AppFlowy vs draw.io
| Tagline | Open-source Notion alternative built on Flutter and Rust | Powerful open-source diagramming tool for flowcharts, UML, ER, and network diagrams |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| Replaces | Notion, Confluence | Confluence, Notion |
| GitHub stars | 73k | 6.2k |
| Language | Dart | Javascript |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | 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.
AppFlowy
- Self-hosted AppFlowy Cloud setup is involved and less polished than the local desktop app.
- Fewer database view types and formula capabilities than Notion.
- Limited third-party integrations and public API.
- Real-time multiplayer collaboration is newer and less battle-tested.
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 AppFlowy for the larger community and ecosystem. AppFlowy has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
draw.io
Powerful open-source diagramming tool for flowcharts, UML, ER, and network diagrams