What is the best open-source alternative to Notion?

Q: What is the best open-source alternative to Notion?

AppFlowy and AFFiNE are the top self-hosted Notion alternatives, offering document editing, databases, and kanban boards without the $10-16/user/month price tag.

The top self-hosted alternatives to Notion are AppFlowy and AFFiNE.

AppFlowy

AppFlowy is the closest architectural match to Notion: documents, grids, kanban boards, and a block-based editor. Written in Flutter + Rust for native performance.

Self-hosted: Full data ownership
Cost: Free; cloud plan $5/user/mo
Feature parity: Documents, databases, kanban — comparable to Notion's core

AFFiNE

AFFiNE (pronounced "affine") combines Notion-style pages with a Miro-style whiteboard in the same workspace. Good for teams that mix writing and visual planning.

Local-first: Works offline, syncs via your own server
Cost: Free self-hosted

Cost comparison (10-person team)

Tool	Monthly cost
Notion Business	$160
AppFlowy (self-hosted)	~$20 (infra only)
AFFiNE (self-hosted)	~$15 (infra only)

AppFlowy

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