head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs SurfSense
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars, 6,023 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. SurfSense has 16,159 stars, 1,537 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 375% (76,797 vs 16,159 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; SurfSense is written in Python under a custom or non-standard licence. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, SurfSense 10%. SurfSense was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | SurfSense | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 16K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Dart | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| 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 SurfSense if
- You want the SurfSense feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and SurfSense 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 SurfSense
SurfSense is an open source NotebookLM alternative and privacy first knowledge base that can work with any AI model chosen by the user. It is a Python productivity and knowledge management project in the agent, RAG, LangChain, LangGraph, FastAPI, Next.js, and Ollama ecosystem. The project presents itself as an open web research platform for AI agents, with live data connectors and a built in knowledge base that keeps findings searchable with citations.
read the full SurfSense overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or SurfSense more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,797 GitHub stars and SurfSense has 16,159. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and SurfSense free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and SurfSense has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and SurfSense?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and SurfSense in Python. 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 SurfSense?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (76,797 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose SurfSense if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.