Choose Doco when
- Stable block citations and protected agent writes are the primary requirement.
- A simple MIT licensing boundary for the application matters.
- The workspace is document-first rather than a combined Notion-and-Miro canvas.
Honest comparison · Doco and AFFiNE
Doco vs AFFiNE
Choose AFFiNE for a local-first workspace that combines documents, databases, and a visual canvas. Choose Doco for a simpler MIT-licensed document system whose defining feature is safe, version-protected editing by external agents.
Direct answerChoose for the job,
Choose for the job,
not the feature count
The products overlap, but their centers of gravity are different. Start with the source of truth and the people or agents who must maintain it.
Choose AFFiNE when
- Canvas, databases, planning, and rich visual organization belong together.
- A broader local-first creative workspace is the goal.
- The exact Community/Enterprise path license boundary has been reviewed and accepted.
At a glance
The operating differences
| Dimension | Doco | AFFiNE |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Agent-safe collaborative documents | All-in-one docs, databases and visual canvas |
| Data ownership | MIT licensed application and self-hosting | Community Edition plus path-specific edition licenses |
| Human collaboration | Yjs live editing with browser-local persistence | Local-first collaborative workspace |
| Agent access | 29-tool MCP, CLI, REST, stable IDs and If-Match | AI features and extensible workspace; different agent contract |
| Content model | Document and block model with embedded tables/spreadsheets | Documents, edgeless canvas and databases |
| Best fit | Teams whose agents maintain written knowledge | Teams wanting Notion-like planning plus Miro-like visual work |
AFFiNE is stronger when
AFFiNE is stronger when documents, databases, planning, and an edgeless visual canvas must coexist in one local-first product. Its workspace scope is broader and more visually expressive than Doco's.
Doco is stronger when
Doco has a smaller, clearer center: human-agent documents. Stable addresses, canonical versions, protected writes, transactions, idempotency, MCP, CLI, and REST are one contract rather than add-on AI features.
Migration
Moving from AFFiNE
Migration is medium effort. Standard Markdown documents and assets can move, but canvas geometry, database views, rich workspace metadata, and edition-specific server behavior do not map to a document tree automatically.
- 01
Export representative AFFiNE documents and assets; record database and canvas workflows separately.
- 02
Import Markdown documents into Doco and map spaces/folders to knowledge bases and folders.
- 03
Recreate only the tables or spreadsheets that belong inside documents; keep canvas-only work in an appropriate visual tool.
- 04
Review the exact AFFiNE artifact and license paths used before decommissioning the original workspace.
Run a representative trial first. Keep the original export until links, attachments, permissions, tables, and a restore have all been verified.
Bottom line
Use the smaller truth
AFFiNE is the broader creative workspace. Doco is the narrower agent-document infrastructure. Choose AFFiNE for canvas and database breadth; choose Doco for a clear open document contract and protected machine writes.
01Is AFFiNE fully MIT licensed?
Its README describes the Community Edition as MIT, while the root license delegates backend and native paths to another license. Review the exact tag, directories, and deployment artifact.
02Does Doco have an edgeless canvas?
No. Doco focuses on structured rich-text documents, diagrams, tables, and spreadsheets. AFFiNE is stronger for freeform spatial work.
03Which is more agent-native?
Doco is more specialized for external agent operations because block identity, versions, conflicts, transactions, MCP, CLI, and REST are designed as one contract.