AppFlowy

Open-source, privacy-first Notion alternative where you own your data.

Best for: Privacy-conscious individuals, open-source teams, and developers wanting a self-hosted Notion

Free plan

4.7/5Editorial score 91/100appflowy.io

Entry plan

Free Forever (Open Source)

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Editorial score91/100

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The editorial note

What to know about AppFlowy

AppFlowy is an open-source, privacy-focused workspace that gives users complete control over their documents, wikis, and project management databases. Built with Flutter and Rust, AppFlowy runs locally on your machine with offline-first speed, offering boards, tables, calendars, and AI assistance without cloud surveillance.

Is it right for you?

Who AppFlowy suits

Choose it if

Privacy-conscious individuals, open-source teams, and developers wanting a self-hosted Notion

Look elsewhere if

Enterprise companies requiring hundreds of pre-built SaaS app connectors out of the box

What you get

Key features

Local-first document editor with markdown support
Customizable database views (Grid, Kanban, Calendar)
Native AppFlowy AI integration for writing and summarization
Self-hosting support via Docker
Cross-platform desktop and mobile clients (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux)
End-to-end encryption for cloud sync

Works with

Integrations5

DockerRustFlutterOpenAISupabase

What it costs

Pricing

AppFlowy pricing plans
Plan	Price	What it includes
Community Self-Hosted	Free Forever (Open Source)Billed one-time	100% free, unlimited local pages, self-hosted sync server, full community features
AppFlowy Cloud Pro	$7.50 / month ($72 / yr)Billed yearly	Or $10 monthly. Encrypted cloud sync, unlimited file uploads, built-in AppFlowy AI credits, collaborative workspaces

Prices are recorded from the vendor's public pricing page and can change. Check before you buy.

The trade-off

Pros and cons

Pros

100% open-source and self-hostable with native local-first offline support
High performance built with Rust and Flutter across desktop and mobile
Flexible database views including Kanban boards, grid tables, and calendars

Cons

Ecosystem of third-party templates is still developing compared to Notion
Web-based public sharing requires AppFlowy Cloud or self-hosted server configuration

Quick read

At a glance

Category: Business & Productivity
Pricing model: Freemium
Entry plan: Free Forever (Open Source)
Free plan: Available
Free trial: Not listed
Website: appflowy.io

The verdict

Our take on AppFlowy

AppFlowy is the strongest open-source contender to Notion, combining local-first performance with beautiful UI and complete data sovereignty.

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