Reviewed by Francesco D'Alessio
Microsoft Loop Review (2024)
Best Features, Pricing, Alternatives & Verdict
Talked about as the replacement to Notion, is Microsoft Loop a competitive app in 2024?
What is Microsoft Loop?
Microsoft Loop is a flexible workspace app for teams that use Microsoft 365 to collaborate and work together on projects in real-time.
Used by over 100,000 teams worldwide — Try it now for free / No credit card needed
Run all your work on one platform with customizable products that scale with your needs.
What does Microsoft Loop do?
Main features include pages and components. Think of Microsoft Loop as a way to handle everything in your account by compiling things together in a binder type app that brings collaboration into real time for better focus.
Microsoft Loop has been designed for the hybrid working world, you can co-create with your team seamlessly within Microsoft Loop and stay up to date with each other. One of the key features of Microsoft Loop are the Loop components help to connect in real-time between apps inside the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
What are Microsoft Loop Components?
Inside Loop, there is a feature called "Loop Components" that brings to life things you create like tables, boards, text, and more allowing them to be pasted into other Microsoft 365 apps for real-time use. Here's an example of Microsoft Loop components in action:
Think about your next Microsoft Teams meeting and using a Loop component to take meeting notes that can be collaborated in real-time on in both Loop and Teams, but also other apps like OneNote and more.
Microsoft Loop Pros: Best Features
What is the good and what is the great within Microsoft Loop to consider.
1. Loop Components
Loop Components are the real sparkle in Microsoft Loop. Think of Loop Components as the glue between Microsoft 365 applications to better collaborate without borders. This is probably one of the best Microsoft inventions in the last 5 years when it comes to productivity software and was formerly called Fluid Framework or Microsoft Fluid.
For teams collaborating in multiple places like Microsoft Teams and OneNote, having Loop components that can be edited elsewhere in real-time makes for a seamless way to keep information up to date or projects more border-less.
Used by over 100,000 teams worldwide — Try it now for free / No credit card needed
Run all your work on one platform with customizable products that scale with your needs.
2. Ideas
This feature is really nice for half-baked ideas you're not happy with sharing to the team just yet and this makes it a great almost drafts area to plan and flesh them out before pitching or bringing them into the Microsoft Loop workspace for later.
You can create ideas from templates and better manage them from here and even have shared ideas which is great for a small set of users who want to build an idea out but maybe not happy to share it to a manager or boss just yet.
3. Real Time Collaboration
Collaboration is very smart in Microsoft Loop pages as you can see when others are interacting with elements and see what they are writing too, a little more crafted than tools like Notion for seeing real-time collaboration.
This makes it very good for hybrid and remote teams that are looking to get that living and breathing document feel that they can collaborate together. A small but nice to have.
Microsoft Loop Cons: Not So Good Bits
Let's look at what isn't so amazing with Microsoft Loop and where it falls short.
1. Databases Abilities
Notion has a stellar range and depth of database abilities. You can take anything from a table in Notion and craft it into a scalable project management app that teams and others can collaborate and build their own views.
This is what Microsoft Loop lacks. The ability to create databases. You can create tables, task lists and other blocks in Microsoft Loop but nothing comes in comparison with the extensive database abilities in Notion that could be within this application. For many people this might the complexity they don't need which might make Microsoft Loop more appealing.
2. Must Be Sold in Microsoft 365
With Microsoft Loop still in preview, the real honest truth is you need to be sold on the whole Microsoft 365 apps for your team first. This is very much a team tool and the more you use Microsoft 365, the more relevant Microsoft Loop will be as a solution.
This solution itself isn't a bad thing by all means, the more you use 365 makes Loop better - a win all round, but this is something to be aware of when exploring it as an option.
Used by over 100,000 teams worldwide — Try it now for free / No credit card needed
Run all your work on one platform with customizable products that scale with your needs.
Microsoft Loop Pricing
Let's look into how much Microsoft Loop actually costs for teams.
How much does Microsoft Loop cost?
The current price is free. Microsoft Loop can be added to workspaces, the additional pricing for the software is yet to be revealed as of October 2023.
Microsoft Loop Verdict
For teams within Microsoft 365, Microsoft Loop is a nice add-on experience.
Microsoft Loop is best suited for people needed to work in a hybrid fashion across their team. This could be a marketing and sales team, a larger team working on multiple projects, or even a small business wanting to keep everyone in the ‘loop’.
In terms of rivaling the likes of Notion - right now, it doesn't. Microsoft Loop is still growing and relies a lot of the building blocks between apps like Microsoft Teams, OneNote & more.
How do I get Microsoft Loop for our team?
Microsoft Loop does need activating by the team administration so you won't get access right away. We recommend exploring this Microsoft Loop setup guide to get started.
Best Microsoft Loop Alternatives
What is Microsoft Loop comparable to? We've picked out a handful of the best Microsoft Loop alternatives that we think should be considered.
- Notion - The most popular Microsoft Loop alternative thanks to their popularity with individuals and build your own workspace set-ups with advanced databases.
- Coda - Good alternative to Notion and Microsoft Loop with a Google Docs feel.
- Airtable - with powerful integrations, Airtable offers a popular way to build your own workspace with a long-standing credible past.
Used by over 100,000 teams worldwide — Try it now for free / No credit card needed
Run all your work on one platform with customizable products that scale with your needs.
