head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs kition
AppFlowy has 77,570 GitHub stars, 6,083 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kition has 520 stars, 39 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped today. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 14,817% (77,570 vs 520 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; kition is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, kition 8%. kition was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (note-taking, 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 | kition | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 520 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-19 | 2026-10-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.1K | ⑂ 39 |
| 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 kition if
- You want the kition feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and kition 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 kition
Kition English · 简体中文 · Русский · 日本語 · Tiếng Việt · Français · Deutsch · Español Documents, Tables, Whiteboards, Agents, and Workflows in one desktop workspace. Write connected knowledge, think visually, build data tools, research the web, and automate repeatable work. Download Kition Website · Releases · Discussions · Contributing · Support · Security Kition brings Markdown documents, structured table files, an infinite Whiteboard, a tool using AI agent, web research, and visual workflows into one desktop workspace. Instead of making every task begin in a blank chat, Kition gives the Agent editable project…
read the full kition overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or kition more popular?
AppFlowy has 77,570 GitHub stars and kition has 520. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and kition free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and kition under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and kition?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and kition 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 kition?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (77,570 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose kition if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.