Software Alternatives & Startups
Register | Login

visualOS VS AFFiNE

Compare visualOS VS AFFiNE and see what are their differences

visualOS

Infinite canvas and moodboard maker that saves real files

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Freemium $12.99 / One-off (Pay once. Use forever.)
Alternatives Is it good?
AFFiNE

All in one KnowledgeOS, Open alternative to Notion&Miro.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source Free $6.75 / Monthly (Affine Cloud)
Alternatives Is it good?
Monitask
Employee Monitoring Software with Screenshots, Internet, Activity and Time Tracking sponsored

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, AFFiNE seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned 32 times since March 2021.

social mentions
0 vs 32
Digital Whiteboard popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
12 vs 240+

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

visualOS
AFFiNE
Website visualos.app affine.pro
Pricing
Freemium $12.99 / One-off (Pay once. Use forever.)
Open source Free $6.75 / Monthly (Affine Cloud) Official pricing
Platforms
MacOS iOS Browser iPad +1
Mac OSX Google Chrome Windows
Company Startup from Germany · 1 - 9 employees · 2026 Startup from Singapore · 20 - 49 employees
Listed in
Note Taking Moodboard Digital Whiteboard Productivity Knowledge Management Knowledge Base +3
Task Management Note Taking Personal Notes Knowledge Management Digital Whiteboard AI Writing +3

About visualOS and AFFiNE

In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.

visualOS
AFFiNE

visualOS is an infinite canvas for people who think visually: notes, Markdown documents, to-dos, images, PDFs, colour swatches and freehand drawing, with boards nested inside boards. It is local-first: every board is a real folder on your disk, documents are Markdown files, and sync runs through...

Read more about visualOS

No description of AFFiNE yet.

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

visualOS 12 features
AFFiNE 4 features
  • Infinite canvas
    Zoomable canvas for notes, images, Markdown documents, to-dos, tables, PDFs, videos, links, shapes, arrows and drawings
  • Boards inside boards
    Nest boards to any depth, with breadcrumbs to keep your place
  • Real files on your disk
    Connect a folder: every board becomes a folder, documents become Markdown files, images stay image files
  • Works offline
    No server; the iPhone, iPad and Mac app works fully offline
  • No account
    Open the web app and start working, no sign-up
  • Sync via your own cloud
    Put the folder in iCloud Drive or Dropbox to sync across devices
  • Moodboard tools
    Drag, drop or paste images, crop and caption them, collect colour swatches with names and codes
  • Apple Pencil
    Pen tray, precise eraser, hold-to-shape and handwriting search in the iPad app
  • Version history
    Automatic rolling versions (about 30) for connected folders, restore with one click
  • Search
    Full-text search across all boards (Cmd/Ctrl+F)
  • Export
    Export any view as a 2x PNG; JSON backup and import
  • Languages
    English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Chinese (Simplified), Polish, Swedish
  • Write
    Notion like block-based page editor
  • Draw
    Miro like free style canvas
  • AFFiNE AI
    AI copilot for reading,drafting,reviewing,brainstorming,diagraming and more
  • Database
    Airtable like structured data management（beta）

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

visualOS
AFFiNE

No analysis of visualOS yet.

Overall verdict

  • AFFiNE is a robust platform, particularly valuable for those seeking a well-rounded, adaptable productivity tool. It offers a wide array of features that support efficient project management through its intuitive interface. Overall, AFFiNE is considered a good choice for those in need of a reliable productivity and collaboration tool.

Why this product is good

  • AFFiNE is known for its user-friendly design, offering a range of productivity tools that streamline workflow processes. Its features cater to both individual and team-based tasks, making it versatile for various project management needs. The platform integrates well with other software, providing seamless communication and collaboration. Additionally, AFFiNE is consistently updated based on user feedback, ensuring it meets the evolving needs of its users.

Recommended for

    AFFiNE is recommended for freelancers, small-to-medium businesses, and project managers who require effective task management and team collaboration solutions. It is especially suited for organizations looking for an easy-to-use platform that can scale with their growth and adapt to various workflow requirements.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

visualOS 1 video + Add
AFFiNE 3 videos + Add

visualOS - Free Infinite Canvas and Moodboard App

AFFiNE AI: Notion Meets Infinite Canvas!

More videos

  • - Work Culture Life At New Affine
  • - Affine - Notion Killer?!

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
visualOS
AFFiNE
100% 100%
Digital Whiteboard
0% 0%
5% 5%
Note Taking
95% 95%
7% 7%
Productivity
93% 93%
0% 0%
Task Management
100% 100%

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing visualOS and AFFiNE.

What makes your product unique?

visualOS's answer

visualOS stores your work as real files. Connect a folder and every board on the canvas becomes a folder on your disk, every document a Markdown file and every image an ordinary image file. There is no server and no account, so your boards work offline, sync through your own iCloud Drive or Dropbox, and stay readable even if you stop using visualOS.

AFFiNE's answer:

AFFiNE is unique because it combines flexibility with strong privacy protections, making it ideal for users who value both control over their workspace and data security. The platform’s canvas feature allows for a highly customizable layout, enabling users to visually organize information in a free-form, drag-and-drop manner. This flexibility supports diverse workflows, from brainstorming and project planning to note-taking and task management, making AFFiNE a versatile tool adaptable to personal and professional needs.

What sets AFFiNE apart even further is its commitment to privacy with a local-first approach. This means data is stored locally on users’ devices, safeguarding sensitive information and ensuring full offline access. As an open-source platform, AFFiNE also invites community contributions and customization, allowing users to shape the tool to fit their specific requirements. This blend of privacy, flexibility, and user-driven development creates a truly unique productivity solution.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

visualOS's answer

Choose visualOS if you work alone and want your boards to stay yours. Compared with Milanote, there is no 100-note limit and no subscription: the web app is free and complete, and the iPhone, iPad and Mac app is a one-time purchase. Compared with Miro or Apple Freeform, you get boards nested to any depth, stored as plain files, and the app works offline. If your team needs real-time collaboration, comments or share links, Milanote or Miro fit better.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

visualOS's answer

People who think visually and work on their own: designers, photographers, illustrators and artists who build moodboards and project boards, plus students, writers and researchers who organise ideas on a canvas. Users often come from Milanote, Apple Freeform or Kosmik and want an offline tool without a subscription.

What's the story behind your product?

visualOS's answer

We're Sarah Dorweiler and Gerald Reimertz, a husband-and-wife team from Nuremberg, Germany, who have been building things together for more than 20 years. As creatives we always organised our projects on visual canvas tools, but our files and ideas were tied to cloud services. We wanted the same visual overview for the files on our own devices: offline and private. That became visualOS, launched in 2026. We build it as a two-person team.

Which are the primary technologies used for building your product?

visualOS's answer

The app is written in plain HTML, CSS and JavaScript, with no framework and no build step. The canvas is drawn with the Canvas 2D API and stays fast with thousands of elements. Data lives in IndexedDB or, through the File System Access API, in a folder the user chooses. The native iPhone, iPad and Mac app uses Capacitor plus Swift plugins built on UIKit, PencilKit (shape recognition) and Apple's Vision framework (handwriting search).

User comments

Share your experience with using visualOS and AFFiNE. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Log in or Post with

Reviews and articles

External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.

visualOS no reviews yet
AFFiNE no reviews yet

We have no reviews of visualOS yet. Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

visualOS 0 mentions
AFFiNE 32 mentions

Tracking visualOS since Sep 2026.

  • Notion leaks email addresses of all editors of any public page
    I'd say Affine or Obsidian. Obsidian is built on-top of just markdown files, so you can do whatever you want with them. E.g. If you need multiplayer editing you could use 3rd party solutions or even something like HedgeDoc. Affine is... - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Notion leaks email addresses of all editors of any public page
    I wrote a more detailed comparison of Notion vs Obsidian here: https://bryanhogan.com/blog/notion-obsidian-comparison I kinda dislike where Notion is heading though, forcing more and more things on their users without any ways to disable... - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • AFFiNE vs AppFlowy: Open-Source Notion Clones
    AFFiNE is a workspace that merges docs, whiteboards, and databases into one tool. The editor supports block-based writing similar to Notion, but adds an infinite canvas (whiteboard) mode where blocks can be freely positioned. It's built... - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago

View more

Alternatives to visualOS and AFFiNE

When comparing visualOS and AFFiNE, you can also consider the following products.

Loading...