head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs vnote
AppFlowy has 76,826 GitHub stars, 6,021 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. vnote has 12,963 stars, 1,298 forks, 270 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 493% (76,826 vs 12,963 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; vnote is written in C++ under LGPL-3.0. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, vnote 10%. vnote 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 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| AppFlowy | vnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 77K | ★ 13K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Dart | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-15 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.0K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 vnote if
- You want the vnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and vnote 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 vnote
VNote is a Qt based, free and open source note taking application written in native C++, focused on Markdown and aimed at anyone who wants structured note management and a strong editing experience instead of a bare Markdown text editor.
read the full vnote 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 vnote more popular?
AppFlowy has 76,826 GitHub stars and vnote has 12,963. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and vnote free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and vnote under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and vnote?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and vnote 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 vnote?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (76,826 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose vnote if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.