AppFlowy vs Joplin
| Tagline | Open-source Notion alternative built on Flutter and Rust | Open-source note-taking app with end-to-end encrypted sync |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| Replaces | Notion, Confluence | Evernote, Obsidian |
| GitHub stars | 74k | 56k |
| Language | Dart | TypeScript |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 5 days ago | 3 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.
Joplin
- The note editor is more basic than Notion-style block editors.
- No real-time collaborative editing; sync is eventual.
- No relational database or board views.
- Self-hosted Joplin Server setup and multi-user management is less polished than the apps.
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose AppFlowy for the larger community and ecosystem. Joplin has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.