AFFiNE vs Pad

Comparing two open source alternatives to Notion. Use the comparison below to decide which one fits your needs.

AFFiNE

Open-source knowledge base combining note-taking, whiteboard, and project planning in one workspace.

Pad

Apache-2.0

Local-first project management for developers and AI agents, with a CLI, web UI, SQLite backend, and native skills for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, and more.

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Side-by-side comparison

	AFFiNE	Pad
License	—	Apache-2.0
Self-hostable	Yes	Yes
GitHub Stars	72,384	169
Forks	5,255	22
Open Issues	728	11
Last Commit	Sep 9, 2026	Sep 9, 2026
First Released	Jul 31, 2022	Mar 26, 2026
Categories	Note Taking & Knowledge Management Tools Knowledge Management Tools	Project Management
Tags	#knowledge-management #markdown #collaboration #whiteboard #self hosted	#local-first #cli #ai-agents #agent-tools #mcp-server

GitHub stars over time

AFFiNE72,384

Pad

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