Heptabase
Heptabase is a cross-platform visual knowledge management tool that combines whiteboard-based note-taking, bi-directional links, and an AI Tutor agent to help students, researchers, and lifelong learners organize, connect, and study complex topics.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersLondon, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Heptabase does
Heptabase, operating as Hepta Platforms, Inc., is a visual knowledge management platform designed for students, researchers, and lifelong learners. The core product integrates a whiteboard-based visual canvas with block-based note editing, bi-directional linking, PDF annotation, daily journals, and web clipping into a unified knowledge base. The platform is built on a cross-platform architecture supporting Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and a web application, with all data synchronized through the cloud service at app.heptabase.com. Native integrations with Readwise (highlights synchronization) and Zotero (reference management) extend the platform's capabilities for readers and academic researchers, and a command-line interface (Heptabase CLI) provides integration with AI coding agents including Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex.
The company's primary AI capability is the AI Tutor, an autonomous agent that guides users through structured, personalized learning sessions by building course syllabi from user goals, breaking topics into adaptive lessons, tracking progress, conducting multi-source research across PDFs, YouTube, notes, and journals with citations, and organizing generated content on whiteboards. Heptabase operates a self-serve, product-led growth model with a 7-day free trial and subscription-based monetization for individual and team access, supported by community channels (Discord), content marketing (Medium, public wiki, gallery showcase), and earned media visibility through Product Hunt Golden Kitty and Top Post badges. The company is venture-backed by Y Combinator, Kleiner Perkins, HOF Capital, and Moving Capital, with $1.67M disclosed in a March 2022 round, and is led by CEO Yu An Chan alongside co-founder and Principal Product Designer YuChuan Wu. The team remains small at 1-10 employees as of the most recent data.
Heptabase firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Heptabase
- Legal name
- Hepta Platforms, Inc.
- Website
- https://heptabase.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Heptabase is a cross-platform visual knowledge management tool that combines whiteboard-based note-taking, bi-directional links, and an AI Tutor agent to help students, researchers, and lifelong learners organize, connect, and study complex topics.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Heptabase industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Knowledge Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI-Powered Tutoring & Study Assistant Platforms (EDANAGAD)
Keywords
Where Heptabase is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- London
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Heptabase business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription (SaaS): Annual and monthly subscription model for individual and team access to the Heptabase platform. The website references a pricing page (/pricing) and a 7-day free trial, indicating a recurring subscription revenue model. Specific tier pricing is on the pricing page but not detailed in this source content.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free trial available for new users |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Heptabase product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Heptabase sells a cross-platform visual knowledge base application that combines whiteboard-based spatial note-taking, block-based editing, bi-directional linking, PDF annotation, daily journals, and web clipping into a single product. Its embedded AI Tutor acts as an autonomous learning agent that builds personalized courses from user-supplied sources (PDFs, YouTube, notes, journals), conducts research with citations, and generates organized lesson notes on whiteboards. The platform is delivered via native desktop apps (Mac, Windows, Linux), mobile apps (iOS, Android), and a web app, with native integrations for Readwise, Zotero, and AI coding agents.
Product overview
Heptabase is an intelligent, visual knowledge base platform built for students, researchers, and lifelong learners. The core Heptabase platform integrates whiteboard-based visual note-taking, block-based editing, bi-directional linking, PDF annotation, daily journals, and web clipping into a unified system. AI Tutor, the primary AI-powered module, functions as an autonomous learning agent that builds personalized courses, conducts AI-powered research across multiple content types (PDFs, YouTube, notes, journals), and generates organized lesson notes. The product is available as cross-platform desktop applications (Mac, Windows, Linux), mobile apps (iOS, Android), and includes a CLI tool for AI assistant integration.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- AI Tutor: An AI agent feature within Heptabase that guides users through personalized learning sessions with structured curriculum and interactive lessons.
Products and services
- Heptabase Visual Knowledge Base Heptabase's core cross-platform visual knowledge base application that unifies whiteboard-based visual note-taking, block-based editing, bi-directional linking, PDF annotation, daily journals, web clipping, and AI-powered research into a single product. Delivered as native desktop apps (Mac, Windows, Linux), mobile apps (iOS, Android), and a web app. Targeted at students, researchers, and lifelong learners who need a connected personal knowledge management system.
- Heptabase AI Tutor An AI agent feature within the Heptabase platform that guides users toward their goals through structured, personalized learning sessions. It builds course syllabi from user goals, breaks topics into lessons, tracks progress, generates organized notes on whiteboards, and supports natural language Q&A with citations across PDFs, YouTube videos, notes, and journals. Targeted at students, researchers, and lifelong learners seeking AI-powered personalized tutoring and cited research.
Quantifiable outcome
- Search over 10,000 notes in less than a second
Companies that use Heptabase
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Heptabase technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability8 records
Feature10 records
Heptabase partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- ReadwisecoreReadwise is a reading highlights management service integrated with Heptabase. The integration allows users to sync their Readwise highlights into Heptabase as source cards, keeping reading highlights organized within the visual knowledge base.
- ZoterocoreZotero is a reference management and citation platform integrated with Heptabase. The integration enables users to browse their Zotero tag collection within Heptabase and create source cards from Zotero library items, connecting research materials directly into the knowledge base.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Heptabase competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Logseq: Logseq is an open-source, outliner-first PKM tool with bi-directional links and a block-based editor. It competes directly with Heptabase for privacy-conscious and researcher users who value local-first storage.
- Mem: Mem is an AI-first note-taking app that auto-organizes notes using embeddings and AI search. It targets the same AI-PKM niche as Heptabase and competes on intelligent knowledge surfacing rather than visual canvas.
- Obsidian: Obsidian is a markdown-based knowledge base with bi-directional links and a strong visual graph view, targeting the same students/researchers/PKM enthusiasts. It is Heptabase's closest head-to-head competitor on the connected-note-taking axis, though Obsidian currently lacks a built-in AI Tutor and whiteboard.
- Roam Research: Roam pioneered bi-directional linking and networked note-taking for researchers and writers. It targets the same PKM-focused audience as Heptabase but has struggled with performance and pricing, leaving room for Heptabase's visual and AI-forward alternative.
Emerging players
- RemNote: RemNote combines note-taking with spaced-repetition learning and AI features, aimed at students and lifelong learners. It overlaps with Heptabase's AI Tutor use cases for structured studying from source materials.
- Reflect: Reflect is an AI-native note-taking app with bi-directional links, daily notes, and GPT-powered search, targeting individual knowledge workers. It is comparable to Heptabase on the AI-enhanced PKM axis but lacks a visual whiteboard.
- Tana: Tana is an emerging supertag-based knowledge management platform with AI-assisted capture and structuring. It targets the same power-user PKM segment and overlaps with Heptabase on AI-driven knowledge workflows.
Broad incumbents
- Evernote: Evernote is a long-established note-taking and clipping tool with broad consumer reach. It overlaps with Heptabase on notes, web clipping, and cross-platform sync, but lacks AI Tutor and visual whiteboard capabilities.
- Notion: Notion is a broad productivity workspace with databases, docs, and Notion AI, serving teams and individuals for note-taking and knowledge management. It overlaps with Heptabase on notes and structured information but lacks the visual whiteboard canvas and deep PKM graph features.
- Miro: Miro is a leading collaborative whiteboard platform used by teams for visual thinking and ideation. Customers compare Heptabase directly to Miro for its whiteboard canvas, though Heptabase is positioned for individual knowledge work rather than team workshops.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks1 record
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Heptabase social profiles
Digital presenceHeptabase financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Heptabase leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Heptabase funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Heptabase M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Heptabase
What does Heptabase do?
Heptabase sells a cross-platform visual knowledge base application that combines whiteboard-based spatial note-taking, block-based editing, bi-directional linking, PDF annotation, daily journals, and web clipping into a single product. Its embedded AI Tutor acts as an autonomous learning agent that builds personalized courses from user-supplied sources (PDFs, YouTube, notes, journals), conducts research with citations, and generates organized lesson notes on whiteboards. The platform is delivered via native desktop apps (Mac, Windows, Linux), mobile apps (iOS, Android), and a web app, with native integrations for Readwise, Zotero, and AI coding agents.
Is Heptabase a public or private company?
Heptabase is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Heptabase founded?
Heptabase was founded in 2021. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Heptabase based?
Heptabase is headquartered in London, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Heptabase make money?
One revenue line is on record: subscription (SaaS).
Who are Heptabase's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Logseq, Mem, Obsidian and Roam Research. Emerging players are RemNote, Reflect and Tana. Broad incumbents are Evernote, Notion and Miro.
Does Heptabase have an API?
No public API is recorded for Heptabase.
What industry is Heptabase in?
Heptabase's product category is Knowledge Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDANAGAD, AI-Powered Tutoring & Study Assistant Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.