If you’re juggling your sales pipeline in Pipedrive but tracking notes, tasks, or content in Notion, you know the pain: double entry, missed updates, and the nagging feeling your systems don’t talk. This guide is for folks who want their pipeline data to flow between Pipedrive and Notion automatically—no spreadsheets, no duct-tape Zapier hacks, and no flaky browser extensions. We’ll walk step-by-step through syncing these tools with Bardeen, a straightforward automation tool that actually works (most of the time).
Whether you’re in sales ops, a founder, or just tired of cleaning up CRM messes, let’s get your stack talking.
Why bother connecting Pipedrive and Notion?
A lot of teams use Pipedrive for pipeline management—great for deals, not so hot for flexible documentation, checklists, or internal wikis. Notion is the opposite: perfect for notes, project plans, and databases, but not built for sales tracking.
Here’s the common pain: - You update a deal in Pipedrive, but forget to update the related project doc in Notion. - New leads get added in one place but not the other. - You waste 20 minutes every Friday copying notes back and forth.
Connecting these two cuts out manual work, keeps everyone on the same page, and lowers the odds something slips through the cracks. Plus, once it’s set up, you can forget about it.
A quick reality check on automation
Some automations sound great until you try them. Zapier can do a lot, but the free tier gets expensive fast, and multi-step Zaps get messy. Native integrations? Pipedrive and Notion don’t have them.
Bardeen is a newer option. It’s not magic, but it’s less fiddly than most and actually supports both Pipedrive and Notion. You’ll still need to check your work—no automation is ever 100% fire-and-forget—but it’s a big upgrade from copy-pasting.
What you’ll need
Before you start, make sure you have: - Access to a Pipedrive account (admin or permissions to connect apps) - A Notion account (plus admin access to the workspace or relevant pages) - Google Chrome (Bardeen runs as a Chrome extension) - 20–30 minutes to set things up
No coding, no API keys, no developer help needed.
Step 1: Install Bardeen and connect your accounts
- Install Bardeen
- Go to the Bardeen website and install the Chrome extension. It’s free for basic use and doesn’t require a huge setup.
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Once installed, you’ll see a small Bardeen icon in your browser.
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Sign up and connect your accounts
- Open the Bardeen extension.
- Sign up or log in (Google or email).
- In Bardeen’s dashboard, look for the “Connections” or “Integrations” area.
- Connect your Pipedrive and Notion accounts. You’ll need to approve access—this is standard and reasonably secure, but always double-check permissions.
- For Notion, you may need to select which pages or databases Bardeen can access. If you don’t see your target database, make sure you’ve shared it with Bardeen’s integration user.
Pro tip: If you use multiple Notion workspaces, connect only the one you actually use for sales tracking. Too many permissions = confusion.
Step 2: Design your workflow (don’t skip this)
Before you start building automations, decide what actually needs to sync. Automation is only helpful if it saves you time and headaches.
Ask yourself: - Do I want all Pipedrive deals in Notion, or just those in a certain stage? - Should changes in Notion update Pipedrive too, or is it one-way? - What’s the minimum info I need to see in Notion? (Deal name, value, stage, owner, notes, etc.)
Draw this out on paper or in Notion itself. Trust me—5 minutes here saves hours of rework.
What works: Keeping it simple. Sync only what you actually use.
What to ignore: Don’t bother syncing fields no one reads or updates. More data = more things to break.
Step 3: Build your first Pipedrive-to-Notion automation
Let’s set up a basic workflow: whenever a new deal is added in Pipedrive, create a corresponding page in a Notion database.
- Find a Bardeen automation (“playbook”) that fits
- Open Bardeen and search for “Pipedrive Notion.”
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You’ll see a few prebuilt automations, like “When a new deal is created in Pipedrive, add a database item in Notion.”
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Customize the playbook
- Click “Use this playbook.”
- Select your Pipedrive account and pick the trigger (e.g., “New deal added”).
- Choose your Notion database as the target.
- Map fields: For example, set “Deal Title” to map to a “Name” field in Notion, “Value” to a number field, “Owner” to a person, etc.
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You can add filters (e.g., only deals where Stage = “Qualified”).
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Test your setup
- Add a test deal in Pipedrive.
- Wait a minute or two—Bardeen usually isn’t instant.
- Check Notion for your new database entry. Make sure data came through as expected.
What works: Prebuilt playbooks are usually enough. Tweak them, don’t reinvent the wheel.
What doesn’t: Overcomplicating the mapping. If your Notion database isn’t set up to match Pipedrive fields, simplify on the Notion side first.
Step 4: (Optional) Sync updates or create two-way workflows
If you want changes in Pipedrive to update Notion (or vice versa), you can set up more advanced playbooks. But be careful—two-way sync is where most automations fall apart.
To set up update syncing: - Look for playbooks like “When a deal is updated in Pipedrive, update the corresponding Notion database item.” - You’ll need a unique identifier (like Pipedrive Deal ID) stored in Notion to match records accurately. - Map only the fields you really need. The more fields you sync, the more things can go wrong.
Honest take: Two-way sync sounds great but usually creates headaches: conflicting updates, duplicate records, and occasional data loss. Unless you really need it, stick with one-way automation.
Step 5: Automate more small things (if you want)
Once the basics are working, you can layer on other automations, like: - Creating Notion tasks when a deal hits a specific stage - Pushing meeting notes from Notion to Pipedrive as deal updates - Flagging deals in Notion when they’re stuck in a stage too long
Just remember: more automation isn’t always better. Start with high-impact, low-maintenance flows and only add more as you need them.
Troubleshooting and honest gotchas
No integration is perfect. Here’s what to watch for: - Field mismatch errors: If your Notion database doesn’t match Pipedrive fields, Bardeen will throw errors. Keep your schema simple. - Permissions issues: Notion is picky about database access. Make sure Bardeen has permission for the exact page/database. - Lag time: Bardeen isn’t always real-time. Some automations take a minute or two. - Broken automations: If you change your Notion database structure or Pipedrive pipeline, double-check your automations. They don’t auto-update.
What to ignore: Don’t expect pixel-perfect formatting or flawless two-way sync. Bardeen does the basics well, but it’s not Salesforce-level enterprise automation.
Keep it simple, and iterate
You don’t need to automate everything on day one. Start with the flows that save you real time—like pushing new deals into Notion so your team isn’t duplicating work. Test. See what breaks. Fix the obvious stuff, and don’t be afraid to delete an automation that’s more trouble than it’s worth.
The best setups are usually boring: reliable, invisible, and simple. Get your Pipedrive-Notion sync working with Bardeen, and move on to closing deals—not fighting your tools.