head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Lorien
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars, 6,160 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Lorien has 6,871 stars, 315 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped 1.1 years ago. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 1,037% (78,112 vs 6,871 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Lorien is written in GDScript under MIT. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Lorien 5%. 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 | Lorien | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 6.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Dart | GDScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2025-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 315 |
| 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 Lorien if
- You want the Lorien feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches GDScript
- You evaluated both and Lorien 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 Lorien
Lorien Lorien is an infinite canvas drawing/note taking app that is focused on performance, small savefiles and simplicity . It's not based on bitmap images like Krita, Gimp or Photoshop; it rather saves brush strokes as a collection of points and renders them at runtime (kind of like SVG). It's primarily designed to be used as a digital notebook and as brainstorming tool. While it can totally be used to make small sketches and diagrams, it is not meant to replace traditional art programs that operate on bitmap images. It is entirely written in the Godot Game Engine. For an overview on how to use Lorien have a…
read the full Lorien overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Lorien more popular?
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars and Lorien has 6,871. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and Lorien free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Lorien under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and Lorien?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and Lorien in GDScript. 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 Lorien?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (78,112 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Lorien if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.