Notion vs AppFlowy IO
Self-hosted for $4/mo on hetzner CAX11, versus $12-$24/user/mo on Notion.
Side-by-side
| Notion | AppFlowy IO (self-hosted) | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | $12-$24/user/mo | $4.13/mo flat (any team size) |
| Hosting | Notion's servers | Your VPS (hetzner CAX11) |
| Data ownership | Notion controls the data | Your disk, your encryption |
| Source code | Closed | Open (AGPL-3.0) |
| Customization | API + integrations only | Full source access; modify freely |
| Maintenance burden | Zero | Backups + updates (manual) |
| Health score (ossreplace) | — | 69 / 100 |
Why teams 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
AppFlowy IO answers this by: 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 cost math
Assumes 5-person team using Notion at the midpoint price ($18/user/mo).
| Period | Notion | AppFlowy IO on hetzner | You save |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly | $90 | $4.13 | $85.87 |
| Yearly | $1080 | $49.56 | $1030.44 |
| 3 years | $3,240 | $149 | $3,091 |
Deploy AppFlowy IO now
One-click deploys at the cheapest provider for this workload:
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Common questions
Is AppFlowy IO a good alternative to Notion?
AppFlowy IO is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Notion with an ossreplace health score of 69/100 — a composite of project activity, maturity, community, security, and adoption. It runs on your own hetzner VPS from $4.13/mo with full source access under the AGPL-3.0 license, versus Notion's $12–24/user/mo hosted plans.
How much cheaper is AppFlowy IO than Notion?
A 5-person team pays about $90/mo on Notion. Self-hosting AppFlowy IO on hetzner CAX11 costs a flat $4.13/mo regardless of team size — roughly $3,091 less over three years (95% lower).
Is AppFlowy IO hard to self-host?
AppFlowy IO self-hosts on your own VPS. You handle the install, backups, and updates yourself in exchange for full data ownership and no per-seat fees.
Do you keep control of your data with AppFlowy IO vs Notion?
Yes. Because AppFlowy IO runs on your own server, the data lives on your disk under your encryption. With Notion, Notion controls the hosting, storage, and access.