head to head · open source
Zotero vs MiaoYan
Zotero has 15,847 GitHub stars, 1,174 forks, 1,600 open issues and last shipped yesterday. MiaoYan has 8,719 stars, 522 forks, 3 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zotero leads on adoption by 82% (15,847 vs 8,719 stars). Zotero is written in JavaScript under a custom or non-standard licence; MiaoYan is written in Swift under MIT. Zotero has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, MiaoYan 6%. Zotero was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| Zotero | MiaoYan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 8.7K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | JavaScript | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.2K | ⑂ 522 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Zotero if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick MiaoYan if
- You want the MiaoYan feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and MiaoYan fits your workflow better
About Zotero
Zotero ====== Zotero is a free, easy to use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. Please post feature requests or bug reports to the Zotero Forums. If you're having trouble with Zotero, see Getting Help. For more information on how to use this source code, see the Zotero documentation.
read the full Zotero overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Zotero or MiaoYan more popular?
Zotero has 15,847 GitHub stars and MiaoYan has 8,719. Zotero has the larger community by that measure.
Are Zotero and MiaoYan free?
Both are open source. Zotero has no licence declared in this registry, and MiaoYan is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Zotero and MiaoYan?
Zotero is written in JavaScript and MiaoYan 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, Zotero or MiaoYan?
Choose Zotero if you want the larger community (15,847 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose MiaoYan if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.