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AppFlowy — open source alternative

Open source alternative to Notion, built in Rust, and Flutter.

Strengths

  • Familiar Notion-style blocks and databases.
  • Local-first desktop app for privacy.
  • Active development and growing plugin ecosystem.

Weaknesses

  • Newer project — some Notion features still missing.
  • Real-time collaboration is still maturing.
  • Mobile apps lag behind desktop.
License: AGPL-3.0 Self-host difficulty: 3/5 Hosted cloud optionDesktop: Windows, macOS, LinuxMobile: iOS, Android

Official site · Source on GitHub

Ad slot — OSS middle

AppFlowy is used as an alternative to

Notion

All-in-one workspace for notes, docs, and databases.

See all alternatives →

Evernote

Classic note-taking and web-clipper.

See all alternatives →

Obsidian

Local-first markdown knowledge base (closed source, free for personal use).

See all alternatives →

More open source in this category

Discover other projects tagged Note-taking & Knowledge Base on the category page.

Other open source projects in Note-taking & Knowledge Base

AFFiNE

Open source canvas-meets-docs workspace.

License: MPL-2.0

Trilium Notes

Hierarchical personal notes with scripting.

License: AGPL-3.0

Joplin

Open source Evernote alternative with markdown notes and end-to-end encryption.

License: AGPL-3.0

Recommended reading

The real monthly cost of a Notion workspace at scale

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When self-hosting goes wrong: seven failure modes and how to avoid them

An honest retrospective on the ways self-hosted setups break — not in theory, but in practice — and the small habits that prevent most of them.

Will the open source project you depend on still exist in three years?

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