Tana and Logseq are completely different.
Tana is basically a Relational Database (think of Excel/Access) visualized in different ways like Notion and to input data you use an outliner UI like the one in Logseq.
Tana should be seen as an alternative to Notion more than to Logseq, that has more word processing features like headings.
In Tana these strings of text (that can be formatted only in bold, italic and underline) are named “nodes” and organized in a single giant tree.
In Logseq instead there are a set of pages stored as Markdown/Org files that are treated as the nodes of a graph. Then each page has its own tree of blocks.
So from the UI it seems Tana nodes = Logseq blocks, but conceptually Tana nodes are treated like Logseq pages and referenced around the giant tree.
In Logseq there is no hierarchy between pages or other structure (aside from the network of references). In Tana the tree structure for nodes is enforced.
While Logseq focuses on looking for (eventually long) paragraphs of text in blocks containing [[wikilinks]] and #hashtags using queries, Tana focuses on specify the relations between its nodes by placing refereces inside so called “fields”.
Fields work basically like properties:: in Logseq, but in Tana the concept is more developed. Logseq will eventually catch up in term of feature here and there is already some WIP in a branch called enhance-properties.
Additionally, Tana uses #hashtags not as tags but to assign “classes” to nodes. They call them “supertags”. By belonging to a class, a node get a default template of fields and other things.
Since fields can have a “type” i.e. you can choose what kind of input it accepts, you can set a field to allow only instances of a certain class, so only some specific nodes instead of arbitrary text.
Tana has also a query builder, different ways to visualize blocks (indented list by default, table, kanboard, tabs) and an overview of the so called “schema” i.e. the system of classes and fields mentioned above.
Then Tana as a lot of advanced options regarding supertags.
And that’s it, this is Tana, nothing else. No word processing features, no Markdown/Org, no PDF annotations, no flashcards, no whiteboards and especially: no plugins, no custom CSS and JS, no macros, no custom commands, no local storage, no offline mode and proprietary code and data format.
So consider Logseq like an all-encompassing integrated environment that you can hack to do whatever you want but that still didn’t develop some features to their full potential, namely properties, query building and alternative block views.
Instead Tana is an experiment to use an outliner structure to organize what will be treated as records of a RDB, to be visualized in multiple ways like in Notion and using queries. The concpet is already there in Logseq’s properties but not much developed.
At the moment Tana is just a proof of concept of this idea and combos that could make sense in the future would be:
- Obsidian + Notion
- Obsidian + Tana
- Logseq + Tana
but exchanging data between apps like these is hard and once Logseq develop its properties to catch up with Tana, the best option will just be:
- Logseq