AFFiNE

AFFiNE is a local-first knowledge workspace for individuals and teams who want documents and visual planning in the same place. It combines a block editor, an edgeless whiteboard and databases, making it an alternative to Notion and Miro for team wikis, project plans and connected notes.

The canvas accepts rich text, sticky notes, embedded web pages, linked pages and database views alongside shapes and slides. That lets a project brief sit beside a diagram or task board within one workspace. Kanban boards support task tracking, while frames turn visual material into presentations. Templates cover uses such as Cornell notes, storyboards and digital planners.

AFFiNE AI works across writing and visual content. It can draft reports, turn outlines into slides, summarize articles as mind maps and organize task backlogs. It also supports generating prototype apps and web pages from prompts.

The local-first design keeps workspace data on your disk, with cloud synchronization and real-time collaboration available across web and desktop clients. AFFiNE also has iOS and Android apps. Teams can run their own server through Docker, and the company offers private cloud deployments.

BlockSuite provides the collaborative editor behind the workspace. Its data and synchronization stack includes the Rust-based OctoBase engine and YJS-compatible technology for local-first collaboration.