AFFiNE vs Dillinger
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
AFFiNE
Workspace for docs, whiteboards and databases
VS
Dillinger
Cloud-enabled Markdown editor you can self-host
| Feature | AFFiNE | Dillinger |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 71,312 | ★ 8,271 |
| First released | 2022 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Notion, Miro | StackEdit |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is AFFiNE or Dillinger better?
Neither is universally better. AFFiNE has the larger community, while Dillinger is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are AFFiNE and Dillinger free and open-source?
Yes. AFFiNE is licensed under MIT and Dillinger under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AFFiNE and Dillinger with Docker?
AFFiNE: yes. Dillinger: yes.