AFFiNE vs draw.io
| Tagline | Privacy-first, local-first workspace combining docs, whiteboards, and databases | Powerful open-source diagramming tool for flowcharts, UML, ER, and network diagrams |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| Replaces | Notion, Confluence, Obsidian | Confluence, Notion |
| GitHub stars | 70k | 6.2k |
| Language | TypeScript | Javascript |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | today | yesterday |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
AFFiNE
- Self-hosted real-time sync (AFFiNE Cloud) has historically lagged the desktop/local experience and can be fiddly to configure.
- Smaller third-party integration and plugin ecosystem than Notion.
- Mobile apps are less mature than the desktop client.
- Some advanced AI and collaboration features are gated to the paid cloud tier.
draw.io
- No real-time multi-cursor collaboration in the self-hosted version (available only on draw.io cloud)
- Version history and branching are not built-in; rely on external storage integration
- Limited commenting and review workflow compared to Lucidchart or Miro
- No presentation mode or interactive slideshow features
Bottom line
Choose draw.io if you want the lower-effort setup; choose AFFiNE for the larger community and ecosystem. AFFiNE has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.