head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Joplin
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars, 6,023 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Joplin has 56,416 stars, 6,296 forks, 632 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 36% (76,797 vs 56,416 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 | ★ 77K | ★ 56K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 6.3K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AppFlowy if
- You weight community size — 77K 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 is an open source collaborative workspace platform that combines note taking, project management, wikis, and AI features into a single interface. It runs as a desktop and mobile application and supports self hosting, built with Flutter for the frontend and Rust for the backend. AppFlowy lives in the productivity and knowledge management ecosystem, positioned explicitly as a Notion alternative.
read the full AppFlowy overview →
About Joplin
Joplin is a free, open source, privacy focused note taking and to do application that keeps notes as Markdown on your own device and synchronises them, end to end encrypted, across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
read the full Joplin overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Joplin more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars and Joplin has 56,416. 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 (76,797 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.