SHSelfHostIndex

AFFiNE vs Excalidraw Whiteboard Office

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
AF AFFiNE Workspace for docs, whiteboards and databases VS EX Excalidraw Whiteboard Office Self-hosted collaborative diagram and notes workspace
FeatureAFFiNEExcalidraw Whiteboard Office
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseOffice Suites
LicenseMITMIT
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB512 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, source
GitHub stars★ 71,312★ 38
First released20222021
ReplacesNotion, MiroMiro, FigJam

Why pick each one

Choose AFFiNE if…

  • Versatile workspace
  • Local-first design
  • Modern UI
AFFiNE details

Choose Excalidraw Whiteboard Office if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in TypeScript
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Excalidraw Whiteboard Office details

Frequently asked questions

Is AFFiNE or Excalidraw Whiteboard Office better?

Neither is universally better. AFFiNE has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are AFFiNE and Excalidraw Whiteboard Office free and open-source?

Yes. AFFiNE is licensed under MIT and Excalidraw Whiteboard Office under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run AFFiNE and Excalidraw Whiteboard Office with Docker?

AFFiNE: yes. Excalidraw Whiteboard Office: yes.

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