head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Memos
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars, 6,023 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Memos has 63,129 stars, 4,766 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 22% (76,797 vs 63,129 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Memos is written in Go under MIT. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Memos 8%. Memos 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 | Memos | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 63K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Dart | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 4.8K |
| 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 Memos if
- You want the Memos feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Memos 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 Memos
Memos is an open source, self hosted note taking tool designed for rapid capture of short form content like daily logs, links, code snippets, and microblog style entries. It lives in the Go ecosystem and uses a Markdown native, timeline based interface. Unlike traditional note apps that enforce folders or rigid templates, Memos prioritizes speed and simplicity: users write in Markdown, attach media, and save without selecting titles or locations.
read the full Memos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Memos more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars and Memos has 63,129. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and Memos free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Memos under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and Memos?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and Memos in Go. 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 Memos?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (76,797 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Memos if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.