AFFiNE vs SilverBullet
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
SilverBullet
Hackable note-taking for the self-hosted web
| Feature | AFFiNE | SilverBullet |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 71,312 | ★ 5,796 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Notion, Miro | Notion, Obsidian |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is AFFiNE or SilverBullet better?
Neither is universally better. AFFiNE has the larger community, while SilverBullet is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are AFFiNE and SilverBullet free and open-source?
Yes. AFFiNE is licensed under MIT and SilverBullet under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AFFiNE and SilverBullet with Docker?
AFFiNE: yes. SilverBullet: yes.