Compose.page vs Notion Pages: Which Should You Use for Public Docs?

Both Compose.page and Notion give creators tools to publish content—but they target different needs. If you're deciding where to host public documentation or a knowledge base, this comparison helps you pick the right tool based on performance, SEO, editing experience, and flexibility.

Edit experience and workflow

Notion excels at collaborative document creation. Its block editor is versatile for internal docs and ad-hoc pages. Compose.page, in contrast, is focused on publishing: it streamlines templates, front-end presentation, and integrations for public-facing pages.

Who should pick Notion?

• Teams that need real-time collaboration and an internal wiki.
• Projects where documents evolve quickly and versioning inside the editor matters.

Who should pick Compose.page?

• Creators who want fast, optimized public pages with custom styling.
• Products prioritizing SEO, page speed, and custom domains.

SEO and discoverability

Search engines still value clean HTML, fast load times, and structured metadata. Compose.page provides control over meta tags, open graph images, and sitemaps. Notion’s public pages are indexed, but you have less control over the markup and meta management. For documentation that needs to be discoverable and appear prominently in search, Compose.page has the edge.

Performance and caching

Compose.page typically serves pre-rendered pages with global CDN caching. Notion serves content from a heavier front-end, which can lead to slower initial paint. If performance and low bounce rates are essential, Compose.page’s streamlined delivery is preferable.

Customizability and layouts

Notion is conceptually flexible through blocks but limited when you want layout-level customizations for branding and advanced components. Compose.page allows embedding custom blocks, CSS overrides, and template-level customization. If you want full control over typography, spacing, or microinteractions, Compose.page makes that easier.

Integrations and developer friendliness

Compose.page often exposes APIs, webhooks, and richer integration surfaces for publishing flows—making it a better fit for sites that need automated builds, CI/CD, or custom deployment pipelines. Notion's API is improving but typically requires extra steps to sync content to a static frontend.

“Choose the tool that aligns with your primary goal: internal collaboration or public reach.”

Pricing and ownership

Consider domain ownership and exportability. Notion pages are bound to Notion's hosting; exporting to a static site requires an additional step. Compose.page encourages using custom domains and makes exporting/publishing straightforward. For long-term ownership and brand control, Compose.page is friendlier.

When to combine both

An effective pattern is to use Notion for internal drafts and Compose.page for the public-facing, optimized documentation. Teams can publish finalized content from Notion to Compose.page via an export pipeline or by manually transferring content. This hybrid model gives creators the best of both worlds: flexible editing and high-performance delivery.

Final verdict

If your primary goal is internal knowledge management, productivity, and collaborative editing, Notion wins. If you're focused on building public documentation, improving SEO, and delivering fast pages with brand control, Compose.page is the better choice. Many successful projects use both: draft in Notion, publish in Compose.page.

Recommendation: Start with your biggest priority. If discoverability and speed matter more than collaborative features, pick Compose.page. Otherwise, consider Notion first and plan for a publishing workflow to a static host when you go public.