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Free alternatives to Craft

Craft costs $10/mo on the Plus plan, or $120 a year. Here are 3 free and open-source options, what each one does, and what you give up compared with paying.

Prices checked Aug 13, 2026Can AI replace it? Half-bot

01At a glance

AlternativeTypeWhere it runsWorks on
AFFiNEFreeHosted or self-hostedWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android, Your server
AppFlowyOpen sourceHosted or self-hostedWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android, Your server
ObsidianFreeOn your deviceMac, Windows, Linux, iPhone, Android

02Each alternative, in detail

AFFiNEFree

Polished documents, links and canvases, with local workspaces and usable exports.

Versus paying: It approaches Craft's documents and canvases, but typography, sharing, publishing, export consistency, and collaborative polish are less mature.

Setup: Use AFFiNE Cloud or install the desktop app; self-hosted collaboration uses the official Docker Compose stack with AFFiNE, PostgreSQL, and Redis

Watch for: The desktop app is straightforward, but free self-hosted sync and collaboration require Docker, PostgreSQL, Redis, persistent volumes, configuration, migrations, backups, and a correctly exposed server URL

affine.pro →
AppFlowyOpen source

A portable document workspace that trades Craft's sheen for local control.

Versus paying: It provides local control and structured documents, but Craft's visual layouts, presentation quality, publishing, and collaboration remain more polished.

Setup: Install a native desktop/mobile app or use AppFlowy Web/Cloud; self-hosting deploys the AppFlowy Cloud Docker stack and points the clients at it

Watch for: Local offline use installs cleanly, but self-hosted sync is a multi-container deployment with PostgreSQL, Redis, GoTrue authentication, object storage, mail/auth secrets, migrations, and client URL configuration

74,999 GitHub stars (checked Aug 6, 2026)

appflowy.com →
ObsidianFree

Linked documents in ordinary Markdown; beautiful publishing is your own department.

Versus paying: It makes a wonderfully portable linked library, but it lacks Craft's visual block layouts, effortless beautiful documents, and integrated publishing experience.

Setup: Install the native Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, or Android app; no account is required for local use

obsidian.md →

03What you give up by leaving Craft

  • native apps, sync, publishing, collaboration, and strong block-editor polish
  • frictionless mobile capture
  • real-time team editing
  • hosted publishing
  • proprietary AI memory

People still pay for Craft because people keep paying when the note system is trusted across every device and disappears into their daily capture habits. The recurring cost buys file watching, conflict handling, indexing, mobile apps, encryption, backups, and migrations, not just the visible interface.

04Questions

Is there a free alternative to Craft?

Yes. This page compares 3: AFFiNE, AppFlowy and Obsidian. One of them is open source, so you can run it yourself.

How much does Craft cost?

$10/mo on the Plus plan (monthly), which is $120 a year. Prices checked Aug 13, 2026.

What do you give up with a free alternative to Craft?

Most often: native apps, sync, publishing, collaboration, and strong block-editor polish, frictionless mobile capture, real-time team editing and hosted publishing. Each alternative on this page lists its own gap under “Versus paying.”

Can AI build me my own version of Craft?

Half-bot. The core loop is buildable, but a dependable replacement becomes a real weekend or multi-day project. For Craft, write visually polished documents, link them, and export a portable personal library. The hard boundary is native apps, sync, publishing, collaboration, and strong block-editor polish, plus sync, collaboration, and capture polish.

Prices change; confirm on the vendor's site before you decide.