Anyone else trying Den to replace Slack + Notion? Curious how others are using it
Since seeing Den's #1-of-the-week launch, I've been playing around with it. I'm not quite at the conviction yet to rip out Slack and Notion. That would take a lot, especially given how much history and data we have, as well as workflow practices around it. But I'm finding it really intriguing so far. Here are my initial thoughts:
1) The merging of Slack channels and Notion spaces feels very natural.
#General should also be the top-level directory of docs. We have two ways we use Slack. One is for teams and sub-teams. These are persistent Slack channels, and the other is for projects. These are temporary channels, often for a few weeks or a few months. I wonder if it will feel natural for documents to be in the same organization, or if it's actually important that channels be more ephemeral than the equivalent document structure.
2) I like agents/workflow automations as a first class citizen.
It's hard for me to imagine how this works at scale, so I guess we'll just have to try it out. But it does make a lot of sense to me that agents or workflow automations should be a first-class citizen rather than an integration as in the Slack model.
Note: They have a Product Hunt workflow you should check out!
3) It's incredibly cool that I could ask Den to build the workspace for me, so I didn't have to spend a lot of effort to get an initial structure off the ground. This capability is what made me really feel Den was an AI-first comms platform.
I'm curious if they're going to add fast voice input and Granola-style meeting notes (like Notion recently introduced). I could totally see both of those being a distraction. On the other hand, both of those would help generate a lot of really sticky content for the platform.
All in all, I'm intrigued and will keep playing with it. I love that somebody is taking on Slack and Notion. I think there's a ton of room to innovate here.
Replies
Den
Thanks so much for the write up Rajiv!
We really appreciate you taking the time to dig into the platform and explore the various features.
We are working on inbuilt video calling soon - so this will tie in nicely with note taking.
If you, or anyone else wants to chat with us about how we use Den, you can book in some time here: https://cal.com/team/den/demo
Congratulations@linus_talacko1.. Can we build/bring our own agents into the @Den ?
Product Hunt
@linus_talacko1 let me know if you want to jam on video calling! I've been pretty deep in the idea maze through my last startup, @Tandem .
Short answer: not yet. But I’ve gone deep on Den, and honestly, they’re getting there, fast.
It’s the first platform I’ve seen that actually feels like it could replace both Slack and Notion. Not by copying, but by rethinking how comms, docs, and agents work together from the ground up.
Right now, we still route some things into Slack and Notion. But the truth is, with the pace they’re building, proper funding and 12–18 months, Den will be a serious alternative. Structured, fast, AI-native, and actually opinionated in a good way.
We’re already using it daily. And at AlsoCheck.com, we’re betting so much on Den that we’re integrating (available later this month) with them before Slack or Notion, offering clause-level legal doc review directly inside the platform.
We’d bet on them. And we are.
Product Hunt
@alain_augsburger That's a huge vote of confidence. What do you still find you need to route through Slack + Notion?
@rajiv_ayyangar Yes, it is a huge vote of confidence. Founders matter. Met Justin and was really impressed. Haven’t met Linus yet, but had great exchanges with him inside Den, that builds trust.
What keeps us still using Slack and Notion:
– Mobile app: we’re on mobile a lot, even internally, that’s high on the wishlist.
– External comms: Den supports it, but Slack’s network still makes it easier to loop in vendors or partners and connect to communities.
– Notion-style views: tables, boards, calendars, we still rely on them. That’ll take a bit more time.
That said, Den’s core is already strong. The agents are really useful, something neither Slack nor Notion offers. And it’s what, 8 weeks old? They’re moving really fast, building integration, and bold enough to go for the full stack: comms + docs + automation.
That speaks for itself.
Foundity
I heard you can use the agent to order pizza for you👀
Product Hunt
@isabelle_dijkhorst killer use case :)
I’ve been playing around with Den too, and I’m definitely intrigued by its potential. The way it merges Slack and Notion is surprisingly seamless. The idea of treating documents and channels as part of the same structure could really change how we organize things.
I also love how agents and workflow automations are built-in rather than tacked on like Slack integrations. It feels more natural and gives me a lot of confidence in scaling with it.
That “AI-first” workspace builder is a game-changer too! The idea that Den could set everything up for me with minimal effort is something I didn’t know I needed until I tried it.
As for voice input and meeting notes, I agree they could be distracting, but at the same time, they might be useful for creating more engaging content on the platform. Excited to see where Den goes—there’s definitely room for innovation here!
Product Hunt
@kenji93026 yeah - a workspace that builds itself was a pretty eye-opening thing to experience. I could see myself using the ai to "re-build" or refactor the workspace as the team grows or changes.
I’ve been using Den for a few weeks now and it’s a solid combo. Feels less cluttered than toggling between Slack and Notion, but still missing a few advanced features I rely on.
Product Hunt
@maximo_hartliness which features?
Been using Den as a Slack + Notion combo, and it’s great for day-to-day stuff. Just have to accept that it’s still growing and won’t have every feature from the other apps yet.
Product Hunt
@madhu_kumari1 How many people are on your team? is it working well at your scale?
Still on the fence, mainly because my team is so entrenched in Slack. But if the mobile app is smooth and responsive, I might make the push.
Thanks for the heads up on Den, I'm building my own product Slashpage from a combination of Notion and Slack, I'll have to give it a thorough try to see what's different!
Product Hunt
@elly_sp did you pivot? Slashpage currently looks like an external-facing website builder.
@rajiv_ayyangar Can't believe you remembered SlashPage — our team totally freaked out when I told them 😂
We started as a Notion + Super hybrid, but it’s grown into a CMS-driven tool that mixes sites and workspaces.
For example, a startup can build a landing page with a feedback menu, and with one click, create a private workspace to manage and track customer requests.
Still figuring out what exactly to call the product 😄
I love the idea of one app for chat and docs, and Den comes close. If they improve task management and integrations, it could replace both for me.
Wavedash
I orda da pizza
Thanks for sharing@rajiv_ayyangar Just tried. Very promising and cool product!
I use voice input(or transcript)/meeting notes with documents though not usually refer to them in Slack/Teams, bascailly transcript/meeting notes are documents to me and they often are refered in writing new documents/emails/todos.
As for distraction, in this docs + comms + agents setup, I found comms/Slack is distraction to me, I want messages from Slack as supplementary infomation to documents for agents but not actively replying them or get notifications from them.