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I’ve tried plenty of Notion alternatives, but few have impressed me as much as AFFiNE. It’s open-source, runs locally, is free, and has the Notion-like feel, except it’s much cleaner. Since I’ve been pairing a lot of my apps with NotebookLM lately, I wanted to see if pairing it with AFFiNE would be of any benefit, given the app already has an AI assistant.
The goal was simple: Just take my AFFiNE notes and drop them into NotebookLM, then see if it could do a better job at connecting ideas and extracting insights that might otherwise have stayed buried. They ended up working together seamlessly. AFFiNE handles the creative structure, while NotebookLM handles the interpretation.
What is AFFiNE?
One of the best Notion alternatives out there
AFFiNE is an all-in-one workspace for notes, documents, whiteboards, and databases. It’s kind of like Notion, Obsidian, and Miro combined, but in a minimalist way. It’s open-source and privacy focused, everything is stored locally by default with optional cloud sync. AFFiNE has databases and supports multiple views for them, like Kanban boards, tables, and galleries. But unlike Notion, it doesn’t restrict you to rigid block structures. This is mainly thanks to its built-in whiteboard canvas called Edgeless, which lets you create elaborate diagrams and illustrations.
The interface is intuitive and responsive, using the slash command for all of your page inserts like headers, lists, and tables, plus it supports Markdown editing right in the text editor. It also has backlinks, nested pages, global search, and an AI assistant, so it’s easy to build a connected knowledge system without relying on plugins or external tools.
What I like most is how it balances freedom and structure. I can brainstorm loosely on the canvas, then bring those ideas into proper pages and tables once I’m ready to organize. It adapts to however you think or work, making it perfect for creative projects, research, writing, and content planning - and also one of the top Notion alternatives out there.
Setting up AFFiNE with NotebookLM
There’s no integration, but there is a workaround
There is no integration for NotebookLM and AFFiNE, but there are some workarounds to get your documents across. First is by exporting your documents as Markdown files, as NotebookLM supports MD files. The important thing here is not so much the MD file, but that you export it to your Google Drive. I have mine synced with my computer, so saving my AFFiNE Markdown files to my synced folders gets them straight onto my Google Drive. Another thing you can do is export it as Print to PDF. Same deal: just save it to a folder that’s synced with your Google Drive.
When you add sources in NotebookLM, one of the options is to upload from your Google Drive. It now also supports the ability to search your drive. Simply search for the MD or PDF files you just exported, and add them as sources. So while not a direct integration, it’s still more efficient than manually copying everything over.
But if you don’t use Google Drive, you can always go the manual route, too. Just save your Markdown or PDF files locally, and drag them into the NotebookLM source window from your computer.
How I use the NotebookLM-AFFiNE combination
Getting the most out of both
I use AFFiNE for my everyday creative and organizational work, which involves writing drafts, planning design projects, outlining articles, and capturing random research. Then when I need a high-level overview or insight, I turn to NotebookLM. If I’m adding my AFFiNE documents to a new notebook, then NotebookLM’s source guide already automatically summarizes them, giving me a fast snapshot of key themes and recurring patterns. But often, I also sprinkle individual AFFiNE sources into existing notebooks.
Of course, using the chat for prompts is where the real value is. I’ll ask NotebookLM to analyze overlaps between my notes, or where they’re lacking on a particular topic. This is a great way to remain consistent when doing creative writing. I’ll also prompt it to surface recurring themes across all my AFFiNE projects, which highlights links you don’t typically see in AFFiNE alone. Here are some of the prompts I’ll use:
What are the main themes across the selected chapters?
Summarize how my design notes connect to my productivity experiments.
List three insights that repeat across my last five project outlines.
This is also a good time to take advantage of the Studio features such as Mind Maps and Quiz. Generating a mind map will give you a visual overview of the connections. The quizzes are such an underrated feature that can help you retain information from your content. And then Notes are perfect for capturing key highlights that I don’t want to leave and forget about in the chat.
From notes to knowledge
AFFiNE gives me the freedom to create and shape projects however I want, while NotebookLM turns all that raw material into something cohesive. I can get summaries, context, patterns, and highlights that I wouldn’t have caught on my own, which helps me see where to focus next or what’s missing. It’s always great to work with an AI assistant that can understand your process rather than just store it.