9.99/month or $99/year (unlimited items and chats)

Similar pricing for full use.

## The Hybrid Approach

Some people use both:

**Notion for:**
- Reading goals and challenges
- Book notes and highlights
- Book club discussions

**Achriom for:**
- Library tracking and cataloging
- AI recommendations
- Cross-media insights

This avoids duplication (tracking the same book in two places) by separating catalog (Achriom) from notes and goals (Notion).

## What You're Really Choosing

This isn't Notion vs. Achriom. It's:

**Build vs. Buy**
Notion is the "build your own" tool. Achriom is the "already built" tool.

**Flexibility vs. Convenience**
Notion can do anything you design. Achriom does one thing well.

**Integration vs. Specialization**
Notion fits into your broader system. Achriom is a standalone tool.

Pick based on what matters more to you.

## Decision Framework

Ask yourself:

**Do I enjoy building and customizing tools?**
- Yes → Notion
- No → Achriom

**Is my entire workflow already in Notion?**
- Yes → Stay in Notion
- No → Achriom

**Do I have hundreds of items to add?**
- Yes → Achriom (camera scanning + imports)
- No → Either works

**Do I want AI recommendations and insights?**
- Yes → Achriom
- No → Either works

**Do I need custom fields beyond title/creator/rating/status?**
- Yes → Notion
- No → Achriom

**Do I track media beyond books/movies/music (e.g., games, recipes, travel)?**
- Yes → Notion
- No → Achriom

## The Honest Truth

If you're reading this, you're probably deciding whether to migrate *from* Notion *to* Achriom, or vice versa.

**From Notion to Achriom:**
You're tired of manual entry. You want AI insights. You want camera scanning. You're willing to give up customization for convenience.

This is a valid move.

**From Achriom to Notion:**
You want custom fields. You need tighter integration with your productivity system. You're willing to do manual work for flexibility.

This is also valid.

**Neither is wrong.** They're designed for different people.

## Try Before Committing

Both have free tiers. Test them:

1. Add 10 items to each
2. Rate them
3. Try to get a recommendation or insight
4. See which interface you prefer

You'll know within 20 minutes which feels right.

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*Want to try Achriom's purpose-built media tracking? [Start for free](https://app.achriom.com) and import your library in minutes.*