AFFiNE vs Shiori

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?
FeatureAFFiNEShiori
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseBookmarks & Read-It-Later
LicenseMITMIT
LanguageTypeScriptGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM1,024 MB128 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 71,312★ 11,574
First released20222017
ReplacesNotion, MiroPocket, Raindrop.io

Why pick each one

Choose AFFiNE if…

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

Choose Shiori if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 11.6k GitHub stars
Shiori details

Frequently asked questions

Is AFFiNE or Shiori better?

Neither is universally better. AFFiNE has the larger community, while Shiori is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are AFFiNE and Shiori free and open-source?

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

Can I run AFFiNE and Shiori with Docker?

AFFiNE: yes. Shiori: yes.

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