head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Outline
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars, 6,023 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Outline has 40,590 stars, 3,562 forks, 78 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 89% (76,797 vs 40,590 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Outline is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Outline 9%. Outline was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (wiki), 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 | Outline | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 41K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 3.6K |
| 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 Outline if
- You want the Outline feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Outline 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 Outline
Outline is an open source knowledge base application built with React and Node.js, designed for teams needing a fast, collaborative documentation platform. It runs as a self hosted service or via a hosted option at getoutline.com, and its source code powers the public instance along with all supporting services. The project lives in the JavaScript/TypeScript ecosystem and uses MobX for state management.
read the full Outline overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Outline more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars and Outline has 40,590. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and Outline free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Outline has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and Outline?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and Outline 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 Outline?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (76,797 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Outline if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.