Best 5 AppFlowy Alternatives

AppFlowy emerged in November 2021 as an ambitious open-source alternative to Notion, quickly gaining traction with over 30,000 GitHub stars in its first year. Built with Flutter and Rust for cross-platform compatibility and performance, AppFlowy promised to address the limitations of proprietary tools by offering local-first storage, complete data control, and community-driven development. The platform attracted backing from prominent tech founders including Matt Mullenweg (Automattic), Steve Chen (YouTube), and Tom Preston-Werner (GitHub), raising $6.4 million in seed funding.

As a collaborative workspace designed for notes, wikis, projects, and more, AppFlowy positioned itself as the solution for individuals and businesses seeking Notion's functionality without sacrificing data privacy or native performance. Its mission to democratize knowledge management tools while providing building blocks for custom applications resonated with developers and privacy-conscious users worldwide.

However, as AppFlowy has evolved, users have encountered challenges that have led them to explore other options. While the platform continues development, certain limitations and unfulfilled promises have prompted teams to seek alternatives that better align with their immediate needs.

Why Users Are Looking for AppFlowy Alternatives

Several significant issues have led users to search for AppFlowy alternatives:

• Missing version history and collaborative editing: Despite being in development since 2021, AppFlowy still lacks edit history functionality, a feature users have been requesting since July 2023. Additionally, collaborative editing remains incomplete, with the UI not updating in real-time even when data syncs across devices.

• Limited feature set compared to promises: Users report feeling disappointed by AppFlowy's actual capabilities, with one noting it turned out to be "a very poor notebook" compared to expectations, unable to even "make a separate section, let alone all the other features like connecting to the cloud."

• Beta features and development uncertainty: Many core features remain in beta or are "still in development" years after announcement. The roadmap acknowledges that statements about future features "do not represent a commitment, guarantee, obligation, or promise to deliver."

• Self-hosting complexity: While AppFlowy Cloud promises easy self-hosting, users face limitations including the inability to install both the official app and self-hosted version on the same device due to bundle ID conflicts. The process remains technically challenging for non-developers.

Finding the Right AppFlowy Alternative

To make your decision easier, we've put together a list of the best AppFlowy alternatives and competitors, based on real reviews.

These solutions range from established platforms with proven track records to innovative open-source projects that deliver on the promises of privacy, collaboration, and flexibility. Each offers unique approaches to knowledge management and workspace organization.

Check out the list below and find the solution that best suits your needs.

Docmost

Docmost is an open-source wiki and documentation software designed for seamless real-time collaboration, allowing multiple users to work on the same page simultaneously without overwriting each other. Released under the AGPL-3.0 license, Docmost positions itself as a modern alternative to both Notion and Confluence, offering a fresh approach to knowledge base software that addresses many of AppFlowy's limitations.

Unlike AppFlowy's incomplete collaborative editing, Docmost has working real-time collaboration where multiple users can edit the same page simultaneously without conflicts or UI sync issues. The platform includes a rich-text editor with full support for tables, LaTeX math, callouts, and built-in diagramming tools (Mermaid, Draw.io, and Excalidraw). This comprehensive feature set addresses the "very poor notebook" criticism some AppFlowy users express.

Docmost's architecture includes Spaces for organizing content by teams, projects, or departments, each with its own permissions. The platform also supports importing and exporting pages in Markdown and HTML formats, and even includes importers for Confluence and Notion, ensuring no vendor lock-in. For organizations concerned about data sovereignty, Docmost can be self-hosted with support for both S3 and local storage drivers.

What sets Docmost apart is its focus on user experience and modern development practices. The platform features an integrated inline commenting system for meaningful discussions directly on pages, comprehensive page history with version tracking, and support for over 10 languages. Teams migrating from AppFlowy will appreciate the seamless real-time collaboration that doesn't require page locking or manual conflict resolution.

Docmost features​

• Collaborative Real-time Editor: Work together on pages in real time.
• Diagrams: Built-in support for Drawio, Excalidraw, and Mermaid diagramming tools.
• Spaces: Organize your pages by team, projects, or departments for better collaboration.
• Permissions Management: Easily control access to pages with easy-to-understand permissions.
• Groups: Easily grant unified permissions to users via groups.
• Comments: Add inline comments to pages for better communication and feedback.
• Page History: Track changes with a comprehensive version history.
• Nested Navigation: You can nest and reorder pages via the sidebar.
• Search: Quickly find the information you need with powerful search capabilities.
• File Attachment: Attach files to your pages for quick reference and sharing.
• Embeds: Embed content from Airtable, Loom, YouTube, and more.
• Authentication: Email and password + SSO login (SAML 2.0/OIDC) in the Enterprise edition.

Affine

Affine is a privacy-first knowledge base that merges document and whiteboard capabilities—something AppFlowy aims for but hasn't achieved yet. While only the client is open-source (the server components remain proprietary), Affine provides many features that AppFlowy users want without the current limitations.

AppFlowy users complain about having "a very poor notebook," but Affine offers a "hyper-fused" approach where docs and whiteboards work together seamlessly. You can place rich text, sticky notes, embedded web pages, databases, linked pages, shapes, and slides on an edgeless canvas. This creates a genuine workspace for visual thinking and documentation.

Affine's local-first architecture lets you work offline with data saved locally by default. The platform has desktop apps and web access, plus self-hosting options, though the proprietary server means you depend on their infrastructure for sync. Still, it's more stable than AppFlowy's bundle ID conflicts and setup issues.

The platform includes bidirectional linking, workspace customization, and a block system similar to Notion. Yes, AI features cost extra and the server stays closed-source, but at least the client is transparent—more than you get with fully proprietary tools. Most importantly, these features work now instead of being perpetually "in development."

Obsidian

Obsidian takes a different approach from AppFlowy's all-in-one workspace idea, focusing on powerful note-taking with local storage and extensive plugin support. If you want true data ownership without AppFlowy's beta uncertainties, Obsidian is mature and stable.

Built around markdown files stored locally, Obsidian has the bidirectional linking and graph visualization that makes networked thinking possible. AppFlowy users struggle with sync issues and login problems, but Obsidian works entirely offline. You can add optional paid sync ($8/month) or use your own cloud storage. The plugin ecosystem (over 1,000 community plugins) lets you add features that AppFlowy doesn't have yet.

Obsidian shines at personal knowledge management with Canvas for visual thinking, powerful search capabilities, and cross-platform support that actually works. It's free for personal use, with paid licenses for commercial use ($50/user/year). This transparent pricing beats AppFlowy's uncertain future monetization plans.

Yes, the learning curve is steeper than AppFlowy promises to be, but you get a tool that works now. For individuals and teams who care more about note-taking and knowledge management than database features, Obsidian's stability and active development make it worth considering.

Anytype

Anytype shares AppFlowy's vision of local-first, privacy-focused software but actually makes it work. Built on a decentralized architecture with end-to-end encryption, Anytype gives you the data control AppFlowy users want without the current problems.

Here's the key difference: Anytype's features work as advertised. Local storage functions offline without connectivity issues, peer-to-peer sync happens smoothly on local networks, and the interface loads with the "crazy-fast" speed they promise. Anytype uses an object-based approach for flexible data structuring like Notion, but with genuine local control.

Working on all major platforms including mobile, Anytype solves AppFlowy's device compatibility problems. It's free for personal use with optional paid memberships. Unlike AppFlowy's self-hosting headaches, Anytype's local-first design means no server management or bundle ID conflicts—it just works.

Early users praise Anytype's clean UI, excellent performance, and real privacy-by-design implementation. While still growing, Anytype delivers many features that drew users to AppFlowy in the first place, making it a solid choice for privacy-conscious users.

Logseq

Logseq offers a unique approach to knowledge management with its outliner structure and powerful bidirectional linking. For AppFlowy users who want a truly open-source solution that values privacy and local storage, Logseq is mature with active development and a passionate community.

Built around daily journals and interconnected notes, Logseq stores everything in plain markdown or org-mode files for complete data portability. AppFlowy has sync issues, but Logseq works entirely offline. You can sync through any file service you prefer. The graph database and visual network view help you discover connections between ideas, going beyond basic note-taking.

Logseq includes integrated task management, PDF annotation, and a powerful query system. You can organize complex information with whiteboards, namespace hierarchies, and custom properties. The learning curve is steeper than AppFlowy's promised simplicity, but you get deep capabilities and reliability in return.

Completely free and open-source, Logseq matches AppFlowy's original vision while providing features that work today. The desktop app is fully featured, though mobile apps lag behind.