AppFlowy: The Open-Source Notion Alternative Built with Rust and Flutter

What Is AppFlowy?

AppFlowy is an open-source workspace — notes, wikis, databases, kanban boards, and calendars. Like Notion, but you own the data. Built with Rust (backend) and Flutter (frontend). 60K+ GitHub stars.

AppFlowy vs Notion

Why Rust + Flutter?

• Rust backend — memory safety, zero-cost abstractions, incredible performance
• Flutter frontend — single codebase for desktop (macOS, Windows, Linux), mobile (iOS, Android), and web
• Offline-first — works without internet, syncs when connected
• CRDT sync — conflict-free real-time collaboration

Self-Host with Docker

version: "3.9"
services:
  appflowy-cloud:
    image: appflowyinc/appflowy-cloud:latest
    ports:
      - "8025:8025"
    environment:
      - RUST_LOG=info
      - APPFLOWY_CLOUD__DATABASE__URL=postgres://appflowy:password@db:5432/appflowy
      - APPFLOWY_CLOUD__REDIS__URL=redis://redis:6379
      - APPFLOWY_CLOUD__S3__BUCKET=appflowy
      - APPFLOWY_CLOUD__GOTRUE__SECRET=your-jwt-secret
    depends_on:
      - db
      - redis

  gotrue:
    image: supabase/gotrue:v2.151.0
    environment:
      - GOTRUE_DB_DRIVER=postgres
      - GOTRUE_DB_DATABASE_URL=postgres://appflowy:password@db:5432/appflowy

  db:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    environment:
      - POSTGRES_USER=appflowy
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=password
      - POSTGRES_DB=appflowy

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine

  minio:
    image: minio/minio
    command: server /data

Key Features

Databases (Like Notion)

• Grid view, Kanban board, Calendar, Gallery
• Filters, sorts, grouping
• Formulas, relations, rollups
• Import from Notion, CSV

AI Integration (BYO Key)

• Summarize pages
• Translate content
• Generate text from prompts
• Uses your own OpenAI/Anthropic API key (no markup)

Document Editor

• Slash commands, markdown shortcuts
• Code blocks with syntax highlighting
• Embeds (images, files, bookmarks)
• Nested pages, toggles, callouts

Use Cases

Comparison: Open-Source Workspaces

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