SHSelfHostIndex

AppFlowy vs Laverna

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?
AP AppFlowy Open-source workspace and Notion alternative VS LA Laverna Markdown note-taking app with client-side encryption
FeatureAppFlowyLaverna
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseAGPL-3.0MPL-2.0
LanguageDartJavaScript
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM1,024 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 75,074★ 9,182
First released20212014
ReplacesNotion, EvernoteEvernote, Simplenote

Why pick each one

Choose AppFlowy if…

  • Strong Notion alternative
  • Active development
AppFlowy details

Choose Laverna if…

  • Strong privacy focus
  • No backend required
Laverna details

Frequently asked questions

Is AppFlowy or Laverna better?

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

Are AppFlowy and Laverna free and open-source?

Yes. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Laverna under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run AppFlowy and Laverna with Docker?

AppFlowy: yes. Laverna: check the project docs for container support.

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