head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Paperling
AppFlowy has 76,943 GitHub stars, 6,041 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. Paperling has 568 stars, 40 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 13,446% (76,943 vs 568 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Paperling is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Paperling 7%. Paperling 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 | Paperling | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 568 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-22 | 2026-09-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 40 |
| 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 Paperling if
- You want the Paperling 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 Paperling 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 Paperling
Paperling is a minimal, distraction free Markdown reader and editor built with Tauri, React, and TypeScript for developers and note takers who want to open a single .md file, read it rendered beautifully, and edit it with live preview instead of managing a vault.
read the full Paperling overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Paperling more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,943 GitHub stars and Paperling has 568. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and Paperling free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Paperling under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and Paperling?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and Paperling 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 Paperling?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (76,943 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Paperling if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.