Nodea
an open-source AI canvas for working through complex projects
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What is Nodea?
Nodea is a branching AI chat canvas that transforms how you interact with Claude. Instead of one long linear thread like ChatGPT or Claude.ai, every AI reply becomes a node you can fork from, creating a visual tree of your conversation. This lets you explore multiple ideas in parallel, keep your context clean, and never lose a good thought to a bad tangent again.
Key features include: branching from any message by hovering and hitting branch to create a new path while preserving the original; a live canvas tree view where you can drag, zoom, and jump to any node; color-coding to tag answers worth remembering; and universal search across every path with one ⌘K keystroke. The tool is powered by Anthropic Claude models: Haiku 4.5 for fast replies, Sonnet 4.6 for balanced reasoning, and Opus 4.7 for heavy tasks.
Nodea is built for researchers exploring multiple hypotheses, founders working through business decisions, writers developing parallel storylines, developers debugging across approaches, and anyone who thinks in branches rather than lines. It's MIT-licensed open source and self-hostable against your own Supabase project and Anthropic API key.
Nodea pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
Nodea is free during beta with 25,000 daily tokens and 450,000 monthly tokens, including access to Claude Haiku 4.5 and Sonnet 4.6. The Pro plan is $8/month and unlocks Claude Opus 4.7, a 50,000 daily token budget (250k mentioned in video), 1,000,000 monthly tokens, and early access to new features. No credit card required during beta, cancel anytime.
Nodea pros
- Branch any AI message into a new conversation path
- Visual tree view of your entire conversation
- Powered by Claude Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 4.6, and Opus 4.7
- Free tier with 25k tokens per day
- Pro plan at $8/month for 250k tokens daily plus Opus access
- Open source MIT license and self-hostable
- Anonymous sign-in without email required
- Compare branches side-by-side
- Color-code answers worth remembering
- Search across every path with one ⌘K keystroke
- Drag, zoom, and jump to any node on canvas
- Original path preserved when branching
- Explore alternatives in parallel instead of starting over
- No credit card required during beta
- Cheaper than ChatGPT Plus at $20/month
Nodea cons
- Only supports Anthropic Claude models, not OpenAI
- Free tier limited to Haiku 4.5 and Sonnet 4.6
- Opus 4.7 requires Pro plan
- Self-hosting requires own Supabase project
- Self-hosting requires own Anthropic API key
- Beta phase may have unfinished features
- Token limits on both free and Pro plans
- No image generation like ChatGPT has
Frequently asked questions about Nodea
What does Nodea do?
Nodea lets you chat with Anthropic Claude on a branching canvas instead of one linear thread. Every reply becomes a node — fork any node to ask the question a different way, explore an alternative, or compare two answers side-by-side without losing the original path.
What is branching AI chat?
Branching AI chat is a conversation interface where each message is stored as a node in a tree. From any node, you can start a new branch — a divergent path that explores an alternative without overwriting or losing the original. Linear chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude.ai only let you append, edit, or start over.
Why would I use Nodea instead of ChatGPT?
Nodea is the better tool when you explore alternatives — different tones, different framings, different plans from the same starting point — and you don't want to lose any of them. ChatGPT is better for a single linear question-and-answer session or when you need OpenAI-specific features like image generation. Nodea also costs $8/mo vs. ChatGPT Plus at $20/mo.
Can I try Nodea without signing up?
Yes. Nodea supports anonymous sign-in — a real account is created without requiring an email address, so you can open a canvas, branch, and save projects immediately. You can later link an email to claim your data, with no migration needed.
How much does Nodea cost?
Nodea is free during beta with 25,000 daily / 450,000 monthly tokens and access to Claude Haiku 4.5 and Sonnet 4.6. The Pro plan is $8/month and unlocks Claude Opus 4.7, a 50,000 daily / 1,000,000 monthly token budget, and early access to new features. Cancel anytime.
Which AI models power Nodea?
Nodea runs on Anthropic Claude models — Haiku 4.5 for fast replies, Sonnet 4.6 for balanced reasoning, and Opus 4.7 for the heaviest tasks. The model is selected automatically based on prompt complexity and your plan tier; Pro users skip Haiku entirely.
Is Nodea open source?
Yes — the Nodea source is MIT-licensed and available on GitHub. The hosted product runs at nodea.ai; you can self-host the same codebase against your own Supabase project and Anthropic API key.
How do I branch from a message?
Hover a reply, hit branch, and ask the question a different way. The old path stays put while you explore in parallel instead of starting over. You can then click any node in the tree to start a new branch from that point.
Can I compare multiple answers side by side?
Yes, you can fork any reply into its own path and compare branches side-by-side. This lets you see different answers from the same starting point without losing any of them, unlike linear chatbots where you'd have to duplicate tabs.
How do I search across my conversation?
Use one ⌘K to search across every node and every branch. The good thought is never more than a keystroke away, and you can search across every path at once instead of being limited to one thread.