Microsoft Loop is Microsoft’s attempt to take on the likes of Notion, and provide a real-time collaborative, flexible canvas app that users can embed content including text, images, videos and more on.
What can it do?
Loop appears to be heavily integrated within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, and will allow you to create pages that can then contain text, images, videos and other embedded components adding functionality such as Polls and Q&A.
Collaboration is a key focus of Loop, particularly for organisations and those seeking to document things in real-time with others. Pages can be shared with Office groups within workspaces, and Loop components will also work across other Office 365 apps including Microsoft Teams and Outlook.
Developers will also be able to build Loop components that can appear within Loop pages.
How does it differ from Notion?
At this stage it’s a little hard to tell, as we haven’t seen any hands-on demos from Microsoft recently. However, Notion is likely to be a more mature product at this point given its position in the market and the recent addition of its AI tools.
That said, if you’re already heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem and like Notion then Loop is probably going to be an app you’ll want to try. It’s integration with the other Office apps, and the forthcoming Copilot functionality could lead to a compelling product.
Is it free?
Microsoft hasn’t yet announced pricing details for Microsoft Loop, as it’s still in private preview. However it’s probably a safe bet to assume that while there may be free functionality available for Loop, Microsoft will probably charge for additional features or look to include it in its commercial Office 365 licenses.
Given the recent AI announcements such as Copilot, it’s easy to see Microsoft charging extra for AI-related functionality.
Is it available yet?
As of March 21, 2023 the Loop app is still not generally available. Microsoft says it’s running a private preview, but so far very few people appear to have have been allowed into the preview.
On the 21st March, the Microsoft Loop Twitter account tweeted “Something is coming” but so far no further details have been released.