Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Notion VS AppFlowy

Compare Notion VS AppFlowy and see what are their differences

Notion logo Notion

All-in-one workspace. One tool for your whole team. Write, plan, and get organized.

AppFlowy logo AppFlowy

AppFlowy is an open source alternative to Notion. You are in charge of your data and customizations.
  • Notion Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12
  • AppFlowy Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-14

Notion features and specs

  • All-in-One Workspace
    Notion combines note-taking, task management, databases, calendars, and collaboration features in a single platform, reducing the need for multiple tools.
  • Highly Customizable
    Users can tailor Notion to fit their specific workflow with customizable templates, pages, and databases, making it versatile for various use cases.
  • Collaboration Features
    Notion offers seamless collaboration with real-time editing, comments, mentions, and shared workspaces, enhancing teamwork and productivity.
  • Cross-Platform Availability
    Notion is available on multiple platforms, including web, desktop, and mobile, providing flexibility and accessibility from anywhere.
  • Integration Capability
    Notion supports integrations with various third-party applications like Google Drive, Slack, and Trello, allowing for a more interconnected workflow.

Possible disadvantages of Notion

  • Learning Curve
    Due to its extensive features and customization options, new users might find Notion challenging to learn and navigate initially.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report that Notion can become slow or experience lag, especially with large databases and complex pages.
  • Offline Limitations
    While Notion offers some offline capabilities, its functionality is significantly reduced without an internet connection, which can be inconvenient for some users.
  • Pricing for Teams
    Though Notion offers a free version, its premium plans can be expensive for larger teams, which may be a constraint for startups or small businesses.
  • Privacy Concerns
    As with any cloud-based service, there are potential privacy and data security concerns, especially for users handling sensitive information.

AppFlowy features and specs

  • Open Source
    AppFlowy is an open-source tool, meaning its source code is available publicly, allowing developers to modify, customize, and enhance the software according to their needs.
  • Privacy-Focused
    AppFlowy emphasizes privacy, giving users greater control over their data as they can self-host the application, ensuring data is stored securely and privately.
  • Community Support
    Being an open-source project, AppFlowy benefits from a community of developers and users who contribute to its improvement through forums, discussions, and code contributions.
  • Customizable
    Due to its open-source nature, users can tailor AppFlowy to better fit their specific needs and integrate it with other tools and workflows.
  • Cross-Platform
    AppFlowy is designed to be cross-platform, allowing users to access their data and work across various operating systems seamlessly.

Possible disadvantages of AppFlowy

  • Limited Features
    As a relatively new tool, AppFlowy might lack some of the advanced features found in more established competitors, leading to potential limitations in functionality.
  • Development Maturity
    Since AppFlowy is still in its early stages of development, it may encounter bugs and stability issues, which could affect its reliability for critical tasks.
  • Learning Curve
    Users who are unfamiliar with open-source tools might find it challenging to set up, customize, and maintain AppFlowy compared to more commercial, user-friendly alternatives.
  • Smaller User Base
    Given its nascent stage, AppFlowy has a smaller user base compared to more established competitors, which might lead to fewer readily available resources and third-party integrations.

Analysis of AppFlowy

Overall verdict

  • AppFlowy is a solid choice for users who prioritize open-source software and need a customizable productivity tool. Its growing community and active development make it an attractive option for tech-savvy individuals and teams who require a tailored solution. However, users who prefer a more polished, out-of-the-box experience with extensive third-party integrations might find other mainstream alternatives more suitable.

Why this product is good

  • AppFlowy is an open-source alternative to popular productivity and note-taking tools. It offers users the flexibility to customize and extend the platform to suit their personal or organizational needs, owing to its open-source nature. It is particularly appealing for users who value transparency in software development and wish to have control over their data and workflow customization.

Recommended for

    AppFlowy is recommended for developers, tech enthusiasts, and teams looking for a customizable and privacy-focused productivity tool. It's also suitable for organizations that require a high degree of customization and the ability to host their own data.

Notion videos

The Most Powerful Productivity App I Use - Notion

More videos:

  • Review - I switched to Notion for a week... Here's what happened!
  • Review - Notion is Truly an All-in-One Productivity Tool (App Review)

AppFlowy videos

Open Source Notion Alternative: Appflowy First Look

More videos:

  • Review - Open Source Notion Alternative - AppFlowy is AMAZING!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Notion and AppFlowy)
Productivity
99 99%
1% 1
Note Taking
92 92%
8% 8
Project Management
95 95%
5% 5
Task Management
94 94%
6% 6

User comments

Share your experience with using Notion and AppFlowy. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Notion and AppFlowy

Notion Reviews

  1. jk22
    · consultant at GFI ·
    Notion has helped in documenting our business

    It's been very very helpful to streamline different people on our team, especially remote workers to help them understand what's going on in our business without 100s of meetings.

    👍 Pros:    Ui is very attractive|Easy to use|Great for collaboration|Good customer service|Free to use
    👎 Cons:    Steep learning curve
  2. Ramesh Kumar
    · Product Manager at Aerial ·
    Extremely helpful- made life easier

    My remote-first start-up has eliminated more than 200+ hours of meetings and 1000s of mismanaged documents because our entire communication happens through Notion.

    👍 Pros:    Clean ui|File sharing|Modular
    👎 Cons:    Learning curve
  3. Boyd Richardson
    · Writer at SE ·

    As someone who's always on the lookout for the perfect productivity app, I was excited to try out Notion. It promises to be an all-in-one tool for everything from note-taking to project management to personal wikis.

    From the moment you open Notion, you can tell that it's different from other productivity apps. The interface is sleek and modern, and it's easy to navigate. The app is divided into pages, which can be customized with different templates to fit your needs. You can create to-do lists, databases, wikis, calendars, and more.

    One of the things I love about Notion is the ability to create relationships between pages. For example, you can create a database of your favorite books and then link to a page with your book reviews. Or you can create a to-do list and link to a page with notes about the task. This feature makes it easy to keep all of your information in one place and to connect related items.

    🏁 Competitors: Microsoft Loop
    👍 Pros:    Highly customizable|All in one|Collaboration|Cross platform
    👎 Cons:    Steep learning curve

Top 10 Productivity Apps for MacOS 2025
Okay, I know, I know. Notion is probably the most predictable pick for a productivity app list. But here’s the thing: It’s popular for a reason. Notion’s flexibility, customisation, and overall smooth user experience make it a standout, no matter how many times it pops up on productivity lists. Whether you’re organising tasks, taking notes, or creating databases, Notion lets...
Source: dev.to
Top 10 Notion Alternatives for 2025 and Why Teams Are Choosing Ledger
If you're looking for a Notion alternative that supports real, scalable teamwork, you're not alone. Whether you’ve outgrown Notion or are just exploring more robust, team-friendly platforms, here’s a breakdown of the top 10 alternatives in 2025—and why Ledger is becoming the go-to choice for modern teams.
How Tight-Knit Teams Get More Done with Innovative Project Management Tools
Notion: More than a task manager, it acts as a knowledge base. You can store guidelines, references, wikis, and to-do lists all under one roof.
Source: medium.com
11 Popular Knowledge Management Tools to Consider in 2025 
Notion AI (Optional Add-on) – $8 per user/month (billed annually). Available for all plans (including the free plan)
Source: knowmax.ai
11 Best Google Keeps Alternatives for 2024
Unlike other note-taking apps, Notion stands out for its endless customization. It’s like an all-in-one workspace structured by pages and blocks.
Source: upbase.io

AppFlowy Reviews

5 Best Open Source Alternatives to Notion
Whether you're managing personal to-do lists, outlining projects, brainstorming ideas, or collaborating with a team, Appflowy offers the flexibility to cater to your specific needs. With its powerful features and user-friendly interface, Appflowy provides an optimal environment for capturing, organizing, and managing information effectively.
Source: affine.pro
The 5 Best Open Source Miro Alternatives in 2024
Looking at open source alternatives to Miro will give you powerful and flexible tools that can cater to different collaboration needs without the limitations of propietary software. In 2024,the best open source Miro alternative will be AFFiNE, Obsidian, Excalidraw,Appflowy,and Logseq. Each of these has unique features, community driven improvements, and the ability to...
Source: affine.pro

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Notion seems to be a lot more popular than AppFlowy. While we know about 441 links to Notion, we've tracked only 9 mentions of AppFlowy. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Notion mentions (441)

  • Cool SHIT you can do with docker
    Two of the most popular open source note taking app are affine (basically notion but open source) and obsidian (which stores notes in markdown). - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2024)
    Notion | https://notion.so | Android Engineer | SF | hybrid (in office 2x a week) | Full time
      Level: Mid/Mid+ (4-6yrs experience).
    - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • Karyam: Simples everyday writing app
    Advanced Notion and Google Doc writing editor. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • My blog post workflow
    I manage my non-work and work-adjacent tasks in Notion. Whenever I have an idea, regardless of how big or small or silly or achievable it is, I'll add it to Notion, and use labels to categorise it by type of output (e.g. blog, silly project, website update). Today I wanted to write a short post for my site. I clicked on the filtered blog post view, and selected this one (because I hoped it would be a quick one!). - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • 6 AI tools that feels illegal to know🤖
    Notion.so redefines workspaces. With its intelligent organization and collaboration features, it's more than a productivity tool—it's a digital haven. Discover the art of streamlined and efficient teamwork. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
View more

AppFlowy mentions (9)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Notion and AppFlowy, you can also consider the following products

Trello - Infinitely flexible. Incredibly easy to use. Great mobile apps. It's free. Trello keeps track of everything, from the big picture to the minute details.

Logseq - Logseq is a local-first, non-linear, outliner notebook for organizing and sharing your personal knowledge base.

Asana - Asana project management is an effort to re-imagine how we work together, through modern productivity software. Fast and versatile, Asana helps individuals and groups get more done.

Obsidian.md - A second brain, for you, forever. Obsidian is a powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.

Evernote - Bring your life's work together in one digital workspace. Evernote is the place to collect inspirational ideas, write meaningful words, and move your important projects forward.

Google Docs - Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.