head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Affine
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars, 6,160 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Affine has 74,123 stars, 5,454 forks, 732 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 5% (78,112 vs 74,123 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Affine is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Affine 7%. Affine was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (notion-alternative), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| AppFlowy | Affine | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 74K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 5.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AppFlowy if
- You weight community size — 78K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Affine if
- You want the Affine feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Affine fits your workflow better
About AppFlowy
AppFlowy ⭐️ The Open Source Alternative To Notion ⭐️ AppFlowy is the AI workspace where you achieve more without losing control of your data Website • Forum • Discord • Reddit • Twitter User Installation Download AppFlowy Desktop (macOS, Windows, and Linux) Other channels: FlatHub, Snapcraft, Sourceforge Available on App Store: iPhone Play Store: Android 10 or above; ARMv7 is not supported Self hosting AppFlowy Source Built With Flutter Rust Stay Up to Date Getting Started with development Please view the documentation for OS specific development instructions Roadmap AppFlowy Roadmap ReadMe AppFlowy Public…
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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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Affine more popular?
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars and Affine has 74,123. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and Affine free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Affine has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and Affine?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and Affine 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, AppFlowy or Affine?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (78,112 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Affine if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.