AFFiNE is an open-source, all-in-one workspace that merges documents and whiteboards into a single canvas. Instead of choosing between a block-based editor like Notion and an infinite board like Miro, AFFiNE lets you place any building block — rich text, sticky notes, embedded web pages, multi-view databases, linked pages, shapes and slides — anywhere on an edgeless canvas, then switch between the document view and the canvas view of the same page. It is local-first, syncs in real time, and can be self-hosted with Docker.

Key Features

• Docs and whiteboard in one page — Every page can be read as a structured document or explored as an edgeless canvas; the same blocks serve both views
• Edgeless canvas for any block — Rich text, sticky notes, web embeds, shapes, images and slides can all be placed freely on the canvas
• Multi-view databases — Build tables and kanban boards with views, filters and sorting, then embed them in documents or on the canvas
• Local-first storage — Your data lives on your own disk first, with CRDT-based sync and real-time collaboration across devices
• Cross-platform clients — Web app, desktop apps for Windows, macOS and Linux, and mobile apps for iOS and Android
• AFFiNE AI (optional) — A multimodal assistant that can turn an outline into slides, summarise an article into a mind map or generate prototypes from a prompt; it runs on the hosted plan
• Self-hostable — Official Docker deployment with Postgres and Redis gives you an unrestricted instance you control

Why Use AFFiNE?

AFFiNE is aimed at people who keep hitting the wall between a text document and a diagram. Notes, roadmaps, mood boards and presentations can live on the same page instead of being split across a wiki, a whiteboard tool and a slide deck. The Community Edition is free to self-host, so a team can run its own workspace without per-seat fees, and the local-first architecture means the data remains yours even when the network is not.

Use Cases

• Team knowledge base — Docs, meeting notes and project pages in one searchable workspace
• Planning and brainstorming — Sticky notes, mind maps and mood boards on an infinite canvas
• Presentations — Build slides from document blocks instead of exporting to another tool
• Personal notes and research — Local-first notebooks that sync between desktop, web and mobile

Licence

MIT for the AFFiNE Community Edition, which is free to self-host. Note that the server component under packages/backend/server is licensed separately under the AFFiNE Enterprise Edition licence; the community edition covers the editor and collaborative workspace.