head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs QOwnNotes
AppFlowy has 76,826 GitHub stars, 6,021 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. QOwnNotes has 5,882 stars, 500 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 1,206% (76,826 vs 5,882 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; QOwnNotes is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, QOwnNotes 9%. QOwnNotes 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 | QOwnNotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 5.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Dart | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 500 |
| 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 QOwnNotes if
- You want the QOwnNotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and QOwnNotes 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 QOwnNotes
QOwnNotes is a GPL 2.0 licensed, C++ plain text notepad and todo list manager with Markdown support for GNU/Linux, macOS and Windows that stores every note as a Markdown file and pairs with Nextcloud or ownCloud so the same notes stay readable on mobile and in the web service.
read the full QOwnNotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or QOwnNotes more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,826 GitHub stars and QOwnNotes has 5,882. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and QOwnNotes free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and QOwnNotes under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and QOwnNotes?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and QOwnNotes in C++. 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 QOwnNotes?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (76,826 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose QOwnNotes if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.