What is BlockNote?
BlockNote is an open-source, Notion-style editor designed for collaborative apps. It includes real-time multiplayer by default and is built on top of Tiptap, which itself is built on ProseMirror.
So if you’re using BlockNote, you're using an abstraction on top of an abstraction, which makes it easier to get started but harder to customize deeply.
It’s great for teams who want a pre-built editing experience that “just works,” especially for productivity tools and note-taking apps.
How Tiptap is different
Tiptap gives you direct access to the primitives underneath, no black box.
While BlockNote offers a polished UI, Tiptap is better suited for teams building:
- Custom workflows
- Structured content editors
- Real-time collaborative apps
- AI-powered features
- Enterprise deployments
Here’s what sets it apart:
- Headless and framework-agnostic (React, Vue, Vanilla)
- Custom extension system to control schema and logic
- More transparent architecture
- AI-friendly structure: You control the document tree and content semantics
- Enterprise features: SSO, audit logs, on-prem support
Feature comparison
| Feature |
Tiptap |
BlockNote |
| Based on ProseMirror |
✅ |
✅ (via Tiptap) |
| Built on Tiptap |
— |
✅ |
| Notion-style UI |
✅ |
✅ |
| Real-Time Collaboration |
✅ (Yjs, pluggable) |
✅ (built-in) |
| AI Support / Integration |
✅ (full control of content tree & schema) |
⚠️ (depends on structure) |
| React Support |
✅ |
✅ |
| Vue Support |
✅ |
❌ |
| Framework Agnostic |
✅ |
❌ |
| Headless Architecture |
✅ |
❌ |
| Custom Extensions |
✅ |
⚠️ (limited) |
| Enterprise Features |
✅ |
❌ |
| Usage in Embedded Editors |
✅ |
⚠️ (heavier footprint) |
| Custom Blocks & Extensions |
✅ |
⚠️ (limited APIs) |
| Community / Ecosystem |
Large (25k+ stars) |
Niche but growing |
When to use BlockNote
- You want a Notion-style editor out of the box
- You’re building a simple notes or docs app
- You want collaboration without configuring CRDTs
- You don’t need to customize the editor deeply
When to use Tiptap
- You want full control over UI, schema, and data
- You need to embed the editor into a larger product
- You’re building structured editing workflows or modular blocks
- You’re an enterprise team requiring audit logs, or on-prem deployment
- You want to scale up from OSS to Cloud or custom infra
Summary
BlockNote is a great option if you want a collaborative Notion-like experience quickly.
But if you need full control, multi-framework support, or fewer abstractions between you and your editor logic, Tiptap gives you the building blocks to create your ideal editing experience.
Want to build your own block-based, AI-ready editor with multiplayer support?
Start with Tiptap’s Collaboration Guide or explore our AI integration patterns.
Note: We’ve done our best to provide an accurate, respectful comparison based on publicly available information as of publishing. If you work on BlockNote and spot anything that’s out of date or incorrect, we’d love to fix it — just email us at growth@tiptap.dev.
