AFFiNE vs AppFlowy
AFFiNE and AppFlowy are both note-taking software. AFFiNE is open source under a license set out in its repository, with 74k GitHub stars. AppFlowy is open source under AGPL-3.0, with 78k GitHub stars.
Which to pick
- Pick AFFiNE when
- You want an open alternative to Notion that also does visual whiteboarding and can run offline.
- Pick AppFlowy when
- You want a Notion alternative that keeps data local or on your own server.
Side by side
A workspace combining Notion-style documents and Miro-style whiteboards on the same content, local-first with sync and self-hosting.
A Notion-style workspace for documents, wikis, databases, kanban boards and AI features, with desktop and mobile apps and optional self-hosted sync.
Still pre-1.0, the license is not a standard open-source one, and self-hosted sync lags the cloud version.
Still pre-1.0, AGPL licensed, and self-hosted cloud sync is more involved than the app.
Usable (both)
Desktop app, self-hosted server, cloud service and mobile app
Desktop app, mobile app, self-hosted server and cloud service
TypeScript, Rust, Electron and Swift
Dart, Flutter and Rust
Open source, license unclear on GitHub
Open source, AGPL-3.0 (network copyleft)
GitHub could not read the license. Check it in the repository before reusing any code.
Use inside your business is unrestricted. If you change it and let customers use it over the internet, you must publish your changes.
74k GitHub stars
78k GitHub stars
Established: started 4 years ago, latest release v0.27.4.
Established: started 5 years ago, latest release 0.15.0.
Other comparisons
More note-taking apps
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from each project's README and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.