AppFlowy Cloud vs Trilium Notes
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Trilium Notes
Hierarchical note-taking for building knowledge bases
| Feature | AppFlowy Cloud | Trilium Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 99 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,004 | ★ 37,958 |
| First released | 2023 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Notion | Evernote, Notion |
What are AppFlowy Cloud and Trilium Notes?
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
Trilium Notes
Trilium Notes is a hierarchical note-taking application designed for building large personal knowledge bases with rich linking and scripting. It targets power users who want a structured second brain. It is deployed via Docker as a server with desktop and web clients.
- Deep hierarchical note tree
- Note attributes and relations
- Scripting and automation
- Encrypted protected notes
AppFlowy Cloud vs Trilium Notes: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: AppFlowy Cloud's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Trilium Notes is actively maintained. AppFlowy Cloud is written in Rust, while Trilium Notes is built with TypeScript. Trilium Notes is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for AppFlowy Cloud. Trilium Notes is the more established project (first released 2017), while AppFlowy Cloud arrived in 2023. Trilium Notes has the considerably larger community, at 37,958 GitHub stars versus 2,004.
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 Trilium Notes if…
- Powerful for big knowledge bases
- Flexible structure
- Scriptable
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Single-user oriented
Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy Cloud or Trilium Notes better?
Trilium Notes 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 Trilium Notes free and open-source?
Yes. AppFlowy Cloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Trilium Notes under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AppFlowy Cloud and Trilium Notes with Docker?
AppFlowy Cloud: yes. Trilium Notes: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, AppFlowy Cloud or Trilium Notes?
Trilium Notes has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for AppFlowy Cloud. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.