Free alternatives to Anytype

SiYuan keeps the parts of Anytype people value, structure and local-first ownership, while fixing the license and the storage cap. It is a free-for-life AGPL-3.0 knowledge base with block-level references and an attribute-view database, so you get real structure, and it runs entirely offline with no 100 MB ceiling hanging over it (as of July 2026). Sync, if you want it across devices, is a one-time $64 through your own S3 or WebDAV rather than a storage tier you rent. The honest gap is encryption: SiYuan has no end-to-end encryption, so if that was your reason for Anytype, look at Standard Notes instead.

• Free plan, paid from $64 one-time (as of July 2026)
• China
• Open source (AGPL-3.0)

Best for:

Anytype users who want structure and local-first ownership in genuinely open source software

The catch:

No end-to-end encryption, notes are stored as JSON, and the English documentation is rough.

Obsidian is the pick if Anytype's objects and relations were more machinery than you wanted. It points at a folder of plain Markdown files, which is about as simple and portable as note storage gets, and personal use is free with no note, device, or feature limits (as of July 2026). A plugin library over a thousand deep, including Dataview, covers a lot of the structure Anytype gave you through relations. The tradeoffs are the ones Anytype was built to avoid: Obsidian is not encrypted, its core is closed source, and Sync is $4 per user per month unless you use iCloud or Dropbox.

• Free plan, paid from $4/month (as of July 2026)
• Canada

Best for:

Anytype users who want plain files and a simpler model over encrypted objects

The catch:

Not encrypted, closed source, and Sync is a paid add-on.

Standard Notes keeps Anytype's encryption promise and fixes both the license and the storage cap, at the cost of structure. It is AGPL-3.0 open source, encryption is the default, and the free plan syncs unlimited notes across unlimited devices with no storage ceiling, backed by Proton (as of July 2026). The catch is that free is plain text with no attachments, backlinks, or objects, so you lose all of Anytype's structure. Rich Super notes arrive on Productivity at $90 a year.

• Free plan, paid from $90/year (as of July 2026)
• Switzerland
• Open source (AGPL-3.0)

Best for:

Anytype users who care most about open source encryption and can live in plain text

The catch:

Free is plain text with no attachments or structure, so Anytype's object model is gone.

Logseq is the open source, local-first option if Anytype's license was the sticking point but you still want to link ideas. It is a free AGPL-3.0 outliner storing local Markdown or Org-mode files, with block-level links and queries that give a lighter version of Anytype's connected structure (as of July 2026). It is not encrypted and it is an outliner, so it suits capture over long prose. Sync is beta and backer-only, so most people use iCloud, Dropbox, or Git.

• Completely free (as of July 2026)
• United States
• Open source (AGPL-3.0)

Best for:

Anytype users who want open source, local notes and block-level linking

The catch:

Not encrypted, and official sync is beta and backer-only.

AppFlowy is the pick if you liked Anytype's structure but want collaboration and a genuine open source license. It offers a block editor with grid, board, and calendar views and real-time collaboration, all local-first so it works offline, under AGPL-3.0 (as of July 2026). The hosted free plan covers one workspace of up to 2 members with 5 GB of storage, more generous than Anytype's 100 MB, and self-hosting removes the caps if you run Docker. The tradeoff is privacy: AppFlowy is not end-to-end encrypted the way Anytype is.

• Free plan, paid from $10/month (as of July 2026)
• Singapore
• Open source (AGPL-3.0)

Best for:

Anytype users who want structured, collaborative workspaces in open source software

The catch:

Not end-to-end encrypted, and the hosted free tier stops at 2 members.

AFFiNE suits Anytype users who want structure plus a visual canvas and are not wedded to encryption. Any page flips into an infinite whiteboard, and it adds database views on top, with a free tier of 10 GB, up to 3 members, and unlimited local workspaces (as of July 2026). The client is MIT licensed, more permissive than Anytype's source-available terms, though the server directory carries a separate license. It is not end-to-end encrypted, and stability is the recurring complaint, so back it up.

• Free plan, paid from $6.75/month (as of July 2026)
• Singapore
• Open source (MIT (client); server directory under a separate license)

Best for:

Anytype users who want a whiteboard and databases over encrypted objects

The catch:

Not end-to-end encrypted, the 3-device cap is tight, and sync bugs still surface.

Joplin is the pragmatic open source option if Anytype's object model was too much and you want plain notebooks. It is AGPL-3.0 on every platform, with notebooks, tags, a web clipper, and end-to-end encryption you enable yourself, syncing free to Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, WebDAV, or S3 (as of July 2026). There is no 100 MB cap, because you bring your own storage. The costs are a dated interface and encryption that is off until you turn it on, unlike Anytype's default.

• Free plan, paid from €2.4/month (as of July 2026)
• United Kingdom
• Open source (AGPL-3.0-or-later)

Best for:

Anytype users who want simple open source notebooks with free, optional encryption

The catch:

The interface is dated, and encryption is off until you enable it.