Capacities
Capacities Labs GmbH is a bootstrapped German software company that builds an object-based note-taking and personal knowledge management application for individual knowledge workers, offered on desktop and mobile with freemium and Pro tiers, AI-assisted features, and MCP integration.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersSankt Wendel, Germany
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Capacities does
Capacities Labs GmbH is a Germany-incorporated, privately held software company that develops Capacities, an object-based note-taking and personal knowledge management application. Founded in 2020 and operated as a bootstrapped business with no venture capital funding, the company targets individual knowledge workers — writers, researchers, students, developers, and founders — who want to capture, organize, and connect ideas without maintaining folder hierarchies. The product is offered on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and the web, and is reported to serve over 50,000 knowledge workers globally, supported by an active Discord community of more than 10,000 members.
The core technology centers on an "object" data model in which any item — a person, book, project, meeting, or idea — is a structured entity with typed properties that can be linked to any other object, producing a living, bi-directional knowledge graph. The platform includes daily notes as a frictionless capture surface, a graph view, smart queries that organize content by condition, calendar integration (Google Calendar, Outlook), task management with sync to Todoist, Things, TickTick, Apple Reminders, and Google Tasks, and reading integrations (Readwise, Kindle, Web Highlights). The AI surface includes a context-aware AI Assistant, multimodal image analysis with OCR, semantic Search 3.0, Related Content, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) based AI Chat Connectors that expose the user's space to ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and Le Chat, with AI Chat Connectors 2.0 extending support to agentic write actions.
The business model is freemium and product-led. The free tier provides unlimited spaces, objects, blocks, full-text search, offline support, and 5 GB of media; the Pro tier at $9.99 per month (or approximately $8.33 per month billed annually) adds the AI Assistant, smart queries, calendar and task integration, API access, and integrations; and the Believer tier starting at $12.49 per month adds beta access and is positioned as a patronage tier funding independent development. Distribution is entirely self-serve through the company website and major app stores, with payments processed via Paddle.com and the Apple/Google stores. The legal entity (Capacities Labs GmbH, HRB 735669) is registered in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, and the company operates with a small, fully remote team of approximately seven people distributed across Europe. Revenue, headcount growth, and unit economics are not publicly disclosed.
Capacities firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Capacities
- Legal name
- Capacities Labs GmbH
- Website
- https://capacities.io
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Capacities Labs GmbH is a bootstrapped German software company that builds an object-based note-taking and personal knowledge management application for individual knowledge workers, offered on desktop and mobile with freemium and Pro tiers, AI-assisted features, and MCP integration.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Capacities industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Personal Knowledge Management Software
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Data App Builders (Forms, Portals & Internal Tools) (HDAEAKAK), OCR, ICR & Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) (BPAAAKAB)
Keywords
Where Capacities is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Sankt Wendel
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Capacities business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription Revenue (Capacities Pro): Monthly or annual subscription ($9.99/month or ~$8.33/month billed annually) providing access to AI assistant, smart queries, calendar integration, task management, reading integrations, unlimited media uploads, curated icons, API access, and Raycast integration.
- Subscription Revenue (Capacities Believer): Higher-tier subscription (from $12.49/month billed annually) including all Pro features plus beta access to major new features. Revenue directly funds independence and development.
- Free Tier: Free forever plan with unlimited spaces, objects, blocks, sync, custom object types, import/export, save from WhatsApp/Telegram/Twitter/email, view-only sharing, full-text search, offline support, and 5 GB total media storage (100 MB/month after). Serves as acquisition channel.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free forever with essential features |
| Subscription | Annual | Professional plan with AI, queries, calendar, and task management |
| Subscription | Annual | Support plan for backers with beta access |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Capacities product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Capacities is an object-based note-taking and personal knowledge management application for individual users. Everything a user captures — people, books, projects, ideas, meetings, tasks — becomes a structured 'object' with properties and bi-directional links to other objects, forming a living graph of the user's knowledge. The application is delivered as a cross-platform app (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, iPadOS, Android, Web) with daily notes as a frictionless inbox, a graph view, AI Assistant with context awareness, Smart Queries, calendar and task integrations, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) connectors to external AI assistants.
Product overview
Capacities is a single unified product—a knowledge management application positioned as 'a studio for your mind.' The core product offers object-based note-taking with networked notes, bi-directional links, graph view, and daily notes. The portfolio consists of the free Capacities Basic tier (core features with limits), and two paid tiers: Capacities Pro ($9.99/month) and Capacities Believer ($12.49/month). Pro adds AI Assistant, Smart Queries, Calendar Integration, Task Management, Reading Integrations, AI Chat Connectors (via MCP), API access, Image Analysis, Search 3.0, and Related Content. Believer includes all Pro features plus beta access to upcoming features. The product runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and Web.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Capacities (Knowledge Management Application) Object-based note-taking and personal knowledge management application available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Web. Turns notes into connected objects (people, books, projects, ideas, meetings) with bi-directional links, backlinks, graph view, daily notes inbox, AI Assistant, Smart Queries, calendar and task integrations, Reading Integrations (Readwise, Kindle), Bulk Import, Image Analysis, Search 3.0, Related Content, and AI Chat Connectors via MCP. Targets individual knowledge workers globally.
- Capacities Public API Public developer API accessible to Pro subscribers that enables developers to read, change, and create content in Capacities programmatically. Documentation at docs.capacities.io supports building tools and connectors to other apps.
Quantifiable outcome
- Trusted by 50,000+ knowledge workers
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Capacities
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Capacities technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration19 records
AI capability10 records
Feature11 records
Capacities partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Readwise & ReadercoreSelectively import documents from Readwise or Reader. Highlights sync and stay organized by chapter. Users choose what to bring in without information overload.
- KindlecoreDirect Kindle import via email. Chapter structure and highlight colors are preserved. No extra subscription needed for basic Kindle integration.
- Google CalendarcoreCalendar events appear alongside daily notes and tasks. Automatic meeting object creation with context from related notes and previous meetings.
- Outlook CalendarcoreCalendar integration similar to Google Calendar, showing events alongside daily notes.
- Todoist, Things, TickTick, Apple Reminders, Google TaskscoreTask actions allow creating and syncing tasks with popular task management apps from within Capacities.
- OpenAI, Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), Mistral, xAIcoreMultiple LLM providers supported for Capacities AI. Users can choose their preferred model, including options hosted in European data centers.
- Model Context Protocol (MCP) Ecosystem (ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Le Chat)coreConnect Capacities space to external AI assistants via MCP standard. AI can search notes, read objects, create pages/tasks, update properties, and link objects in responses.
- Media Lab BayernminorAcknowledged as a supporter of Capacities. Listed among company supporters on the website.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Capacities competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Notion: All-in-one workspace that combines documents, databases, and AI. Like Capacities, Notion offers structured pages with links, templates, and databases, and targets individual knowledge workers as well as teams. The two compete most directly on PKM-style use cases.
- Obsidian: Local-first Markdown knowledge base built on linked notes, backlinks, and a plugin ecosystem. Obsidian is the closest competitor to Capacities in the networked-notes category and has a substantially larger user base and community of plugin developers.
- Roam Research: Pioneer of bi-directional linking and graph view for networked note-taking. Roam directly shaped the PKM category that Capacities targets and remains a reference point for graph-based knowledge workflows.
- Craft: Apple-first document and notes app with structured blocks, daily notes, and visual document management. Craft overlaps with Capacities on aesthetics, block-based daily notes, and the prosumer segment, especially on macOS and iOS.
- Logseq: Open-source, local-first outliner and PKM tool using bi-directional links, blocks, and queries. Logseq targets the same knowledge-worker segment as Capacities with strong privacy and data-ownership positioning.
- Anytype: Local-first, encrypted PKM and productivity app built around object-based data modeling with relations and sets — architecturally the closest open competitor to Capacities' object model, with strong privacy/EU-hosting overlap.
- Bear: Apple-platform Markdown notes app with tags, nested organization, and a clean editor. Bear competes with Capacities for individual writers and knowledge workers who value a lightweight, polished note-taking experience.
Emerging players
- Tana: Outline-based knowledge tool pioneering super-tags and structured nodes. Tana targets the same power-user PKM segment as Capacities with a comparable emphasis on turning free-form notes into structured, queryable objects.
Broad incumbents
- Evernote: Long-standing notes and clipping app with broad consumer and team adoption. Evernote is an incumbent alternative for the same individual note-taking segment Capacities targets, with web clipping, search, and task features.
- Microsoft Loop: Microsoft's collaborative Loop components integrated into Microsoft 365. Loop competes with Capacities for the productivity and knowledge-organization use cases, especially inside organizations standardized on Microsoft tools.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Capacities social profiles
Digital presenceCapacities compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Capacities financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Capacities leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Capacities funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Capacities 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 Capacities
What does Capacities do?
Capacities is an object-based note-taking and personal knowledge management application for individual users. Everything a user captures — people, books, projects, ideas, meetings, tasks — becomes a structured 'object' with properties and bi-directional links to other objects, forming a living graph of the user's knowledge. The application is delivered as a cross-platform app (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, iPadOS, Android, Web) with daily notes as a frictionless inbox, a graph view, AI Assistant with context awareness, Smart Queries, calendar and task integrations, and Model Context Protocol (MCP) connectors to external AI assistants.
Is Capacities a public or private company?
Capacities is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Capacities founded?
Capacities was founded in 2020. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Capacities based?
Capacities is headquartered in Sankt Wendel, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Capacities make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription Revenue (Capacities Pro) is the primary driver. The others are subscription Revenue (Capacities Believer) and free Tier.
Who are Capacities's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Notion, Obsidian, Roam Research, Craft, Logseq, Anytype and Bear. Tana is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Evernote and Microsoft Loop.
Does Capacities have an API?
Yes. Capacities offers a public API accessible to Pro users. The API allows developers to read, change, and create content in Capacities programmatically. An extensive API enables developers to create tools and connectors to other apps. AI Chat Connectors allow users to connect their Capacities space to AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and more using the Model Context Protocol (MCP) standard. Developer documentation is at docs.capacities.io.
What industry is Capacities in?
Capacities's product category is Personal Knowledge Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEANAJ, AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs), with a secondary code of HDAEAKAK, Data App Builders (Forms, Portals & Internal Tools). Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.