head to head · open source
Affine vs Outline
Affine has 74,123 GitHub stars, 5,454 forks, 732 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Outline has 41,145 stars, 3,650 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Affine leads on adoption by 80% (74,123 vs 41,145 stars). Affine is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Outline is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Affine has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Outline 9%. Outline 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 | Outline | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 74K | ★ 41K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 3.6K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Affine if
- You weight community size — 74K 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 Outline if
- You want the Outline feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Outline fits your workflow better
About Affine
AFFiNE.Pro Write, Draw and Plan All at Once A privacy focused, local first, open source, and ready to use alternative for Notion & Miro. One hyper fused platform for wildly creative minds. Home Page Discord Live Demo Blog Documentation [![All Contributors][all contributors badge]]( contributors) [![TypeScript version icon]]( Docs, canvas and tables are hyper merged with AFFiNE just like the word affine (əˈfʌɪn a fine). Getting started & staying tuned with us. Star us, and you will receive all release notifications from GitHub without any delay! What is AFFiNE AFFiNE is an open source, all in one workspace and an…
read the full Affine overview →
About Outline
A fast, collaborative, knowledge base for your team built using React and Node.js. Try out Outline using our hosted version at www.getoutline.com . This is the source code that runs Outline and all the associated services. If you want to use Outline then you don't need to run this code, A hosted version of the app is offered at getoutline.com. You can also find documentation on using Outline in our guide. If you'd like to run your own copy of Outline or contribute to development then this is the place for you. Installation Please see the documentation for running your own copy of Outline in a production…
read the full Outline overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Affine or Outline more popular?
Affine has 74,123 GitHub stars and Outline has 41,145. Affine has the larger community by that measure.
Are Affine and Outline free?
Neither Affine nor Outline declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Affine and Outline?
Affine is written in TypeScript and Outline in TypeScript. 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 Outline?
Choose Affine if you want the larger community (74,123 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Outline if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.