head to head · open source
SiYuan vs Anarlog
SiYuan has 46,409 GitHub stars, 3,012 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Anarlog has 9,335 stars, 765 forks, 25 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 397% (46,409 vs 9,335 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Anarlog is written in TypeScript under MIT. SiYuan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Anarlog 8%. Anarlog was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (local-first), 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
| SiYuan | Anarlog | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 9.3K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 765 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SiYuan if
- You weight community size — 46K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Anarlog if
- You want the Anarlog feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Anarlog fits your workflow better
About SiYuan
SiYuan is an open source, self hosted knowledge management system built for privacy first workflows. It operates as a local first workspace where users store data in encrypted repositories on their own infrastructure, avoiding reliance on third party cloud services. The project lives in the productivity and utilities ecosystem, specifically targeting note taking and knowledge management use cases, and positions itself as a privacy respecting alternative to Notion.
read the full SiYuan overview →
About Anarlog
Anarlog is an open source meeting notetaker for people who want AI generated notes without a bot joining the call. It listens to device audio, can transcribe on the machine, and keeps sessions, notes, and transcripts in a local SQLite database, with recordings and attachments stored as plain local files. The project lives in the open source productivity ecosystem, built with React, Rust, Tauri, and TypeScript, and is presented as an alternative to Granola.
read the full Anarlog overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or Anarlog more popular?
SiYuan has 46,409 GitHub stars and Anarlog has 9,335. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and Anarlog free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Anarlog under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and Anarlog?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and Anarlog in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, SiYuan or Anarlog?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (46,409 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Anarlog if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.