Open-source alternatives to Notion
Self-host a Notion alternative from $4.13/mo and save up to $94/yr per seat vs Notion. 10 open-source projects that replace Notion, ranked by computed health score and real self-hosting cost.
Why people leave Notion
- Per-user pricing scales fast for teams ($12-24 per seat per month)
- Cannot self-host, your wiki and notes live on Notion's servers
- AI features paywalled at $10/user/mo extra on top of seats
- API rate limits get tight on heavy automation
Self-hosted alternatives like AppFlowy, AFFiNE, and SiYuan give the same block-based docs + databases on a $5/mo VPS, with your data on your disk.
The 10 alternatives, ranked by health
Health score is a 6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.
A privacy-first, self-hosted, fully open source personal knowledge management software, written in typescript and golang.
There can be more than Notion and Miro. AFFiNE(pronounced [ə‘fain]) is a next-gen knowledge base that brings planning, sorting and creating all together. Privacy first, open-source, customizable and ready to use.
Leantime is a goals focused project management system for non-project managers. Building with ADHD, Autism, and dyslexia in mind.
Focalboard is an open source, self-hosted alternative to Trello, Notion, and Asana.
Bring projects, wikis, and teams together with AI. AppFlowy is the AI collaborative workspace where you achieve more without losing control of your data. The leading open source Notion alternative.
Docmost is an open-source collaborative wiki and documentation software. It is an open-source alternative to Confluence and Notion.
An archiving tool with an IM-style interface that prioritizes privacy and accessibility, integrated with various archival services including Internet Archive, archive.today, Ghostarchive, IPFS, Telegraph, and file systems.
Query anything (GitHub, Notion, +40 more) with SQL and let LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude) connect to using MCP
Open-source and local-first Slack and Notion alternative that puts you in control of your data
A Model Context Protocol server for connecting Notion to MCP-compatible clients
Compare the top Notion alternatives head-to-head
Side-by-side breakdowns and self-hosting cost for the leading picks.
Cost comparison vs Notion
Self-hosting cost on cheapest plan meeting requirements vs Notion entry tier ($12/mo).
| Project | Self-host /mo | Notion /mo | Save /yr | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| siyuan | $4.13 | $12+ | $94 | Deploy → |
| AFFiNE | $4.13 | $12+ | $94 | Deploy → |
| leantime | $4.13 | $12+ | $94 | Deploy → |
| focalboard | $4.13 | $12+ | $94 | Deploy → |
| appflowy | $4.13 | $12+ | $94 | Deploy → |
| docmost | $4.13 | $12+ | $94 | Deploy → |
| wayback | $4.13 | $12+ | $94 | Deploy → |
| anyquery | $4.13 | $12+ | $94 | Deploy → |
Pick your alternative
Most operators land on siyuan (top health score in this category; cheapest VPS path is siyuan on hetzner for $4.13/mo).
Data refreshed daily. Pricing for Notion sourced from official site.