AFFiNE
Is AFFiNE good for me?
A local-first open-source workspace where docs, whiteboards, and tables live together.
Tool short answer
AFFiNE is a privacy-focused, local-first, open-source workspace and Notion/Miro alternative. It brings documents, edgeless whiteboards, tables/databases, knowledge management, presentation, and digital assets into one self-hostable workspace.
Planned hosted trial
Automated launch is paused until provisioning is verified.
- AFFiNE hosted-trial provisioning is planned, not available for automated launch yet
- Manual evaluation should verify the self-hosted sync and storage workflow first
- Do not launch a paid AFFiNE trial until a live provisioner and access flow are verified
Provisioner and access flow pending verification
What is AFFiNE?
AFFiNE combines three common knowledge-work modes: writing in block-based documents, thinking on a freeform canvas, and organizing information in structured collections. The self-hosted path is attractive when you want to inspect the stack, control where workspace data lives, and avoid committing your Notion/Miro-style workspace entirely to a proprietary SaaS.
Who it's for
- Knowledge workers and researchers who use both documents and whiteboards
- Small teams replacing Notion and want data sovereignty
- Product teams doing planning that spans docs, diagrams, and structured data
- Privacy-conscious individuals unwilling to store personal knowledge in a US SaaS
Who it's not for
- Teams needing heavy CRM or project-management features baked in
- Organizations that need enterprise SSO and audit logs immediately
- Users who want a dead-simple, single-purpose notes app
Problems AFFiNE solves
- Context-switching between your document editor, whiteboard tool, and spreadsheet
- Notion pricing that grows uncomfortably with team size
- Knowledge stored in a vendor's cloud with unclear data residency
- Lack of spatial thinking tools for visual thinkers on text-only platforms
Why people self-host AFFiNE
- Your second brain should belong to you, not a SaaS company
- No per-user pricing — flat infrastructure cost regardless of team size
- Data portability — everything exports to Markdown and JSON
- Customize or extend the platform since it's fully open-source
Setup difficulty if you do it yourself
Requires Docker Compose with a small set of services (app, sync server, storage). Well-documented. Expect 2–4 hours for a production-ready setup with TLS and persistent storage.
With the hosted trial: isitforme.tech handles the server, DNS, TLS, and tool-specific access flow. You get the access details for this tool when provisioning completes.
What isitforme.tech provisions for the trial
- AFFiNE hosted-trial provisioning is planned, not available for automated launch yet
- Manual evaluation should verify the self-hosted sync and storage workflow first
- Do not launch a paid AFFiNE trial until a live provisioner and access flow are verified
Tool capabilities
- Block-based document editor with rich formatting
- Infinite canvas whiteboard with drawing and shapes
- Database views: table, kanban, calendar
- Real-time collaboration with presence indicators
- Bidirectional page links and backlinks
- Export to Markdown, PDF, and HTML
After the trial: your upgrade path
AFFiNE exports workspace content to portable formats. Once isitforme.tech has a verified AFFiNE provisioner, the trial should document how to move from evaluation to your own sync server and storage backend.
Questions about AFFiNE
AFFiNE is actively developed and suitable for evaluation as a self-hosted knowledge workspace. As with any fast-moving collaboration tool, validate the exact editing, sync, import, and export flows your team depends on before using it for critical production knowledge.
AFFiNE supports collaborative workspace flows, but isitforme.tech does not currently have a verified automated AFFiNE trial provisioner. Treat hosted collaboration testing as planned until the provisioner and access workflow are live.
AFFiNE has a very similar block-based document model to Notion, but adds a native whiteboard and has a more open data model. It lacks some of Notion's polish and integrations, but you own your data entirely.
AFFiNE supports import/export workflows, but complex Notion databases and nested structures should be tested with your own data during the trial before you plan a full migration.
Ready to try AFFiNE?
AFFiNE hosted-trial provisioning is planned for isitforme.tech and will launch after the provisioner and access workflow are verified.