AppFlowy
Open-source workspace you can self-host
AppFlowy is a note-taking & docs tool for Developers and Small businesses, offered as open source ($16/mo). Founded in Singapore in 2021.
About AppFlowy
AppFlowy is an open-source collaborative workspace that covers notes, wikis, databases and project boards, positioned as a privacy-focused alternative to Notion. It is built with Flutter for the interface and Rust for the core, so it ships as native apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android rather than a web wrapper, and its source code is published on GitHub under the AGPL license.
The core product combines rich documents with databases that can be viewed as a grid, kanban board or calendar, plus templates, offline mode and an AI assistant for writing, summarising and asking questions about your content. You can use AppFlowy Cloud as a hosted service with a free tier and paid per-user plans, or self-host the backend with Docker so that every page and database stays on your own servers.
AppFlowy fits developers, privacy-conscious teams and organisations with data residency rules who want a Notion-style experience without handing their content to a third party. It is less mature than Notion in integrations, templates, permissions and the polish of real-time collaboration, and its plugin ecosystem is small. Anytype is the other well-known open-source, local-first option; AFFiNE combines docs with whiteboards; Notion remains the safer choice when a broad integration ecosystem matters more than data ownership.
Key features of AppFlowy
- Docs and databases
- Kanban and grid
- AI assistant
- Offline mode
- Self-hosting
- Templates
Pros and cons
Pros
- Open source
- Self-hostable
- Fast native apps
- Notion-like
Cons
- Fewer features than Notion
- Smaller ecosystem
- Collaboration maturing
- Integrations limited
AppFlowy pricing
AppFlowy uses a open source model.
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | $0 | 1 workspace owner, 100 MB storage, 7-day version history |
| Pro | $16 / user/mo | $12/mo billed annually; unlimited members, storage, forms |
| Self-hosted | $0 | AGPL-3.0 code, self-host with Docker |
Source: appflowy.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026
How AppFlowy compares in Note-taking & docs
- Rank by votes
- #1 / 15
- Starting price
- $16
- Free alternatives
- 3
0 votes from members
60% above the category median ($10/mo)
Free or open-source tools in Note-taking & docs
AppFlowy ranks #1 of 15 note-taking & docs tools by community votes and is priced above most tools in the category.
Common use cases
- 1Self-hosted team wiki
- 2Private notes
- 3Project boards
- 4Notion replacement
Best for
Teams wanting an open-source Notion.
Not ideal for
Teams needing Notion's ecosystem.
Integrations
- Self-hosted
- AI models
- Import from Notion
Our take
AppFlowy is a credible open-source Notion alternative.
FAQ
- What is AppFlowy?
- AppFlowy is a Note-taking & docs tool: Open-source workspace you can self-host.
- How much does AppFlowy cost?
- AppFlowy is Open source; there is no mandatory paid plan.
- What does AppFlowy integrate with?
- AppFlowy integrates with Self-hosted, AI models, Import from Notion and more.
- Which platforms does AppFlowy support?
- AppFlowy is available on macos, windows, linux, ios, android.
- Who is AppFlowy for?
- Teams wanting an open-source Notion.
More Note-taking & docs tools
Free freeform digital notebook from Microsoft with ink and sync
FreeFreelancersSmall businesses
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to share real experience.
Sign in to write a review.