AFFiNE vs Knowledge
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
Knowledge
Desktop tool for saving, accessing and exploring sources
| Feature | AFFiNE | Knowledge |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 71,312 | ★ 1,459 |
| First released | 2022 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Notion, Miro | Notion, Evernote |
Why pick each one
Choose Knowledge if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is AFFiNE or Knowledge better?
Neither is universally better. AFFiNE has the larger community, while Knowledge is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are AFFiNE and Knowledge free and open-source?
Yes. AFFiNE is licensed under MIT and Knowledge under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AFFiNE and Knowledge with Docker?
AFFiNE: yes. Knowledge: check the project docs for container support.