# an open source alternative to Notion **The space is crowded: AppFlowy leads, but there is still room for a better self-hosted Notion clone with stronger tables, docs, and team workflows.** Confidence: high · 115 signals · checked 2026-08-01 [Full report with live links](https://showsitsworks.com/idea/an-open-source-alternative-to-notion) ## Who is already building this *From data* - AppFlowy is the biggest live player here, with 74,770 stars and a recent push on 2026-07-24; it markets itself as the leading open-source Notion alternative. - [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) `github` — 2021-06-16 - Docmost is also strong, with 21,202 stars and a push on 2026-08-01; it positions itself as an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation tool, and an alternative to Confluence and Notion. - [docmost/docmost](https://github.com/docmost/docmost) `github` — 2023-08-03 - Focalboard has 26,357 stars and last pushed on 2026-05-18; it is an open-source, self-hosted alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana. - [mattermost-community/focalboard](https://github.com/mattermost-community/focalboard) `github` — 2020-10-06 - APITable has 15,438 stars and last pushed on 2025-10-30; it is a collaborative app platform rather than a direct Notion clone, but it competes for the same workflow budget. - [apitable/apitable](https://github.com/apitable/apitable) `github` — 2022-08-17 - Colanode has 4,998 stars and last pushed on 2026-04-03; it is a local-first Slack and Notion alternative focused on data control. - [colanode/colanode](https://github.com/colanode/colanode) `github` — 2024-07-29 - Alexandrie has 2,275 stars and last pushed on 2026-08-01; it is an offline-first Notion, Obsidian, and Confluence alternative with team and SSO features. - [Smaug6739/Alexandrie](https://github.com/Smaug6739/Alexandrie) `github` — 2022-08-21 - CanvyDocs looks dead, with only 136 stars and a last push on 2024-08-26. - [CanvyDocs/CanvyDocs](https://github.com/CanvyDocs/CanvyDocs) `github` — 2024-08-20 ## What people actually say *From data* - "Do we have open source alternatives to notion" — a blunt HN ask showing people still look for this category. - [Ask HN: Notion Like Alternatives?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36537006) `hackernews` — 2023-06-30 - "I recently explored alternatives to Notion with a clear set of requirements in mind: an open-source solution, self-hostable, with structured data capabilities comparable to Notion tables, and native integration with n8n." This is a direct user-shaped requirements list from Discourse. - [Personal Knowledge Management / Second Brain - Siyuan n8n node](https://community.n8n.io/t/personal-knowledge-management-second-brain-siyuan-n8n-node/296769) `discourse` — 2026-05-25 - "An open-source Notion alternative that works on top of sqlite files (inside browsers). Basically offline first Notion experience." This HN comment points to a specific desired product shape. - [Ask HN: What interesting project ideas you've got but have no time to work on?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39276828) `hackernews` — 2024-02-06 - "How can I make more people say, 'I use and prefer this over Notion'?" This shows the comparison baseline remains Notion itself. - [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy-Cloud](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy-Cloud) `github` — 2021-06-16 ## People asking to be sold to *From data* - "I recently explored alternatives to Notion with a clear set of requirements in mind: an open-source solution, self-hostable, with structured data capabilities comparable to Notion tables, and native integration with n8n." - [Personal Knowledge Management / Second Brain - Siyuan n8n node](https://community.n8n.io/t/personal-knowledge-management-second-brain-siyuan-n8n-node/296769) `discourse` — 2026-05-25 - "Do we have open source alternatives to notion" - [Ask HN: Notion Like Alternatives?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36537006) `hackernews` — 2023-06-30 - "An open-source Notion alternative that works on top of sqlite files (inside browsers). Basically offline first Notion experience." - [Ask HN: What interesting project ideas you've got but have no time to work on?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39276828) `hackernews` — 2024-02-06 - "I wish there was an open source alternative to Inkscape that didn't support standard SVG but used a proprietary format instead." This is off-topic for Notion itself, so it does not count as demand for this product. - [Inkscape 1.4](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41878858) `intent` — 2024-10-18 - There are also direct feature requests around using GitHub Issues as an input source instead of Notion PRDs, which suggests some teams are trying to replace Notion in workflow tooling, not just note-taking. - [Support GitHub Issues as input source (alternative to Notion)](https://github.com/lonexreb/morningstar/issues/33) `githubissues` — 2026-04-13 ## Where the opening is *Model estimate* - The clearest gap is not "an open-source Notion clone" in general; that market is already crowded. The gap is a product that nails Notion-style tables plus offline-first local storage and browser use, because those are explicitly requested and not clearly owned by the current leaders. - [Personal Knowledge Management / Second Brain - Siyuan n8n node](https://community.n8n.io/t/personal-knowledge-management-second-brain-siyuan-n8n-node/296769) `discourse` — 2026-05-25 - [Ask HN: What interesting project ideas you've got but have no time to work on?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39276828) `hackernews` — 2024-02-06 - [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) `github` — 2021-06-16 - [docmost/docmost](https://github.com/docmost/docmost) `github` — 2023-08-03 - A second gap is tight integration with adjacent developer workflows like n8n and GitHub Issues, which came up in user requests but is not the headline of the biggest existing projects. - [Personal Knowledge Management / Second Brain - Siyuan n8n node](https://community.n8n.io/t/personal-knowledge-management-second-brain-siyuan-n8n-node/296769) `discourse` — 2026-05-25 - [Support GitHub Issues as input source (alternative to Notion)](https://github.com/lonexreb/morningstar/issues/33) `githubissues` — 2026-04-13 - Several competitors position themselves as broad workspace or documentation tools, which leaves room for a narrower product that is simply the best self-hosted database-plus-docs layer for small teams. - [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) `github` — 2021-06-16 - [mattermost-community/focalboard](https://github.com/mattermost-community/focalboard) `github` — 2020-10-06 - [docmost/docmost](https://github.com/docmost/docmost) `github` — 2023-08-03 - [colanode/colanode](https://github.com/colanode/colanode) `github` — 2024-07-29 ## How big the market might be *Model estimate* - This search found 12 named open-source projects, and 8 of them are active, with 2 dead and 2 slow. - The biggest live project in the set has 74,770 stars, and the next tier still has 26,357 and 21,202 stars, so this is a proven and visible category. - [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) `github` — 2021-06-16 - [mattermost-community/focalboard](https://github.com/mattermost-community/focalboard) `github` — 2020-10-06 - [docmost/docmost](https://github.com/docmost/docmost) `github` — 2023-08-03 - There were 18 first-hand complaints, 15 stated wants, and 1 unsolved Stack Exchange question in the search. - Matching discussion showed up in 5 communities: community.home-assistant.io, community.n8n.io, community.openai.com, discuss.python.org, and meta.discourse.org. - On the usage side, the Notion API client has 5,986,434 npm downloads in the last month, and supporting tools like notion-to-md and notion MCP server also have 961,026 and 704,642 monthly downloads, which shows a lot of downstream activity around Notion itself. - [npm: @notionhq/client](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@notionhq/client) `registries` — 2026-07-29 - [npm: notion-to-md](https://www.npmjs.com/package/notion-to-md) `registries` — 2025-05-12 - [npm: @notionhq/notion-mcp-server](https://www.npmjs.com/package/@notionhq/notion-mcp-server) `registries` — 2026-07-25 ## What could go wrong *Model estimate* - The biggest risk is commoditization: the space already has a clear leader plus multiple credible second-tier projects, so a new entrant needs a sharp wedge, not another general Notion clone. - [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) `github` — 2021-06-16 - [mattermost-community/focalboard](https://github.com/mattermost-community/focalboard) `github` — 2020-10-06 - [docmost/docmost](https://github.com/docmost/docmost) `github` — 2023-08-03 - [colanode/colanode](https://github.com/colanode/colanode) `github` — 2024-07-29 - [Smaug6739/Alexandrie](https://github.com/Smaug6739/Alexandrie) `github` — 2022-08-21 - A lot of demand is really for Notion compatibility, migration, or self-hosting rather than a new model of collaboration, which makes retention and differentiation hard. - [Personal Knowledge Management / Second Brain - Siyuan n8n node](https://community.n8n.io/t/personal-knowledge-management-second-brain-siyuan-n8n-node/296769) `discourse` — 2026-05-25 - [Ask HN: What interesting project ideas you've got but have no time to work on?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39276828) `hackernews` — 2024-02-06 - [I swapped Notion for this open-source alternative, and it's been a game-changer](https://www.xda-developers.com/swapped-notion-for-open-source-alternative) `tavily` - Some projects are dead or slow, which suggests the category is easy to start and hard to sustain. - [CanvyDocs/CanvyDocs](https://github.com/CanvyDocs/CanvyDocs) `github` — 2024-08-20 - [Nick-h4ck3r/quickflow](https://github.com/Nick-h4ck3r/quickflow) `github` — 2023-11-01 - [LeadcodeDev/remindr](https://github.com/LeadcodeDev/remindr) `github` — 2025-10-17 ## What to do this week *Model estimate* - Build around the exact asks that keep recurring: offline-first, self-hosted, structured tables, and browser use. Do not start with a generic workspace. - [Personal Knowledge Management / Second Brain - Siyuan n8n node](https://community.n8n.io/t/personal-knowledge-management-second-brain-siyuan-n8n-node/296769) `discourse` — 2026-05-25 - [Ask HN: What interesting project ideas you've got but have no time to work on?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39276828) `hackernews` — 2024-02-06 - Make n8n and GitHub Issues first-class integrations early, because those surfaced as concrete adjacent workflows. - [Personal Knowledge Management / Second Brain - Siyuan n8n node](https://community.n8n.io/t/personal-knowledge-management-second-brain-siyuan-n8n-node/296769) `discourse` — 2026-05-25 - [Support GitHub Issues as input source (alternative to Notion)](https://github.com/lonexreb/morningstar/issues/33) `githubissues` — 2026-04-13 - Treat AppFlowy, Docmost, and Focalboard as the real competitive set, then pick one dimension they do not own well enough, such as local-first browser storage or better data-model ergonomics. - [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) `github` — 2021-06-16 - [mattermost-community/focalboard](https://github.com/mattermost-community/focalboard) `github` — 2020-10-06 - [docmost/docmost](https://github.com/docmost/docmost) `github` — 2023-08-03 - Validate with people already asking for a self-hosted Notion replacement, not with generic note-taking users. - [Personal Knowledge Management / Second Brain - Siyuan n8n node](https://community.n8n.io/t/personal-knowledge-management-second-brain-siyuan-n8n-node/296769) `discourse` — 2026-05-25 - [Ask HN: Notion Like Alternatives?](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36537006) `hackernews` — 2023-06-30 ## Competitor strength | Project | Stars | Downloads/mo | Activity | |---|---:|---:|---| | [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) | 74,770 | — | active | | [mattermost-community/focalboard](https://github.com/mattermost-community/focalboard) | 26,357 | — | active | | [docmost/docmost](https://github.com/docmost/docmost) | 21,202 | — | active | | [apitable/apitable](https://github.com/apitable/apitable) | 15,438 | — | slow | | [AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian](https://github.com/AgriciDaniel/claude-obsidian) | 10,270 | — | active | | [colanode/colanode](https://github.com/colanode/colanode) | 4,998 | — | slow | | [Smaug6739/Alexandrie](https://github.com/Smaug6739/Alexandrie) | 2,275 | — | active | | [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy-Cloud](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy-Cloud) | 1,961 | — | active | | [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy-Web](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy-Web) | 306 | — | active | | [CanvyDocs/CanvyDocs](https://github.com/CanvyDocs/CanvyDocs) | 136 | — | dead | | [AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy-Website](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy-Website) | 56 | — | active | | [Nick-h4ck3r/quickflow](https://github.com/Nick-h4ck3r/quickflow) | 44 | — | dead | ## Domain names - `notionopen.com` — available - `notionopen.io` — available - `notion.com` — taken - `getnotion.com` — taken --- Sources searched: hackernews (30), github (20), githubissues (7), discourse (11), intent (15), stackexchange (1), registries (15), tavily (7), devto (10) Generated by Shows Its Work — https://showsitsworks.com/idea/an-open-source-alternative-to-notion Findings link to their sources. Estimates are marked as estimates.