AFFiNE vs Kept Notes

AFFiNE is an open-source, local-first workspace for notes, docs, whiteboards, tasks, knowledge bases, Markdown, and AI. Built in public and trusted by a global open-source community with around 70K GitHub stars and more than 7 million downloads, AFFiNE gives you one place to write, draw, plan, organize knowledge, and keep control of your work. Whether you're capturing personal ideas, organizing class notes, planning a project with a team, building a second brain, or mapping a complex workflow, AFFiNE helps you move from scattered thoughts to structured work without switching between separate note, whiteboard, and task apps. WHY AFFiNE? OPEN-SOURCE AND LOCAL-FIRST AFFiNE started as an open-source project and continues to focus on transparent, user-owned knowledge work. - Work with a product built around openness and data control - Use local-first workflows for personal knowledge and project planning - Choose AFFiNE Cloud or self-hosted workflows for your workspace - Keep Markdown and portability at the center of your writing system NOTES & DOCS Write everything from quick notes to long-form documents. - Capture ideas, journals, meeting notes, class notes, and project plans - Structure information with flexible blocks and connected pages - Use Markdown for clear, portable writing - Turn rough thoughts into organized documents with AI WHITEBOARDS & VISUAL THINKING Switch from structured documents to an infinite canvas whenever ideas need space. - Create mind maps, diagrams, visual notes, and brainstorming boards - Plan product ideas, research flows, study maps, or team workflows - Connect visual thinking with written notes instead of keeping them in separate tools TASKS & PROJECTS Bring planning and execution into the same workspace. - Track to-dos, project notes, decisions, and next steps - Keep tasks close to the documents and whiteboards that explain the work - Organize personal workflows, student projects, creator work, and team planning AI FOR KNOWLEDGE WORK Use AI to help you write, summarize, and structure ideas. - Draft notes and documents faster - Summarize messy information into clearer outlines - Turn brainstorming into structured next steps - Use AI inside the workspace where your context already lives FOR PERSONAL USE AFFiNE works for notes, journals, study planning, research, reading lists, personal knowledge management, and second-brain workflows. FOR TEAMS AND SELF-HOSTED WORKFLOWS Use AFFiNE for shared project knowledge, planning, docs, visual collaboration, and self-hosted workspace needs. SYNC ACROSS DEVICES Keep working across iPhone, iPad, desktop, and web. Start with a thought on mobile, expand it on a canvas, and turn it into organized knowledge when you're back at your desk. AFFiNE is for people who want the flexibility of documents, the freedom of a whiteboard, the structure of tasks, and the trust of open-source software in one workspace. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Kept Notes is a fast, friendly notes app for people who want simple capture without giving up control of their data. Apple Intelligence-powered Smart Capture: Using natural language you can entirely manage your notes - create, update, share, label, archive, and trash notes while keeping AI processing local and private on supported devices. Jot down a thought, make a checklist, save a link, attach a file, add an image, sketch a quick doodle, or set a reminder — all in a clean, colorful notes experience designed to stay out of your way. Kept is built around the idea that your notes should belong to you. Connect to your own Kept instance and keep your notes, uploads, reminders, labels, and settings on infrastructure you control. What you can do with Kept: • Create text notes, checklists, image notes, drawings, and file attachments • Pin important notes so they stay at the top • Organize with labels, colors, and background images • Save links and generate rich link previews • Attach PDFs, documents, ZIP files, and other useful files • Set reminders for things you do not want to forget • Search quickly and filter by note type, label, or date • Share notes with other users on your instance • Import notes from Google Takeout • Export your notes when you need a copy • Use backups to protect your data Kept is designed to feel lightweight and familiar: open it, capture the thing, move on. No clutter. No heavy project-management system pretending to be a notes app. Just quick notes, visual organization, and ownership. Important: Kept can be used entirely independently, however, for features like note sharing, collaboration, web access, access across devices, and server integrations you will still require a Kept server. You can self-host a Kept server by following the setup instructions are available at www.keepitkept.xyz.