Robust, locally hosted web application that allows you to perform all operations on PDF files
AFFiNE is a privacy-first, open-source alternative to Notion and Miro. It merges docs, whiteboards, and multidimensional databases into a unified canvas with local-first offline synchronization.
Recommended VPS & Hardware Sizing
Estimated Hosting: $10 - $15/mo (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or Linode)AFFiNE vs Notion Comparison Matrix
| Evaluation Criteria | AFFiNE (Open Source) | Notion (Proprietary) |
|---|---|---|
| Data Architecture | Local-first SQLite + CRDT real-time sync | Proprietary cloud database silo |
| Canvas & Whiteboard | Built-in infinite multimodal spatial canvas | Page-based linear doc blocks only |
| Team Collaboration Cost | $0 (Self-hosted on Docker) | $10 - $25 / user / month |
Financial Impact: Migrating from Notion to Self-Hosted AFFiNE
* Excludes enterprise SSO add-ons & usage overages
* Commodity Hetzner / DigitalOcean compute instance
Compare AFFiNE Head-to-Head
Comprehensive benchmark comparing AFFiNE against proprietary Notion licensing and features.
Flutter Native Desktop vs Collaborative Whiteboard Canvas
100% Sovereign Data Ownership vs Proprietary Cloud Workspace
Browser-Based PDF Utilities vs Automated Document Archival & OCR
Modern Fast Markdown Knowledge Base vs Heavy Atlassian Wiki
Organized Book/Chapter Hierarchy vs Enterprise Wiki Sprawl
Core Capabilities & Features
Self-Host AFFiNE with Docker Compose
Tweak configuration ports, secrets, and volumes live. Download or copy your ready-to-run container file:
1-Click Docker Compose Generator
Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.
The next-gen knowledge base connecting docs, whiteboards, and databases
version: "3.8"
services:
affine:
image: ghcr.io/toeverything/affine-graphql:latest
container_name: affine-server
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "${PORT:-3010}:3010"
environment:
NODE_ENV: production
DATABASE_URL: postgres://affine:${DB_PASSWORD:-affine_pwd}@postgres:5432/affine
REDIS_SERVER_HOST: redis
depends_on:
- postgres
- redis
postgres:
image: postgres:15-alpine
environment:
POSTGRES_USER: affine
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-affine_pwd}
POSTGRES_DB: affine
volumes:
- affine_db:/var/lib/postgresql/data
redis:
image: redis:7-alpine
volumes:
affine_db:Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosting AFFiNE
How do I self-host AFFiNE using Docker Compose?
You can deploy AFFiNE (toeverything/AFFiNE) on any Linux server by copying the docker-compose.yml template on this page, configuring your desired host port and persistent volume directory, and running 'docker compose up -d'.
How does AFFiNE compare to Notion?
AFFiNE is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Notion built with TypeScript, Rust, React. Unlike Notion ($10 - $25 / user / month), AFFiNE has zero per-user licensing fees and keeps 100% of your data on your own infrastructure.
What are the minimum VPS RAM and CPU requirements for AFFiNE?
For production self-hosting (Medium difficulty tier), we recommend at least 4 GB RAM (minimum 2 GB), 2 vCPU, and 25 GB SSD storage, which typically costs $10 - $15/mo (e.g. Hetzner CPX21 or Linode).
Is AFFiNE free for commercial business use under the AGPL-3.0 license?
Yes. Distributed under the AGPL-3.0 license, AFFiNE can be self-hosted internally by businesses and engineering teams of any size without per-seat royalties.
Embed Official AFFiNE Badge in GitHub README
Served locally from OSSMatrix with Cloudflare global edge caching. Real-time verified alternative status, zero third-party dependencies, sub-5ms load time.
[](https://ossmatrix.com/project/affine)<a href="https://ossmatrix.com/project/affine" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://ossmatrix.com/api/badge/affine" alt="AFFiNE on OSSMatrix" /></a>Compare AFFiNE with Other Self-Hosted Alternatives
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