Free alternatives to AppFlowy
AppFlowy is the open source Notion clone people reach for, and it is free, so the reasons to compare are about maturity, not price. It is a younger project, so database relations, rollups, formulas, templates, and integrations are all thinner than Notion's. The hosted free plan stops at one workspace of 2 members with 5 GB of storage, the free AI allowance is a demo at 10 responses, and self-hosting to lift the caps means running Docker, Postgres, and object storage yourself (as of July 2026). These free tools cover the same ground from different angles.
Facts checked as of July 2026Read our AppFlowy review
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AFFiNE
Best Free Alternative ToAppFlowyThe same open source, local-first workspace, but more generous on the free tier and with a whiteboard built into every page
AFFiNE is the closest match to what AppFlowy is trying to be, and a little further along in places. It covers docs and databases like AppFlowy, then adds an infinite whiteboard mode to any page, so planning and writing happen in one document. The free plan is more generous: 10 GB of cloud storage and up to 3 members against AppFlowy's 5 GB and 2, plus unlimited local workspaces off that quota (as of July 2026). The client is MIT licensed, arguably more permissive than AppFlowy's AGPL, though the server directory carries a separate license and stability is still the recurring complaint.
- Free plan, paid from $6.75/month (as of July 2026)
- Singapore
- Open source (MIT (client); server directory under a separate license)
Singapore- Best for:
- AppFlowy users who want a whiteboard and a roomier free tier in the same open source spirit
- The catch:
- The 3-device login cap is tight, and it ships fast enough that sync bugs still surface.
Compared to AppFlowy
- Advantage: 10 GB of free storage and 3 members, above AppFlowy's 5 GB and 2
- Advantage: Document-and-whiteboard in one object, which AppFlowy does not have
- Advantage: MIT-licensed client, more permissive than AppFlowy's AGPL
- Advantage: Unlimited local workspaces off the cloud quota
- Tradeoff: Only 3 logged-in devices on free
- Tradeoff: Stability is not yet better than AppFlowy's
The mature original with the deepest databases and the largest template and integration library, if you can accept cloud-only and paid teams
Notion is the tool AppFlowy is modeled on, and it still wins on depth: richer relations and rollups, more formula power, and a template and integration ecosystem AppFlowy cannot match yet. The free plan is generous for one person, with 5 MB file uploads, 10 guests, and 7 days of page history (as of July 2026), but a real team lands on paid at $10 per member per month, or $20 on Business. It is also cloud-only, so it undoes AppFlowy's offline and self-hosting advantages. Pick it for capability, not for ownership.
- Free plan, paid from $10/month (as of July 2026)
- United States
United States- Best for:
- AppFlowy users who need deeper databases and a bigger ecosystem and will pay for a team
- The catch:
- A real team is $10 per member per month, and it is cloud-only with no self-hosting.
Compared to AppFlowy
- Advantage: Deeper relations, rollups, and formulas than AppFlowy
- Advantage: Far larger template and integration ecosystem
- Advantage: More mature and stable than AppFlowy
- Tradeoff: Cloud-only, where AppFlowy is local-first and works offline
- Tradeoff: No self-hosting, so no way to remove the per-seat bill
- Tradeoff: A team costs $10 per member per month, where self-hosted AppFlowy is free
The same object-and-database structure, but end-to-end encrypted by default
Anytype is the pick if AppFlowy's shape appealed but you want privacy at the core. It builds workspaces from typed objects and relations, close to AppFlowy's databases in spirit, and encrypts everything on your device before syncing peer-to-peer (as of July 2026). Local storage is unlimited; free includes 100 MB of remote sync storage and 10 shared spaces, with paid tiers from $4 per month buying only more space. It is source-available rather than OSI open source, a step from AppFlowy's AGPL license, and there is no web app.
- Free plan, paid from $4/month (as of July 2026)
- Switzerland
Switzerland- Best for:
- AppFlowy users who want structured, encrypted, local-first notes
- The catch:
- 100 MB of free sync storage, no web app, and a source-available license rather than open source.
Compared to AppFlowy
- Advantage: End-to-end encrypted by default, which AppFlowy is not
- Advantage: Unlimited local objects and full offline use
- Advantage: Paid tiers buy sync storage, not features
- Tradeoff: Source-available, not OSI open source like AppFlowy's AGPL
- Tradeoff: Only 100 MB of remote sync storage on free
- Tradeoff: No web app and few integrations
Block references and a built-in database with no subscription, only a one-time sync fee
SiYuan trades AppFlowy's collaboration for depth in a single-user knowledge base. It offers block-level references, an attribute-view database, PDF annotation, and flashcards, free for life under AGPL-3.0 and fully offline (as of July 2026). There is no subscription: sync is a one-time $64 through your own S3 or WebDAV, or $148 for official cloud with 8 GB. The catches are that it is built for one person rather than a team, notes are stored as JSON, and the English documentation is rough.
- Free plan, paid from $64 one-time (as of July 2026)
- China
- Open source (AGPL-3.0)
China- Best for:
- AppFlowy users who work solo and want block references and a database with no monthly bill
- The catch:
- No real-time collaboration, notes stored as JSON, and rough English docs.
Compared to AppFlowy
- Advantage: Block-level references AppFlowy does not offer
- Advantage: No subscription at all, only a one-time sync fee
- Advantage: PDF annotation and flashcards built in
- Tradeoff: No real-time collaboration, where AppFlowy has it
- Tradeoff: Notes stored as JSON rather than a portable format
- Tradeoff: English docs and community are thin
If you mostly write and link rather than build databases, plain Markdown files you own are faster and freer
Plenty of people pick AppFlowy for the Notion shape and then use it as a document store. If that is you, Obsidian is faster and has no member cap: personal use is free with no note, device, or feature limits, and notes are plain Markdown files you keep (as of July 2026). Backlinks, a graph view, and a thousand-plus plugin library cover linking and light structure. What you give up is real databases and real-time collaboration, which Obsidian does not do.
- Free plan, paid from $4/month (as of July 2026)
- Canada
Canada- Best for:
- AppFlowy users who mostly write and link and never leaned on the databases
- The catch:
- No real databases and no real-time collaboration, and Sync is a $4-per-month add-on.
Compared to AppFlowy
- Advantage: No member cap on personal use, where AppFlowy free stops at 2
- Advantage: Notes are plain Markdown files you own
- Advantage: Opens and searches faster than a workspace app
- Tradeoff: No real database views, only plugin approximations
- Tradeoff: No real-time collaboration
- Tradeoff: Sync across devices is a paid $4-per-month add-on
Fully free and open source, built for linked note capture rather than databases
Logseq is the pick if AppFlowy felt heavier than what you needed. It is a free AGPL-3.0 outliner that stores local Markdown files and links and queries at the block level, with no member caps and nothing behind a paywall (as of July 2026). It has no databases, boards, or collaboration, so it is a personal thinking tool, not a shared workspace. 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:
- AppFlowy users who wanted a personal, linked notebook more than a database workspace
- The catch:
- No databases or collaboration, and official sync is beta and backer-only.
Compared to AppFlowy
- Advantage: Fully free and open source with no member caps
- Advantage: Local Markdown files you own, not app-locked data
- Advantage: Block-level links and queries for connected notes
- Tradeoff: No databases, boards, or calendar views
- Tradeoff: No real-time collaboration
- Tradeoff: Official sync is beta and gated to backers
How to choose
If you want the same open source, own-it workspace but more polish and a whiteboard, AFFiNE is the closest peer, with a more generous 10 GB free tier. If you can accept a cloud-only paid app in exchange for the deepest databases and the biggest template library, Notion is the mature original. Pick Anytype when encryption matters more than collaboration, SiYuan for block references and a database with no subscription, and Obsidian or Logseq if you realize you mostly write and link and never needed databases at all. Self-hosting AppFlowy is still the only way to get an uncapped team for free, so weigh that before you switch.