head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Justnote
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars, 6,023 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Justnote has 67 stars, 6 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 114,522% (76,797 vs 67 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Justnote is written in TypeScript under GPL-2.0. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Justnote 9%. AppFlowy 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 | Justnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 67 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-02-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 6 |
| 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 Justnote if
- You want the Justnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Justnote 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 Justnote
Justnote is a GPL 2.0 licensed, privacy focused note taking app with web, Android, and iOS clients written in TypeScript, for anyone who wants to capture notes quickly while keeping real ownership of their account and data.
read the full Justnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Justnote more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars and Justnote has 67. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and Justnote free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Justnote under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and Justnote?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and Justnote 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 Justnote?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (76,797 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Justnote if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.