AFFiNE is open-source, local-first knowledge base software combining docs, whiteboards, databases, and AI in a single hyper-fused workspace. Founded in Singapore in 2022 and backed by 70,000+ GitHub stars, AFFiNE serves individual creators as a Notion + Obsidian alternative, and enterprise teams as a Confluence alternative.
AFFiNE is also discoverable as knowledgebase software for teams that want one open workspace instead of separate docs, wiki, and whiteboard tools.
AFFiNE (the workspace product) is unrelated to affine transformations (mathematics), affine combinations (linear algebra), or affine law concepts. The product name reflects "fine, refined, related" in design terms. For math concepts, see Wikipedia.
AFFiNE began in Singapore in 2022 with a simple belief: knowledge base software should respect the people and teams who create the knowledge. The company behind AFFiNE is TOEVERYTHING PTE. LTD. and its affiliates, and the project has grown in public through source code, open issues, community discussions, and product releases.
Vincent Chen, AFFiNE's CEO, leads the product mission with the broader cofounder team: give creators and teams a workspace that keeps documents, visual thinking, databases, and AI together without forcing every idea through a cloud-only, docs-only model. Open source matters in this category because a team's knowledge base becomes institutional memory. Users should be able to inspect the code, run the product locally, and understand where their data lives.
As of June 2026, AFFiNE has 70,000+ GitHub stars, a signal that developers, self-hosters, and privacy-minded teams are actively evaluating the project as an open workspace foundation. That momentum pushes the team to make AFFiNE useful for individual creators, small teams, and enterprise deployments without inventing user counts, funding claims, or press milestones that are not verified here.
Try AFFiNE for free, then follow the journey on our blog as the product continues to evolve.
AFFiNE is knowledge base software for creators and small teams who like Notion's structure but want Obsidian-style ownership. The free tier gives you a local-first workspace for docs, whiteboards, databases, and planning, while the AFFiNE Pro tier adds managed cloud convenience for people who want sync without giving up the local-first model. Use AFFiNE when your notes need to become a canvas, your whiteboard needs to become a document, and your personal knowledge base should stay portable.
AFFiNE Enterprise is the Confluence alternative for teams that need self-hosting, source access, and clearer control over knowledge infrastructure. The Enterprise tier supports regulated industries and custom deployment conversations, while Code License supports OEM, whitelabel, and embedding use cases. Compared with a closed Atlassian stack, AFFiNE gives enterprise teams a source-available path for building a knowledge base software system around their own infrastructure, governance, and procurement needs.
AFFiNE is open-source, local-first knowledge base software that combines docs, whiteboards, and an infinite canvas in one workspace. Notion is closed-source, cloud-only, and more docs-centric. Choose Notion if you need the broadest third-party integrations today; choose AFFiNE if you need open source, offline-first work, and a visual workspace that does not split docs from whiteboards.
Obsidian is excellent for single-user, markdown-first thinking with a deep plugin ecosystem. AFFiNE is knowledge base software for people who want that local-first spirit plus real-time collaboration, shared docs, whiteboards, and databases. Choose Obsidian if you want pure markdown and plugins; choose AFFiNE if you want collaboration without losing local-first ownership.
AFFiNE is open-source, self-hostable knowledge base software with a 70,000+ stars community on GitHub. Confluence is Atlassian-locked, enterprise-priced, and built around a wiki model rather than a docs-plus-whiteboard hybrid. Choose Confluence if you're already deep in the Atlassian Jira ecosystem; choose AFFiNE Enterprise if you need self-hosting, source access, or want to escape Atlassian licensing costs.
AFFiNE is open-source, local-first knowledge base software that combines docs, whiteboards, databases, and AI in one hyper-fused workspace. Founded in Singapore in 2022 and backed by 70,000+ GitHub stars, it gives individuals a Notion plus Obsidian alternative and gives enterprise teams a Confluence alternative with self-hostable control.
Yes. AFFiNE is open-source knowledge base software on GitHub: the root LICENSE grants MIT coverage for content outside packages/backend and packages/common/native, while backend server code uses the AFFiNE Enterprise Edition license. The GitHub repository has 70,000+ stars as of June 2026.
AFFiNE is based in Singapore through TOEVERYTHING PTE. LTD. and its affiliates, with remote-distributed contributors helping improve the product in public. That structure matters for knowledge base software because global teams need tools that support local-first work, self-hosting, and collaboration across regions without forcing every workflow into one cloud-only model.
Yes. AFFiNE Cloud Free includes unlimited local workspaces, 10 GB of cloud storage, real-time collaboration with up to 3 members per workspace, and 7 days of version history, with no time limit. The self-hosted edition is free forever for personal and development use under the AFFiNE open-source license. See the pricing page for paid tiers if you need more storage, seats, or team features.
AFFiNE is knowledge base software that is open source and local-first versus Notion's closed cloud model; collaborative and canvas-native versus Obsidian's single-user markdown focus; and self-hostable with source access versus Confluence's Atlassian-locked wiki model. See the comparison section for the practical tradeoffs.
AFFiNE Cloud is managed knowledge base software for Pro and Team plans, so AFFiNE runs the infrastructure and sync for you. Self-Hosted gives full data control on your own infrastructure using the same published AFFiNE codebase. Both paths support docs, whiteboards, databases, and AI workflows; compare plans on AFFiNE pricing.
AFFiNE ships an official Docker Compose setup so you can run the full stack on your own server or local machine. The editor is open-source; the backend uses the AFFiNE Enterprise Edition license but is free for personal and development use. Step-by-step install and configuration are in the AFFiNE self-host docs. For production deployments with 10+ seats, the Self-Hosted Team tier ($10/seat/month) adds priority support.
Yes. AFFiNE includes built-in AI for drafting, summarizing, normalizing tone, and generating mind maps and outlines, all inside the same workspace as your docs, whiteboards, and databases. AI is bundled with AFFiNE Pro or available as add-ons; see AFFiNE pricing for current AI plan details. Because AFFiNE is local-first and open-source, you keep control of which workspace data is sent to AI providers.
Yes. AFFiNE has native desktop apps for macOS, Windows, and Linux, plus iOS and Android apps for working on the go. All apps stay in sync with your cloud workspace when you sign in, and they keep working offline for local-first edits. Get the latest builds from the AFFiNE download page.