AppFlowy vs Athens Research
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?
AppFlowy
Open-source workspace and Notion alternative
VS
Athens Research
Open-source networked note-taking and knowledge graph
| Feature | AppFlowy | Athens Research |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | EPL-1.0 |
| Language | Dart | Clojure |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 75,074 | ★ 6,299 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Notion, Evernote | Roam Research, Obsidian |
Why pick each one
Choose Athens Research if…
- Released under the EPL-1.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Clojure
Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or Athens Research better?
Neither is universally better. AppFlowy has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are AppFlowy and Athens Research free and open-source?
Yes. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Athens Research under EPL-1.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AppFlowy and Athens Research with Docker?
AppFlowy: yes. Athens Research: yes.