head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs fsnotes
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars, 6,160 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. fsnotes has 7,560 stars, 588 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 933% (78,112 vs 7,560 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; fsnotes is written in Swift under MIT. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, fsnotes 8%. fsnotes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (note-taking), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| AppFlowy | fsnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 7.6K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Dart | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 588 |
| 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 fsnotes if
- You want the fsnotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and fsnotes 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…
read the full AppFlowy overview →
About fsnotes
FSNotes 简体中文 · 繁體中文 Own your notes. Find them instantly. FSNotes is a fast, native notes app for macOS and iOS. It gives you a focused writing experience while keeping every note in portable Markdown or plain text files—not a proprietary database. Why choose FSNotes No lock in. Open and edit your notes with any compatible app, now or years from now. Fast at any scale. Search and navigate smoothly across collections of 10,000+ notes. Built around your workflow. Use multiple folders, external editors, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and optional Git backups. More than basic Markdown. Connect ideas with tags and [[links]]…
read the full fsnotes overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Note Taking & Knowledge Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Note Taking & Knowledge Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or fsnotes more popular?
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars and fsnotes has 7,560. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and fsnotes free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and fsnotes under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and fsnotes?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and fsnotes in Swift. 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 fsnotes?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (78,112 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose fsnotes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.