If you’re currently using Notion to organize your life, projects, or knowledge base, you’re not alone. It’s sleek, powerful, and everywhere. But what if we told you there’s an alternative that puts privacy first, works offline, and can be fully self-hosted – with end-to-end encryption by default? Meet: Anytype
☁️ Notion: The Cloud Powerhouse
What We Like
- ✅ Fast note-taking
- ✅ Cross-device syncing
- ✅ Powerful databases & to-do lists
But Here’s the Catch:
- ❌ Cloud-only: Always relies on their infrastructure
- ❌ No end-to-end encryption: Data can technically be accessed
- ❌ No self-hosting: You’re locked into their platform
🔒 Anytype: The Encrypted, Local-First Alternative
Anytype is an open-source, encrypted, offline-capable note-taking and knowledge app designed for users who care about privacy and control.
| Feature | Notion | Anytype |
|---|---|---|
| 🔐 End-to-end encryption | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| 🌐 Offline functionality | ❌ Limited | ✅ Full |
| 🧠 Local-first model | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| 💾 Self-hostable sync backend | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| 🧩 Open-source components | ❌ Closed | ✅ Partially open |
Anytype gives you full control over how you sync: you can choose to keep everything on one device only, manually transfer data to others, or use Anytype Cloud or your own server as a sync source.
✨ More Awesome Features in Anytype
- 📚 Types and Relations: Build structured, linked data like a personal database
- 🔗 Bi-directional linking: Just like Roam or Obsidian, but visual
- 🌈 Beautiful visual graph view: See your ideas and knowledge in a network
- 🧩 Templating system: Great for recurring structures (e.g. meeting notes, journal entries)
- 📥 Offline-first by design: Use it anywhere – airplane mode approved
🧪 Try Self-Hosting with Our Auto-Installer
Yes – you can host your own AnySync network (the backend behind Anytype sync) with a single command using our automated script.
What it does:
- 🛠️ Installs Docker and dependencies
- 🔐 Generates secure random credentials
- 📁 Creates a full .env setup
- 🌀 Starts and verifies the service once
- ⚙️ Configures systemd and UFW firewall
Download the installer:
➡️ Click here to get the script and run it on a clean Ubuntu server.
wget / curl commands:
wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tenbyte/public/refs/heads/main/anysync.sh -O anysync.sh
# or
curl -o anysync.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tenbyte/public/refs/heads/main/anysync.sh
chmod +x anysync.sh
./anysync.sh
This script installs https://github.com/anyproto/any-sync-dockercompose on a clean Ubuntu server.
📡 Optional: You can also place your AnySync setup behind a reverse proxy like NGINX (e.g. using NGINX Proxy Manager) to expose it publicly using your own domain.
🏡 Home Use or More?
This image is suitable for running your personal self-hosted any-sync network for home use. If you plan to self-host a heavily used any-sync network, please consider using other options, such as a Puppet or Ansible module.
If you’re just syncing your personal data, one VM or server is all you need. For teams or heavier use, you can explore the Puppet/Ansible solution.
🚀 Final Thoughts
Notion is amazing for collaboration and UI polish. But if you’re serious about digital sovereignty, privacy, and owning your infrastructure, then Anytype is the future.
With our one-line installer, you’re up and running in minutes – no cloud dependency, no compromises. Use it offline, self-host it, or sync through the cloud – it’s your choice.
Try it today and sync on your own terms. 🔐
⚠️ Please note: We do our best to keep things accurate, but we can’t guarantee perfection. Use at your own risk. – Please report script errors or bugs to our Github