What are the best alternatives to Notion?

AppFlowy is an open-source Notion alternative you can use on its cloud or host yourself. Personal is free; Pro is $12 a member a month billed yearly ($16 monthly).

AppFlowy pricing: cloud and self-hosted

From appflowy.com by AppFlowy Pricing page

AppFlowy on eChai Explore

• Free for personal use on the cloud.
• Self-host it when you want your workspace data on your own server.
• Pro at $12 a member a month billed yearly is for teams on AppFlowy's cloud.

The source code and self-hosting instructions for AppFlowy, which describes itself as the open source alternative to Notion, released under AGPL-3.0.

AppFlowy on GitHub

From github.com by AppFlowy Code repository

AppFlowy on eChai Explore

• Read the self-hosting section before choosing it for a team.
• The licence is AGPL-3.0, so you can run and modify it freely.
• Apps exist for desktop, iPhone and Android.

AFFiNE combines docs, whiteboards and databases, local-first, with an MIT-licensed editor and a self-hostable backend. Free for personal use and when self-hosted; Team is $10 a seat a month on its cloud; AI is an $8.90 a month add-on billed yearly.

AFFiNE pricing

From affine.pro by AFFiNE Pricing page

AFFiNE on eChai Explore

• Self-host it free for full control of your data.
• Pick it over AppFlowy if you think on a whiteboard as much as in a document.
• Team at $10 a seat a month is for teams that prefer AFFiNE's cloud.

Obsidian is a notes app that stores Markdown files on your own device and links them. The app is free without limits and with no sign-up; Sync is $4 a user a month billed yearly and Publish $8 a site a month, both optional, and the commercial licence is optional too.

Obsidian pricing

From obsidian.md by Obsidian Pricing page

Obsidian on eChai Explore

• Use it free for life; pay only if you want Sync across devices.
• Notes are plain files you own, so you can leave any time.
• Sync at $4 a month billed yearly adds end-to-end encryption and version history.

A local-first workspace for notes, objects and collaboration where data is encrypted on your device and only you hold the keys, with the option to self-host backups.

Anytype

From anytype.io by Anytype Product page

Anytype on eChai Explore

• Pick it when privacy matters more than integrations.
• Your data lives on your devices first, not on a vendor's server.
• Try it for a personal knowledge base before moving a team.

ClickUp's plans for tasks, docs, goals and dashboards in one tool. Free costs nothing, Core is $9 a user a month and Business $17, with automation allowances rising by plan.

ClickUp pricing

From clickup.com by ClickUp Pricing page

ClickUp on eChai Explore

• The free plan is enough to run a small team's task board.
• Core at $9 a user a month adds unlimited use for growing teams.
• Pick it over Notion when tasks and deadlines, not documents, are the heart of your work.

A hands-on comparison from October 2026 of the two most common answers to 'where do I keep my notes': Obsidian's local Markdown files against Notion's cloud databases and collaboration.

Obsidian vs. Notion: Which is best? [2026]

From zapier.com by Shubham Agarwal 9 min read

• Obsidian for private, linked thinking; Notion for shared team docs and databases.
• Decide by whether you need to collaborate before you choose.
• Moving out of Notion later is harder than moving out of plain files.

Notion's plans: databases inside the same pages as your docs and wiki, for a small team whose records sit next to written process. Free for individuals, Plus $10 a seat a month, Business $20.

Notion pricing

From notion.com by Notion Pricing page

Notion on eChai Explore

• Free is for individuals; Plus at $10 a seat a month is the small-team plan.
• Use it when the data is light and the writing around it matters; it is not a ledger.