Best Notion Alternatives in 2026: Free, Open-Source and Self-Hosted Options

AppFlowy is the closest open-source match among the best Notion alternatives, with docs, databases and tasks plus a self-hosted option. AFFiNE adds a whiteboard and local-first storage, Docmost and Outline suit teams that mostly need a wiki, and Obsidian and Joplin suit people who want simple, private notes that work offline.

Enlisted also has a full list of open-source Notion alternatives. This guide adds the hosted and paid options and helps you decide. Picks 1 to 3 are Notion-style workspaces, 4 to 6 are team wikis, 7 to 9 are personal note apps, and 10 to 12 are hosted tools.

Why people look for Notion alternatives

Notion is a popular all-in-one workspace, and Enlisted describes it as a commercial product for docs, wikis, projects and AI. Most people who look elsewhere do so for one of these reasons.

• No self-hosting. Notion is closed source and hosted only, so your workspace lives in Notion's cloud. Self-hosted tools such as AppFlowy, Docmost and Outline let you run the same kind of workspace on your own server.
• Local-first storage. Notion's apps can keep selected pages available offline, according to its help center, but the workspace still lives in its cloud. Tools like Obsidian, Joplin and Anytype keep your notes on your own device first.
• Per-seat pricing. Notion has a free plan and paid plans billed per member, so the cost grows with team size. Many open-source alternatives offer free self-hosting instead.
• Too much in one app. Notion covers docs, projects, calendar and AI. If you only need notes, or only a wiki, a focused tool can feel faster and simpler.
• Databases that behave differently. If Notion's databases are the main draw, some alternatives handle tables better than others, and database-first tools are worth a look.

How we picked

A tool qualified if it lets you write documents and organize notes, wikis or knowledge in one place, for a team or for yourself, since "Notion alternative" means different things to different people. Open-source picks needed an active GitHub repository, licences are quoted as Enlisted lists them, and self-hosting is marked where it is possible. Pricing is described in general terms because plans change. See how Enlisted ranks tools.

1. AppFlowy: best open-source Notion alternative for docs, databases and tasks

AppFlowy is an open-source workspace that brings documents, wikis, project and task management and team collaboration into one app, presented as an alternative to Notion with the emphasis on keeping control of your data. The client is built with Flutter and a Rust core, with apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android.

Its site lists databases with multiple views, such as grids and kanban boards, and says you can run it on your own infrastructure. It is released under AGPL-3.0, and Enlisted lists a free plan, a Pro plan and a self-hosted option.

• Best for: people who want the Notion layout of docs, databases and tasks with the option to self-host.
• Watch out for: AI features are built into the workspace. Its site says they can run on self-hosted models, so check the setup if privacy is your reason for switching.

2. AFFiNE: best for docs, whiteboards and tables on one canvas

AFFiNE is an open-source, local-first workspace that combines writing, drawing and planning in one app, positioned as an alternative to Notion and Miro. Documents, an edgeless whiteboard and table views share the same blocks, so you can put rich text, sticky notes, database views and shapes on one canvas.

Local-first means your data lives on your device first, with real-time collaboration on top, and it includes an AI assistant. Enlisted lists a free local plan with a cloud basic tier and paid plans above it, and the project supports self-hosting.

• Best for: people who also use a whiteboard tool and want docs and visual planning in one place.
• Watch out for: Enlisted lists its licence as Other, so read the licence terms if you plan to modify or redistribute it.

3. Anytype: best for private, encrypted, offline-first notes

Anytype is a local-first, end-to-end encrypted knowledge base for notes, tasks, wikis and custom data types, with desktop apps for macOS, Windows and Linux. Data is stored locally and encrypted across your devices, with optional peer-to-peer sync built on the any-sync protocol.

Instead of generic pages, you shape your own data model with Types, and pages are built from composable blocks such as text, databases, kanban boards and calendars. That makes it feel like a structured alternative to Notion for personal knowledge management.

• Best for: privacy-minded individuals who want offline-first, encrypted notes with structure.
• Watch out for: its model of Types and objects differs from a folder of pages, so expect a learning curve, and the licence is listed as Other.

4. Docmost: best self-hosted team wiki

Docmost is an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation tool, presented as an alternative to Confluence and Notion with a focus on secure, on-premise use. Teams write together in real time, organize content into spaces and control access with groups and permissions.

It supports diagrams through Draw.io, Excalidraw and Mermaid, comments, page history, search and file attachments. It is released under AGPL-3.0, with a free community edition and paid Business and Enterprise plans.

• Best for: teams that want a self-hosted wiki to replace Confluence or a shared Notion workspace.
• Watch out for: it is a wiki, not an all-in-one workspace, so project tracking needs another tool.

5. Outline: best fast knowledge base with hosted or self-run options

Outline is a knowledge base for teams, built with React and Node.js, that focuses on fast, realtime collaborative writing with Markdown-compatible documents organized into collections. The maintainers run a hosted version, and teams that want their own copy can follow the documentation and use the published container images.

Enlisted lists replacing Confluence with a lighter tool as a use case, and it integrates with Slack.

• Best for: growing teams that want a clean, fast company wiki and handbook.
• Watch out for: Enlisted lists the hosted plans as paid with a trial rather than a free plan, and the licence as Other.

6. La Suite Docs: best MIT-licensed collaborative editor

La Suite Docs is an open-source collaborative text editor from the La Suite initiative, presented as an alternative to Notion and Google Docs. It offers real-time editing with live cursors, subpages, comments and sharing with granular access control.

Rich-text and Markdown editing, slash commands and a block system are built in, along with offline editing and optional AI helpers. Documents can also be turned into presentations. It is released under MIT and can be self-hosted, and it targets public organizations, companies and open communities.

• Best for: organizations that want an open-source docs editor with a permissive licence and control over their data.
• Watch out for: it is document-focused, so do not expect Notion-style databases.

7. Obsidian: best for private, local Markdown notes with plugins

Obsidian is a note-taking app that stores notes as plain Markdown files on your device, so it works offline. Notes link together with a graph view showing how they relate, and a large plugin ecosystem and a Web Clipper extend it.

The core app is free, according to its site, with optional paid Sync for end-to-end encrypted access on any device and Publish for turning notes into a website. It is a personal knowledge tool rather than a team workspace.

• Best for: people who want fast, private, plain-text notes they fully own.
• Watch out for: the app is proprietary, and it is built for individuals more than for real-time team workspaces.

8. Logseq: best open-source outliner for linked notes

Logseq is an open-source, privacy-first platform for knowledge management that organizes notes as linked blocks in an outliner, forming a knowledge graph. It works with Markdown and Org-mode files, supports Git, and has a plugin API and themes.

It is released under AGPL-3.0 and local-first. It suits daily journaling, research notes and connecting ideas across projects.

• Best for: people who think in outlines and want an open-source tool to link ideas together.
• Watch out for: the project is moving to a database-backed version that is in beta, with real-time collaboration in alpha, and the maintainers recommend automated backups while those features mature.

9. Joplin: best simple offline-first app with encrypted sync

Joplin is a free, open-source note-taking and to-do app, organized into notebooks and written in Markdown, with apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS. It is offline-first, so all your data lives on your phone or computer.

Notes can sync with end-to-end encryption through services such as Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive and Joplin Cloud, and plugins, themes and a web clipper are available. It can also import notes from Evernote. Enlisted lists paid plans for Joplin Cloud, while the app itself is free.

• Best for: people who want a simple, private notes app with sync they control.
• Watch out for: it is a notes app, not a workspace with databases or team wikis.

10. Coda: best hosted doc-plus-table alternative

Coda is a commercial collaborative workspace that blends documents with the structure of spreadsheets, so one doc can hold text, tables with database-like views, buttons, automations and integrations. The vendor says Coda is now Superhuman Docs.

Its tables have database-like views, which covers the part of Notion that note apps usually skip. Enlisted lists it as freemium, so you can start for free, and notes that pricing is now listed on the Superhuman site.

• Best for: teams that build trackers and team hubs inside docs and want tables and automations.
• Watch out for: proprietary and vendor-hosted, with no self-hosted version, so it does not solve data-control concerns.

11. ClickUp: best for teams whose Notion is mostly project management

ClickUp is a commercial work management platform that gathers tasks, docs, goals, chat and whiteboards in one app, with an AI assistant called Brain. Its site lists projects, sprints, automations and time tracking among its features.

If your Notion workspace is mostly boards and task lists, ClickUp puts those first rather than docs. It has a free plan, and paid plans are billed per seat.

• Best for: teams that want project management and docs in one hosted tool.
• Watch out for: it is a large product that tries to cover many tools, which can feel heavier than a notes app. Closed source and hosted only.

12. Nuclino: best lightweight hosted team wiki

Nuclino is a lightweight team wiki that brings docs and lightweight projects into one workspace, with boards, graph views and fast search. The vendor stresses a clutter-free editor, quick setup and instant search.

Enlisted lists a free plan and paid plans per seat. It suits small teams that find Notion too sprawling and want a simple shared knowledge base.

• Best for: small teams that want a quick, uncluttered wiki.
• Watch out for: hosted and closed source, so check whether its boards cover the database views you rely on.

More Notion alternatives worth a look

• Database-first: Baserow, NocoDB and Teable are open-source database tools with spreadsheet-style interfaces, and Airtable is the hosted option. They suit you if tables, not pages, are what you use in Notion.
• Wikis you can host: BookStack organizes content into books, chapters and pages. HedgeDoc is for real-time collaborative Markdown notes, and SilverBullet is a self-hosted Markdown knowledge base with a query language and Lua scripting.
• Personal knowledge bases: SiYuan offers block-level references and is local-first and self-hostable, and Trilium Notes builds large hierarchical note trees. Memos is a self-hosted timeline for quick notes.
• Encrypted notes: Notesnook and Standard Notes are end-to-end encrypted note apps with sync.
• Hosted polished apps: Craft combines documents, tasks and daily notes with a polished design, Capacities builds a graph of typed objects, and Slite is a team knowledge base with verified docs.
• Enterprise wiki: Confluence is Atlassian's team wiki, tightly connected to Jira.

Which Notion alternative should you choose?

Browse more in the note-taking category and the documentation category. If you are rebuilding your whole toolkit, the guide to best productivity apps covers more ground, and Jira alternatives is useful if projects are your main reason to leave.

How to move from Notion

Moving is easier if you decide what you actually use before you export anything.

• List what matters: pages and wikis, databases, tasks, team permissions or the AI features. That list decides which tool class fits.
• Check import and export: Joplin lists an Evernote importer and SiYuan exports to Markdown, PDF, Word and HTML. Tools that keep plain Markdown files, such as Obsidian, make a later move easier.
• Try with a small slice: move one team space or a handful of notes first, and keep Notion running until the new tool has proved itself.
• Plan for hosting: if you self-host, set up backups and updates before the team depends on it.