AppFlowy Cloud vs Reor
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | AppFlowy Cloud | Reor |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Archived | Archived |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,004 | ★ 8,551 |
| First released | 2023 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Notion | Evernote, Notion |
What are AppFlowy Cloud and Reor?
AppFlowy Cloud
AppFlowy Cloud is the self-hostable backend service that powers collaboration and sync for the AppFlowy open-source workspace and note-taking application. It lets teams keep documents and data on their own servers.
- Self-hosted sync backend
- Real-time collaboration
- Document storage
- Open-source server
Reor
Reor is an open-source, private, local-first AI note-taking application. It automatically links related notes, runs AI models locally, and stores everything as plain Markdown files on your machine.
- Local AI models
- Automatic note linking
- Plain Markdown storage
- Semantic search
AppFlowy Cloud vs Reor: key differences
Note that both projects' repositories are archived — neither is actively developed. AppFlowy Cloud is written in Rust, while Reor is built with JavaScript. Reor has the considerably larger community, at 8,551 GitHub stars versus 2,004. AppFlowy Cloud lists first-class Docker deployment; Reor does not.
Why pick each one
Choose AppFlowy Cloud if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose Reor if…
- AI features without sending data away
- Notes stay as portable files
Watch out for
- AI features need more RAM
- Younger project
Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy Cloud or Reor better?
Reor is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider AppFlowy Cloud if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are AppFlowy Cloud and Reor free and open-source?
Yes. AppFlowy Cloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Reor under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AppFlowy Cloud and Reor with Docker?
AppFlowy Cloud: yes. Reor: check the project docs for container support.