head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Joplin
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars, 6,160 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Joplin has 56,994 stars, 6,390 forks, 652 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 37% (78,112 vs 56,994 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Joplin is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Joplin 11%. Joplin 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.
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Side by side
| AppFlowy | Joplin | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 57K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 6.4K |
| 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 Joplin if
- You want the Joplin feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Joplin 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 Joplin
Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to do application, which can handle a large number of notes organised into notebooks. The notes are searchable, can be copied, tagged and modified either from the applications directly or from your own text editor. The notes are in Markdown format. Notes exported from Evernote can be imported into Joplin, including the formatted content (which is converted to Markdown), resources (images, attachments, etc.) and complete metadata (geolocation, updated time, created time, etc.). Plain Markdown files can also be imported. Joplin is "offline first", which means you…
read the full Joplin overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Joplin more popular?
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars and Joplin has 56,994. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and Joplin free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Joplin has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and Joplin?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and Joplin 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 Joplin?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (78,112 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Joplin if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.