head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs Standard Notes
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars, 6,023 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. Standard Notes has 6,633 stars, 551 forks, 99 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 1,058% (76,797 vs 6,633 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; Standard Notes is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, Standard Notes 8%. Standard Notes 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| AppFlowy | Standard Notes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 6.6K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 551 |
| 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 Standard Notes if
- You want the Standard Notes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Standard Notes 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 Standard Notes
Standard Notes is an end to end encrypted note taking application for individuals and professionals who want to capture notes, files, and long term work in a place only they can read, with clients on Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and the web.
read the full Standard Notes overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Note Taking & Knowledge Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Note Taking & Knowledge Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Standard Notes more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars and Standard Notes has 6,633. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and Standard Notes free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Standard Notes under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and Standard Notes?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and Standard Notes 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 Standard Notes?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (76,797 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Standard Notes if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.