head to head · open source
MiaoYan vs fsnotes
MiaoYan has 8,719 GitHub stars, 522 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. fsnotes has 7,562 stars, 588 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. MiaoYan leads on adoption by 15% (8,719 vs 7,562 stars). MiaoYan is written in Swift under MIT; fsnotes is written in Swift under MIT. MiaoYan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, fsnotes 8%. MiaoYan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 4 topic tags (macos, markdown, notes-app, swift), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| MiaoYan | fsnotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.7K | ★ 7.6K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Swift | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 522 | ⑂ 588 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick MiaoYan if
- You weight community size — 8.7K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick fsnotes if
- You want the fsnotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and fsnotes fits your workflow better
About MiaoYan
English 简体中文 MiaoYan Lightweight Markdown note taking app for macOS Features Fantastic : Local first, no data collection, split editor & preview, wikilink backlinks, LaTeX, Mermaid Beautiful : Minimalist design, three column layout, dark mode, macOS 26 glass, distraction free Fast : Swift 6 native, better performance than Electron based apps Simple : Lightweight, version history, keyboard shortcuts, auto formatting Installation 1. Mac App Store (paid, automatic updates): 2. Homebrew : 3. GitHub Releases : download the latest DMG from GitHub Releases (macOS 11.5+) All three options share the same codebase and…
read the full MiaoYan overview →
About fsnotes
FSNotes 简体中文 · 繁體中文 Own your notes. Find them instantly. FSNotes is a fast, native notes app for macOS and iOS. It gives you a focused writing experience while keeping every note in portable Markdown or plain text files—not a proprietary database. Why choose FSNotes No lock in. Open and edit your notes with any compatible app, now or years from now. Fast at any scale. Search and navigate smoothly across collections of 10,000+ notes. Built around your workflow. Use multiple folders, external editors, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and optional Git backups. More than basic Markdown. Connect ideas with tags and [[links]]…
read the full fsnotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is MiaoYan or fsnotes more popular?
MiaoYan has 8,719 GitHub stars and fsnotes has 7,562. MiaoYan has the larger community by that measure.
Are MiaoYan and fsnotes free?
Both are open source. MiaoYan is licensed under MIT and fsnotes under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between MiaoYan and fsnotes?
MiaoYan is written in Swift and fsnotes in Swift. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, MiaoYan or fsnotes?
Choose MiaoYan if you want the larger community (8,719 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose fsnotes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.