AppFlowy vs Gotenberg
| Tagline | Open-source Notion alternative built on Flutter and Rust | Developer API to convert HTML, Markdown, Word, and Excel files into PDFs |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| Replaces | Notion, Confluence | Notion |
| GitHub stars | 73k | 12k |
| Language | Dart | Docker |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | today | 2 days ago |
| 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.
Gotenberg
- Conversion-only API; no storage, user interface, or document management.
- Complex CSS layouts and JavaScript-heavy pages may render inconsistently with headless Chromium.
- LibreOffice fidelity for intricate Word/Excel formatting can differ from native Office rendering.
- No built-in rate limiting or authentication — must be secured at the reverse proxy level.
Bottom line
Choose Gotenberg 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.
Gotenberg
Developer API to convert HTML, Markdown, Word, and Excel files into PDFs