Alternatives / Notion
Open-source alternatives to Notion
18 alternatives are compared by license, workflow, self-hosting, pricing, and fit for different use cases.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
Why look for a Notion alternative?
Notion combines documents, notes, databases, wikis, project management, and collaboration in a proprietary workspace. People look for alternatives when they want self-hosting, offline or local-first workflows, stronger data portability, end-to-end encryption, or software they can inspect and modify. This list includes open-source, open-core, and source-available projects, so each license and status is called out clearly.
AGPL-3.0 alternative to Notion with offline desktop apps, self-hosted sync, and AI model choice. Documents, kanban, calendars, and databases under your control.
Pricing: Free and open source (AGPL-3.0), self-hosted; a hosted sync service is also offered.
- Local-first — works fully offline
- Choice of AI model, including self-hosted
- Smaller template/integration ecosystem than Notion
- Mobile apps are less mature than desktop
Source-available (Sustainable Use License) platform with Grid, Kanban, Gallery, Form, and Calendar views. Connects to MySQL, Postgres, SQLite with auto-generated REST/GraphQL APIs — useful for the database side of a Notion-like workflow.
Pricing: Free and open source (AGPL-3.0), self-hosted; a paid cloud plan is available.
- Works over your existing SQL database — no migration lock-in
- Auto-generated REST/GraphQL APIs
- AGPL-3.0 requires sharing modifications if distributed
- Less polished document/wiki features than Notion
SiYuan is an AGPL-3.0 local-first knowledge management system with block-level editing, backlinks, database blocks, graph views, flashcards, offline storage, and Docker deployment.
Pricing: Free and open source under AGPL-3.0 with local and self-hosted deployment options.
- Local-first with block-based editing and bidirectional links
- Database blocks, graph view, spaced repetition, and offline support
- Docker deployment and strong data ownership
- More PKM-oriented than team-oriented
- Different workflow from Notion
- Collaboration is less central than personal knowledge management
Huly combines project management, collaborative documents, team chat, planning, and development workflows in a self-hosted workspace aimed especially at product and engineering teams.
Pricing: Open source and self-hostable; verify the license and hosted-plan terms for the specific edition you deploy.
- Project management, documents, chat, and planning in one system
- GitHub integration and broad team collaboration features
- Self-hosting supported
- More complex than a simple Notion replacement
- Strongly oriented toward product and engineering teams
- May be excessive for personal notes
Docmost is an open-core collaborative wiki with real-time editing, spaces, comments, permissions, page history, search, file attachments, and Draw.io, Excalidraw, and Mermaid integrations.
Pricing: AGPL-licensed open-source core with self-hosting; enterprise features use a separate commercial license.
- Real-time collaboration, spaces, permissions, and page history
- Strong documentation tooling with diagrams and attachments
- Self-hosted open-source core
- Enterprise features use a separate commercial license
- More wiki-oriented than Notion
- Limited Notion-style databases
Notesnook is a GPL-3.0 note-taking application built around end-to-end encryption. It provides rich text, note linking, a web clipper, cross-platform clients, and self-hostable synchronization infrastructure.
Pricing: Open source under GPL-3.0 with self-hostable sync; hosted plans and optional paid services may be available.
- End-to-end encryption and strong privacy model
- Cross-platform rich-text editor, note linking, and web clipper
- Self-hostable synchronization
- Primarily a note-taking application
- No full Notion-style database system
- Less focused on project management and team workspaces
Blinko is a self-hosted AI-powered note-taking and personal knowledge management application for quickly capturing ideas and organizing information while keeping control of the deployment.
Pricing: Free and open source under GPL-3.0; self-hosted deployment is available.
- Self-hosted and privacy-focused
- AI features, Markdown support, and knowledge management tools
- Web-based interface with user-controlled infrastructure
- Primarily focused on personal use
- Smaller ecosystem
- Not a complete Notion replacement for databases and team workspaces
Anytype is a local-first encrypted knowledge workspace with documents, tasks, databases, wikis, Kanban and gallery views, graph relationships, and peer-to-peer synchronization. Its source is public under the Any Source Available License 1.0, which is source available rather than OSI-approved open source.
Pricing: Source available under Any Source Available License 1.0; local-first clients and self-hosted infrastructure options are available, with commercial-use restrictions.
- Local-first, offline, and end-to-end encrypted
- Databases, structured objects, Kanban, gallery views, and graph relationships
- Desktop and mobile applications
- Not OSI-approved open source
- Commercial-use restrictions apply in some scenarios
- More complex object model than traditional note apps
SilverBullet is a self-hosted Markdown knowledge base that combines wiki-style linking with queries and scripting. Notes remain portable Markdown files while structured metadata and programmable features are layered on top.
Pricing: Free and self-hosted; check the repository for the current open-source license and deployment requirements.
- Portable Markdown files with bidirectional links
- Powerful queries and scripting support
- Lightweight deployment with excellent data portability
- More technical learning curve
- Less polished for non-technical users
- Limited team collaboration compared with Notion
MIT open-core platform for relational databases, automations, dashboards, and AI-assisted workflows. API-first Django/Nuxt stack with Docker self-hosting.
Pricing: Free and open core (MIT); paid tiers add automations and AI features.
- Permissive MIT license for the core
- API-first, simple to embed in other apps
- Fewer views and features than NocoDB out of the box
- Smaller community than NocoDB
Macro Docs
Collaborative Markdown-native workspace for documents, tasks, communication, and AI agents.
Macro is an AGPL-3.0 collaborative workspace that combines Markdown-native documents with tasks, communication, email, document properties, mentions, comments, version history, and AI agents.
Pricing: Open source under AGPL-3.0 with self-hosting available; hosted and commercial services may be offered separately.
- Markdown-native collaborative documents
- Tasks, communication, document properties, and AI agents in one workspace
- Self-hosting supported
- Younger ecosystem than Notion
- Broader workspace approach may be unnecessary for simple note-taking
Beaver Notes is an MIT-licensed offline-first note-taking application focused on privacy and local data ownership. It supports Markdown, note linking, attachments, drawings, mathematical notation, and user-controlled synchronization.
Pricing: Free and open source under MIT; local-first use is available with optional user-controlled synchronization.
- Offline-first local storage with no mandatory account
- Markdown, note linking, attachments, drawings, and math notation
- MIT licensed with user-controlled synchronization
- Primarily for personal notes
- No Notion-style databases
- Limited team collaboration
XWiki is a mature LGPL-2.1-or-later platform for collaborative knowledge management and enterprise wikis, with structured content, permissions, workflows, extensions, and custom applications.
Pricing: Free and open source under LGPL-2.1-or-later; self-hosted deployment is available.
- Mature, highly customizable platform with structured data
- Advanced permissions, workflows, and extension ecosystem
- Suitable for organizations and self-hosted deployments
- More complex than Notion
- Administration is less approachable
- Primarily designed for organizational knowledge management
AFFiNE is a local-first knowledge workspace combining block-based documents, databases, Kanban boards, whiteboards, real-time collaboration, and AI features. Its Community Edition is MIT-licensed; commercial Enterprise features are separate.
Pricing: MIT-licensed Community Edition is open source and self-hostable; Enterprise features use separate commercial terms.
- Local-first architecture with documents, databases, and infinite whiteboards
- Real-time collaboration, Kanban views, and AI integration
- Self-hosting with a permissive Community Edition license
- Enterprise Edition has separate commercial features
- Smaller integration ecosystem than Notion
- Rapidly evolving product
Memos is an MIT-licensed self-hosted notes application built around a chronological Markdown timeline. It focuses on capturing ideas, work logs, links, and short notes quickly instead of recreating Notion's full workspace model.
Pricing: Free and open source under MIT; self-hosted deployment is available.
- Very lightweight and easy to self-host
- Markdown-native, fast, simple, and designed for quick capture
- No telemetry-focused SaaS workspace is required
- No Notion-style databases
- Limited project management and collaboration features
- Less suitable for large structured workspaces
Logseq is an AGPL-3.0 local-first knowledge management application centered around outlines, blocks, backlinks, queries, flashcards, whiteboards, and connected Markdown documents.
Pricing: Free and open source under AGPL-3.0; the core workflow is local-first and file-based.
- Local-first Markdown and outliner-based editing
- Bidirectional links, graph view, queries, flashcards, and whiteboards
- Extensible plugin ecosystem
- Workflow differs significantly from Notion
- Less suited to structured collaborative databases
- Primarily aimed at personal knowledge management
Outline is a collaborative knowledge base for documentation and internal wikis with real-time editing, search, permissions, integrations, and self-hosting. It uses the Business Source License 1.1 rather than an OSI-approved open-source license.
Pricing: Source available under BSL 1.1; self-hosting is supported, with commercial restrictions defined by the license.
- Polished editor, fast search, and real-time collaboration
- Granular permissions and strong integrations
- Self-hosting for company documentation
- BSL 1.1 is not an OSI-approved open-source license
- More wiki-focused than Notion
- Less suitable for personal knowledge management
Colanode is an Apache-2.0 local-first collaboration platform combining rich-text documents, databases, Kanban and calendar views, messaging, file management, and self-hosting.
Pricing: Free and open source under Apache-2.0 with self-hosting available.
- Local-first architecture with real-time collaboration
- Rich-text pages, databases, Kanban, calendar views, and built-in chat
- File management and self-hosting
- Younger project
- Smaller ecosystem than Notion
- Fewer third-party integrations
Compare Notion alternatives
| Tool | Stars | License | Self-hosted | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AppFlowy | 77K | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Free and open source (AGPL-3.0), self-hosted; a hosted sync service is also offered. |
| NocoDB | 65.1K | Sustainable Use License | Yes | Free and open source (AGPL-3.0), self-hosted; a paid cloud plan is available. |
| SiYuan | 46.6K | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Free and open source under AGPL-3.0 with local and self-hosted deployment options. |
| Huly | 27.8K | Open-source license | Yes | Open source and self-hostable; verify the license and hosted-plan terms for the specific edition you deploy. |
| Docmost | 21.8K | AGPL-3.0 core | Yes | AGPL-licensed open-source core with self-hosting; enterprise features use a separate commercial license. |
| Notesnook | 14.7K | GPL-3.0 | Yes | Open source under GPL-3.0 with self-hostable sync; hosted plans and optional paid services may be available. |
| Blinko | 11.1K | GPL-3.0 | Yes | Free and open source under GPL-3.0; self-hosted deployment is available. |
| Anytype | 8.9K | Any Source Available License 1.0 | Yes | Source available under Any Source Available License 1.0; local-first clients and self-hosted infrastructure options are available, with commercial-use restrictions. |
| SilverBullet | 6.2K | MIT | Yes | Free and self-hosted; check the repository for the current open-source license and deployment requirements. |
| Baserow | 6.1K | MIT core | Yes | Free and open core (MIT); paid tiers add automations and AI features. |
| Macro Docs | 4.5K | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Open source under AGPL-3.0 with self-hosting available; hosted and commercial services may be offered separately. |
| Beaver Notes | 1.3K | MIT | No | Free and open source under MIT; local-first use is available with optional user-controlled synchronization. |
| XWiki | 1.3K | LGPL-2.1-or-later | Yes | Free and open source under LGPL-2.1-or-later; self-hosted deployment is available. |
| AFFiNE | — | MIT (Community Edition) | Yes | MIT-licensed Community Edition is open source and self-hostable; Enterprise features use separate commercial terms. |
| Memos | — | MIT | Yes | Free and open source under MIT; self-hosted deployment is available. |
| Logseq | — | AGPL-3.0 | No | Free and open source under AGPL-3.0; the core workflow is local-first and file-based. |
| Outline | — | Business Source License 1.1 | Yes | Source available under BSL 1.1; self-hosting is supported, with commercial restrictions defined by the license. |
| Colanode | — | Apache-2.0 | Yes | Free and open source under Apache-2.0 with self-hosting available. |
Which one should you choose?
Want the closest direct Notion replacement
Closest match: docs, databases, kanban, and calendars in one local-first, self-hostable app.
Mainly need Notion's database/table views
Turns any SQL database into a grid with views and auto-generated APIs.
Want a lighter no-code database builder
Simpler, MIT-licensed option if NocoDB's AGPL terms or feature set are overkill.
Want a local-first knowledge workspace
AFFiNE combines documents, databases, Kanban boards, whiteboards, and AI features around a local-first architecture.
Need a collaborative company wiki
Docmost focuses on real-time documentation, spaces, permissions, page history, and self-hosted team knowledge.
Prefer personal knowledge management
SiYuan and Logseq focus on blocks, backlinks, graphs, queries, and local-first personal knowledge workflows.
Want encrypted notes
Notesnook centers its experience on end-to-end encrypted notes, cross-platform access, and user-controlled sync infrastructure.
Want a simple self-hosted notes app
Memos is lightweight, Markdown-native, and designed for fast capture rather than complex databases or project management.
Need a source-available local-first workspace
Anytype offers local-first encrypted documents, tasks, databases, and structured objects, but its license is source available rather than OSI-approved open source.