10 min read

Switching from Quip to Coda

6 transitions to understand as you make the move between tools.

Both Quip and Coda start from a familiar doc interface, but beneath the surface, their capabilities differ vastly. Quip is a decent word processor but struggles with structured data, making scenarios like project tracking and OKRs a pain. Coda picks up where Quip falters. Coda is the only tool that can serve as your team’s writing surface, team hub, project tracker, and even an interface for building internal tools. Because Quip and Coda’s capabilities are so different, it might take a moment to settle into Coda. The purpose of this doc is to pattern-match your Quip experience with the basics of Coda.

What you have in Quip …

Folders and files
@ command
Separate, disconnected tables
Spreadsheets
Spreadsheet language
Tables
Live apps

What you’ll have in Coda …

Docs and pages
/ command
Connected table views
Tables
Coda formula language
Grids
Packs

Think of this doc as your Quip-to-Coda tour guide - and keep reading to dive into each feature and explore what makes Coda unique.

1. Folders and files to docs and pages.

In Quip, content lives in folders and files. They’re messy—picture an old-school doctor’s office with huge filing cabinets bursting with patient information. These files might live in the same folder, but they sit independently of one another. As a result, Quip workspaces quickly become so-called “Quip sand,” filled with disparate docs and sheets that make organization and discoverability painful. In comparison, Coda content is organized in docs and pages. Instead of creating a brand new file (doc or spreadsheet) like you would in Quip, you would simply add a subpage to a doc. This puts everything you need in one place—a single Coda doc.

Docs can contain endless pages and subpages that you can navigate via the left-hand page hierarchy. Coda also has folders that contain docs, meaning your structure looks like this: Workspace > Folders > Docs > Pages > Subpages > Building blocks (like text, tables, and more). Let’s say you’re managing a product team. In Quip, you’d have a folder containing PRDs/briefs, meeting notes, launch planning spreadsheets, etc., each as an individual doc. Likely, you’ll have more than one folder as well. In Coda, however, you’d build a product team hub with each related doc as a subpage (for example, a subpage called PRDs). You could even create a section (subpages) containing full-page embed designs from Figma. Instead of going in and out of disconnected folders and files, you’ll have all relevant information at your fingertips within a single source of truth. Tip: Get to know your way around docs with this guide: Navigating a Coda doc.

2. Spreadsheets to tables and grids.

Quip allows you to create spreadsheets as standalone files or as building blocks to embed inside a document. Coda, on the other hand, has no traditional spreadsheets. Instead, you’ll use grids and tables to solve every use case you once managed with spreadsheets—and then some. Grids, which are the equivalent of tables in Quip, are excellent for displaying data quickly in a structured manner, without the need for a database, conditional formatting, or column-level formulas. Coda tables, however, are like spreadsheets on steroids. They’re robust relational databases with powerful tools like column-level formulas, advanced formatting options, automations, visualization capabilities, and linked views.

Tip: To learn more about tables, check out this guide: Getting started with tables in Coda.

3. Disconnected blocks to connected views.

While Quip includes multiple ways to visualize structured data (e.g., table, calendar, Kanban), each of these blocks is disconnected from the others. This means that if you make an update in one place, you’ll need to manually make the change everywhere else, too. In contrast, you can create multiple views of the same data in Coda, allowing you to interact with your data in different ways while keeping everything connected. When you make an update to your Kanban board, for example, that change is reflected across your tables, charts, and any other views you have. Coda’s many data visualization options, from bar and scatter charts to word clouds and timelines, also update in real time, ensuring you’re always looking at the freshest information.

Text editing also gets an upgrade in Coda, both within a table and on the doc canvas. Coda offers both block and line-level editing, meaning you can move entire blocks of text, tables, and more around your doc by dragging and dropping the three dots to the left of each paragraph (instead of painstakingly copy/pasting in Quip). When it comes to writing on the canvas or in a table, Coda supports more than plain text. Choose to display your text as headers, bulleted lists, checklists, callouts, code blocks, quotes, and more. These paragraph styles allow you to organize your content, add emphasis and clarity, and design beautiful docs. To access Coda’s text formatting menu, click “command” on your Mac or highlight any text. The menu bar will appear above your cursor.

Tip: Learn more about editing and formatting text in this article. Want to change how your Coda doc looks? Go to the settings menu (gear icon in top right of doc) and then to page options. From there, you can modify font style, font size, page width, page alignment, cover photo, page authors, and more.

4. Spreadsheet formulas to the Coda formula language.

Quip’s formula language is based on traditional spreadsheets (Excel, Google Sheets) and encompasses most, but not all, of their functionality. Coda, however, has an extremely powerful formula language that gives makers the superpowers of developers. Simply typing = in your Coda doc allows you to use this formula language to do everything from calculating columns in a table to summarizing data to customizing automations. If you’re spreadsheet- or SQL-savvy, you’ll find the formula language very familiar. And if you don’t want to touch Excel with a ten-foot pole, don’t worry. Coda formulas are much more accessible than you might think, and knowing just a few goes a long way.

Tip: You can access the formula language documentation at coda.io/formulas. And to learn more broadly about Coda’s formula language, take a look at the Coda Essentials video below and read this help article.

5. Live Apps to Coda Packs.

Quip has a small number of native integrations, called Live Apps, available in the Salesforce app exchange. Two of these provide deeper capabilities: the Jira and Salesforce integrations. Coda, on the other hand, has a massive marketplace of extensions and integrations called Packs. Currently, Coda has over 600 public Packs available via the Coda Gallery, including Salesforce, Jira, and many others. Packs let you bring data from external applications into Coda as sync tables so you can analyze, visualize, and take action on your data in one place. Some Packs, like those for Jira and Salesforce, also come equipped with two-way sync, so you can make changes in your doc and have them reflected in the app, and vice versa. Tip: To learn more about Packs, check out Overview: Use Packs. Like Quip, Coda allows you to embed other websites, files, images, and videos inside your doc. However, Coda’s embed capabilities go far beyond the basics. For example, you can embed your Miro boards, Figma designs, and even other applications as full pages within your doc.

6. From `@` to `/`

The / key or slash command in Coda is similar to @ in Quip. It’s the primary shortcut for accessing the many building blocks you can add to your documents, such as tables, buttons, and templates—Coda’s more powerful version of Quip blocks. Templates are exactly what they sound like: out-of-the-box templated docs that make it easy to get started. We recommend trying topic voting (what we call Dory/Pulse at Coda) or a meeting timer as your first foray into Coda templates. Then, take a look around the Coda Gallery to discover scenarios, use cases, and best practices that you can borrow from some of the world’s leading teams.

Now what?

While Quip supports doc-based, text-heavy use cases, Coda can do that and more. The list above can help acquaint you with Coda vs. Quip, but is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Coda’s capabilities. With an easy-to-navigate interface, connected tables and approachable formulas, and a massive integrations ecosystem, Coda is the doc with the power of an app. And while Quip is constantly deprecating features, Coda is adding new ones all the time. If you’re ready to make the move from Quip to Coda, our importer makes it easy and quick—30 seconds, to be exact. Learn more here. Tip: If you’re an enterprise customer, talk to your account rep about how we can support your migration. In the meantime, check out some of our other great resources:

This help article walks you through how to import your content from Quip to Coda.
The Sync guide gives you all you need to know about connecting data in and out of Coda.
Coda 101 is our intro course for building a foundation in Coda.

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