Notion alternatives that really work offline

Notion offline: what to know

Notion works offline in its desktop and mobile apps, not in the browser. You mark each page “available offline” (paid plans also download recent and favorite pages). For a database, only the first 50 rows of the first view are downloaded; embeds, AI blocks and forms don’t work without a network.

If you head into the field without a connection, that is one more thing to prepare, with the risk of forgetting the page you’ll need. The tools below store everything on the device by default.

The four alternatives at a glance

• AppFlowy: the closest to Notion (databases, Kanban, calendar), open source, free for individuals.
• Anytype: local-first, end-to-end encrypted, peer-to-peer sync; code published under a source-available license.
• Obsidian: Markdown files on disk, links and plugins; free.
• nTilia: offline field notes, on-device transcription, a bilingual citable journal and a Zenodo DOI.

AppFlowy: Notion, locally

AppFlowy covers the core of Notion — pages, databases, table, Kanban and calendar views — and works without a network. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and the web; you can self-host it.

• Pros: familiar to Notion users, open source, free for individuals (Pro at $10 per member a month, billed yearly).
• Cons: younger ecosystem; no transcription or citable publishing.

Anytype: local and encrypted

Anytype stores data on the device and syncs it peer to peer, end-to-end encrypted. Its objects, types and relations feel close to Notion databases.

• Pros: privacy, works offline, free for individuals.
• Cons: an “objects and relations” model to learn; source-available code, not strictly open source; no citable publishing.

Obsidian: your notes as files

Obsidian keeps each note as a Markdown file on your disk. No Notion-style databases, but links between notes, a graph view and thousands of plugins.

• Pros: free, even for work; fully offline; your files are yours.
• Cons: paid sync (from $4/mo billed yearly) and publishing (Obsidian Publish, from $8/mo per site); setup to assemble yourself.

nTilia: from the field to the published article

nTilia is not a team workspace: it is the author’s notes app, in the field. Everything works without a network, with nothing to prepare. Interviews are transcribed on the device, and the note becomes an article published in a bilingual journal, with a Cite block and, from Pro, a Zenodo deposit with a DOI.

• Pros: offline by default; local transcription; Travel Mode; the only alternative on this list that publishes a citable journal and deposits on Zenodo.
• Cons: no databases or Kanban views; no real-time collaboration; sync not end-to-end encrypted, so the published journal stays readable (the vault encrypts what stays on the device).

How to choose

1. You live in databases

   AppFlowy, or Anytype if privacy comes first.

2. You mostly write notes

   Obsidian at the desk; nTilia in the field.

3. You publish what you write

   Notion publishes a web page; nTilia publishes a citable journal, in two languages, and deposits it on Zenodo.