Notion for Agencies — Can One Tool Really Run Projects, Clients, and the Entire Business?

Notion comes up in agency conversations all the time. Someone’s always saying, “We run everything in Notion now,” usually followed by a mix of pride and mild exhaustion. And I get it. On the surface, it looks like the holy grail: docs, tasks, projects, clients, wikis — all in one place. No jumping between tools, no messy handovers, no excuses.

But can one tool really run an agency end to end? I’ve worked with Notion in enough agency setups now to give you a straight answer: yes… but only in the right conditions.

Why agencies gravitate toward Notion

Agencies love flexibility. Every team works slightly differently, every client engagement has its own quirks, and rigid tools tend to snap under that pressure. Notion feels like freedom. You can spin up a workspace in a day, structure it how you like, and adapt it as the business evolves.

It also looks clean. Clients don’t see chaos behind the scenes, they see tidy pages, clear plans, and confident documentation. For growing agencies especially, Notion often feels like a step up from scattered Google Docs and half-used project tools.

Notion as an “agency OS”

Where Notion really shines is when it’s treated less like a notes app and more like an operating system.

I’ve seen it used effectively for:

• Project hubs with timelines, tasks, and status views

• Client spaces with briefs, contracts, and meeting notes

• Internal wikis covering process, onboarding, and standards

• Resource libraries for templates, creds, and case studies

When it’s set up well, everything connects. A project links to a client. Tasks roll up into delivery views. Documentation sits alongside the work itself. That visibility is powerful — especially for leads who want to see what’s actually going on without chasing updates.

The real strengths: flexibility, visibility, documentation

Notion’s biggest strength is that it bends to how agencies actually work. You’re not forced into someone else’s idea of a perfect workflow. You can reflect reality, not theory.

It’s also brilliant for shared understanding. New starters can self-serve information instead of tapping people on the shoulder all day. Project context lives in one place. Decisions don’t vanish into Slack threads.

From a delivery point of view, that clarity reduces risk. When things go wrong (and they always do), you can usually trace why.

Where it starts to break

The problem is that flexibility cuts both ways.

Over-customisation is the big killer. I’ve walked into Notion setups so complex that only one person truly understands them, and that person is often the founder or ops lead. When they’re off, things wobble.

Ownership is another issue. Notion doesn’t enforce discipline. If no one owns structure, naming, or upkeep, it quietly degrades. Pages sprawl. Databases duplicate. People stop trusting it and go back to their own systems... Google Docs.

And while Notion can handle project management, it’s not always the best tool for fast-moving delivery. Dependencies, resourcing, and day-to-day execution can feel clunky compared to dedicated PM tools if the setup isn’t spot on.

When Notion works best (and when it doesn’t)

Notion works best when:

• The agency is small to mid-sized

• Processes are defined (even lightly)

• Someone actively owns the system

• It’s paired with good delivery habits

It struggles when:

• Everything is built “just in case”

• No one maintains standards

• It’s expected to magically fix poor workflows

Notion won’t save a broken process. It’ll just document it beautifully.

Final thoughts

Used intentionally, Notion can absolutely run large parts of an agency — projects, clients, knowledge, and ops. But it’s a tool, not a strategy. The agencies that succeed with it are the ones that keep things simple, review regularly, and know when not to build another database.

If you’re curious how I fit into agency teams, especially around setting up delivery systems that actually get used — have a look at this article.