head to head · open source
Affine vs Chalk.ist
Affine has 72,715 GitHub stars, 5,283 forks, 732 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Chalk.ist has 1,845 stars, 149 forks, 22 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. Affine leads on adoption by 3,841% (72,715 vs 1,845 stars). Affine is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Chalk.ist is written in Vue under MIT. Affine has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Chalk.ist 8%. Affine was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Affine | Chalk.ist | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 73K | ★ 1.8K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Vue |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-01-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 149 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Affine if
- You weight community size — 73K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Chalk.ist if
- You want the Chalk.ist feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Vue
- You evaluated both and Chalk.ist fits your workflow better
About Affine
AFFiNE is an open source, privacy first workspace that merges documentation, whiteboarding, and databases into one hyper fused platform. It lives in the productivity and knowledge management ecosystem, positioned as a direct alternative to Notion and Miro. Built with local first principles, it ensures users retain full control of their data while supporting real time collaboration across web and desktop clients.
read the full Affine overview →
About Chalk.ist
Chalk.ist is a Vue project in the Productivity & Utilities / Design & Visualization category. GitHub description says create beautiful images of source code. Tagline says transform source code into visuals. Homepage is https://chalk.ist. License is MIT. License line names Kasper Mikiewicz 2022. Repository language is Vue. Repository stats include 1845 stars, 149 forks, 0 contributors, and 22 open issues. Repo age is 0 years. Last push is 2026 01 07T17:18:35Z. The excerpt lists no topics.
read the full Chalk.ist overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Affine or Chalk.ist more popular?
Affine has 72,715 GitHub stars and Chalk.ist has 1,845. Affine has the larger community by that measure.
Are Affine and Chalk.ist free?
Both are open source. Affine has no licence declared in this registry, and Chalk.ist is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Affine and Chalk.ist?
Affine is written in TypeScript and Chalk.ist in Vue. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Affine or Chalk.ist?
Choose Affine if you want the larger community (72,715 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Chalk.ist if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.