Your team's knowledge is scattered across Google Docs, Slack threads, and expensive SaaS tools charging $10-25 per person monthly. As your team grows, those per-seat costs spiral while your data sits in someone else's cloud, raising GDPR concerns and creating offline work barriers.
Affine gives you a complete workspace for documentation, project management, and collaboration—without the vendor lock-in or escalating costs. With local-first architecture, your team works offline seamlessly while maintaining real-time sync when connected. Deploy it free on your infrastructure and replace multiple tools (Notion, Miro, Confluence) with one privacy-first platform. Your compliance team stays happy, your team works uninterrupted, and you control every aspect of your knowledge base.
Perfect for European SMBs and engineering teams requiring data sovereignty, GDPR compliance, and offline-first capabilities. Deploy Affine free on Vaivatta's infrastructure or your own servers—pay only for optional backups, SLA, and priority support when you need them.
Problems This Solves
Paying $10-25 per user monthly for Notion or Confluence while your team size grows, making collaboration tools your fastest-growing expense
Compliance audits flagging your US-based cloud tools for GDPR violations and data residency requirements you can't meet
Team productivity grinding to a halt when internet drops because your cloud-only tools require constant connectivity
Knowledge scattered across Google Docs, Slack, wikis, and project tools—wasting hours searching and duplicating information
Vendor lock-in trapping your documentation in proprietary formats with expensive export limitations and migration nightmares
Performance degrading as your knowledge base grows, with slow page loads and laggy collaboration frustrating your team
Features
Local-first architecture lets your team work offline without interruption, syncing automatically when connectivity returns
Real-time collaboration on documents, whiteboards, and databases without sharing your data with third-party cloud providers
Replace 3-5 separate tools (Notion, Miro, project trackers) with one unified workspace, eliminating integration headaches
Full data sovereignty with self-hosted deployment—your knowledge stays on infrastructure you control, meeting GDPR requirements
Open-source transparency (AGPL-3.0) means no proprietary lock-in and community-driven development you can trust
Rich document editing with markdown support and developer-friendly features that technical teams actually enjoy using
Block-based content structure combines familiar document interfaces with database capabilities for organizing complex information
Built-in whiteboard and visual collaboration features replace expensive Miro subscriptions with privacy-first alternatives
Export your entire workspace anytime in portable formats—no vendor can hold your data hostage
Structured data and relational capabilities beyond simple note-taking, replacing basic wikis with modern knowledge management
Use cases
Replace Notion and Confluence with self-hosted documentation that keeps sensitive product specs and strategy under your controlEnable distributed engineering teams to document APIs and technical decisions offline, syncing seamlessly when connectivity returnsConsolidate project management, meeting notes, and team wikis into one workspace instead of paying for three separate SaaS subscriptionsMaintain GDPR-compliant customer documentation and internal processes without third-party data processorsMigrate from expensive Atlassian licenses to open-source collaboration while retaining full version history and structureBuild a personal knowledge management system that travels with you—no internet required for capturing ideas and organizing researchCreate structured product requirements and design documents with real-time team collaboration minus the SaaS privacy concernsDeploy knowledge bases for regulated industries requiring air-gapped or LAN-only collaboration without cloud dependencies
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Affine really free to use?
Yes, Affine is open-source software (AGPL-3.0) that you can deploy completely free on Vaivatta's infrastructure. Unlike Notion ($10-25/user/month) or Confluence ($6-12/user/month), there are no per-seat charges. You only pay for optional add-ons like automated backups, SLA guarantees, or priority support when your team needs them. Most small teams run Affine indefinitely without paying anything beyond basic hosting.
What happens to my data and is it GDPR compliant?
Your data stays on infrastructure you choose—either Vaivatta's Finnish servers or your own hosting. Unlike US-based SaaS tools, you have complete data sovereignty and control. Affine's local-first architecture means your team's knowledge base works offline and syncs peer-to-peer, never requiring third-party data processors. This makes GDPR compliance straightforward since you're the sole data controller. You can export everything anytime in open formats.
How does offline-first collaboration actually work?
Affine stores your workspace locally on each team member's device, enabling full functionality without internet connectivity. When you reconnect, changes sync automatically using conflict-free replication. This means your team keeps working during internet outages, on planes, or in areas with poor connectivity—no frustrating "you're offline" messages that block cloud-only tools. Real-time collaboration happens when online, seamless offline work when not.
Can I migrate my existing Notion or Confluence content?
Yes, but migration complexity varies based on your current setup. Affine supports importing markdown and common formats. For Notion workspaces, you'll export to markdown first, then import into Affine. Our Self-Hosted Pro package includes migration toolkits and 2 hours of consultation to help plan your transition. Complex databases and integrations require more manual setup, so we recommend phased migrations for large knowledge bases.
What about the AGPL license—can I use this commercially?
Yes, commercial use is fully permitted. AGPL requires that if you modify and distribute Affine's code, you must share those modifications as open-source. For standard deployment (using Affine as-is for your team), this doesn't affect you. If you need proprietary modifications, Affine offers commercial licensing options. The AGPL license actually protects you by preventing vendors from creating locked-down proprietary forks.
Is Affine stable enough for production use?
Affine is actively developed and used by real teams, but it's not as mature as decade-old tools like Confluence. Expect periodic updates and occasional breaking changes between major versions. For teams comfortable with modern software practices and willing to handle maintenance, it's production-ready. Our managed packages handle updates and stability monitoring. If you need zero-change stability, consider more mature alternatives or wait for Affine's 2.0 release.
What technical expertise do I need to maintain Affine?
Self-hosting requires basic Docker knowledge and server administration skills. You'll need to handle updates, backups, and monitoring. Our managed Starter package eliminates this completely—we handle all maintenance on Vaivatta infrastructure. The Self-Hosted Pro package provides deployment automation and templates that reduce technical overhead significantly. If your team lacks DevOps capacity, choose managed hosting.
How does this compare to just using Google Docs and folders?
Google Docs works for basic documents but falls apart for structured knowledge management. You lose hours searching fragmented folders, can't create relational databases, have no offline access, and face the same vendor lock-in and sovereignty issues as other cloud tools. Affine gives you Google Docs-style collaboration plus wiki structure, databases, whiteboards, offline work, and complete data control—all without per-user pricing that scales with your team.
