head to head · open source
MiaoYan vs saber
MiaoYan has 8,719 GitHub stars, 522 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. saber has 5,011 stars, 421 forks, 401 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. MiaoYan leads on adoption by 74% (8,719 vs 5,011 stars). MiaoYan is written in Swift under MIT; saber is written in Dart under GPL-3.0. MiaoYan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, saber 8%. MiaoYan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (macos, notes-app), 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 | saber | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.7K | ★ 5.0K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Swift | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 522 | ⑂ 421 |
| 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 saber if
- You want the saber feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and saber 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 saber
Saber [ ][google play] [ ][f droid] [ ][app store] [ ][download windows] [ ][flathub] [ ][download appimage] English čeština Deutsch 中文 (简体中文, 中国) 中文 (繁體, 台灣) العربية Tiếng Việt Saber is the notes app built for handwriting. It's designed to be as simple and intuitive as possible, while still delivering unique features that you'll actually use. Additionally, Saber is available across all your devices, large and small, and syncs between them seamlessly. Notably, it can invert your notes when you're in dark mode. This allows you to write with white ink on a black background, which is much easier on the eyes in low…
read the full saber overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is MiaoYan or saber more popular?
MiaoYan has 8,719 GitHub stars and saber has 5,011. MiaoYan has the larger community by that measure.
Are MiaoYan and saber free?
Both are open source. MiaoYan is licensed under MIT and saber under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between MiaoYan and saber?
MiaoYan is written in Swift and saber in Dart. 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 saber?
Choose MiaoYan if you want the larger community (8,719 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose saber if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.