Affine

AFFiNE is an open source workspace that treats docs, canvas and tables as one surface, removing the split between the app where you write and the app where you draw. The project positions itself as an alternative to Notion and Miro.

It is built on BlockSuite, its own collaborative editor, with y-octo and yjs providing CRDT sync and OctoBase acting as the local-first data engine. Every building block, rich text, sticky notes, embedded web pages, multi-view databases, linked pages, shapes and even slides, can sit on an edgeless canvas.

The feature set covers ground that a knowledge base and a whiteboard usually split between them.

• Edgeless canvas: any block form lives on the same infinite surface, from shapes to slides.
• AFFiNE AI: turns outlines into slides, articles into mindmaps and prompts into prototype pages.
• Local-first storage: your data stays on your disk rather than only in a vendor cloud.
• Real-time collaboration: web and cross-platform clients sync while people edit together.
• Self-hosting: you can manage, fork and run your own instance, with documented setup.

Templates published by the team cover planners, one pagers, lesson plans and note taking layouts. Contributors sign a license agreement before pull requests merge. It suits people who want Notion-style structure and Miro-style freedom without keeping two subscriptions running side by side.