The open-source alternative to Notion
Flowplan brings pages, databases with views, whiteboards and a daily journal together in one page tree – the way you know it from Notion, but completely open source under the AGPL-3.0. Use it on flowplan.org with servers in Germany, or run it as one Docker container on your own server.
Create an accountSelf-hostSource code on GitHub
Flowplan and Notion compared
| Flowplan | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | AGPL-3.0, free software | proprietary |
| Source code | fully public on GitHub | not public |
| Self-hosting | yes, one Docker container | not possible |
| Where your data lives | flowplan.org (Germany) or your server | Notion's cloud |
What you know from Notion
- Pages made of blocks, with sub-pages as deep as you like
- Databases with table, board, list, gallery, calendar and timeline views
- Relations, rollups and formulas
- Templates for pages and database records
- Writing together live, comments and mentions
- Sharing with people, by link or as a published page
Also in Flowplan
- One Docker container with SQLite – no Postgres, Redis or other services
- Whiteboards with sticky notes, shapes and freehand drawing with pen pressure
- A daily journal, with a PIN lock if you like
- Search inside PDFs, Office files and scanned documents
- Sign-in with password, passkeys or your single sign-on (OIDC)
- Continuous backup to S3 – encrypted with your own key
- Markdown export with frontmatter, scheduled and pushed to Git if you like
- Claude, ChatGPT & co. via MCP – only with your permissions
- Optional AI: off until you switch it on – completely local with Ollama or with your own key, and you decide which pages it may read
- No tracking
Moving from Notion
- In Notion: Settings → Export, format “Markdown & CSV”, include sub-pages.
- In Flowplan: Settings → Data → import the ZIP and choose the space it goes into.
- Pages become pages, CSV tables become databases, folders become sub-pages; images and files are uploaded along and record pages matched to their records.
Up to 100 MB, 500 pages and 5,000 records per table per import. Large Notion exports with several ZIP files inside are recognised. Step-by-step guide
Completely open source – under the AGPL-3.0
All of Flowplan's source code is on GitHub under the GNU Affero General Public License 3.0. There is no closed enterprise edition and no feature that needs a licence key. You may use, change and run Flowplan yourself – for you, your team or your company. If you offer a changed version to others over a network, you publish your changes under the AGPL-3.0 as well. Licence text
Frequently asked questions
- Is Flowplan really completely open source?
- Yes. All of the source code is on GitHub under the AGPL-3.0 – with no closed enterprise edition and no features behind a licence.
- Can I bring over my Notion pages and databases?
- Yes. Export your Notion workspace as “Markdown & CSV” and import the ZIP under Settings → Data. Pages, databases, images and files come along.
- Can I run Flowplan on my own server?
- Yes. Flowplan is a single Docker container with SQLite, for amd64 and arm64. It can back up continuously to S3, encrypted with your key.
- Where is my data stored?
- On flowplan.org on servers in Germany – or, when you self-host, only on your server. Flowplan has no tracking.
- Does Flowplan have AI like Notion AI?
- Yes, optionally: a writing assistant, summaries, questions to your workspace and AI in databases. It is off by default, can be switched on per feature and per person, and runs completely locally with Ollama if you like – or with your own key for OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini. You decide which pages it may read.
- What does the AGPL-3.0 mean for me?
- You may use, change and run Flowplan freely, also in a company. If you offer a changed version to others over a network, you publish your changes under the AGPL-3.0 as well.