head to head · open source
AppFlowy vs SiYuan
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars, 6,160 forks, 1,030 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. SiYuan has 47,039 stars, 3,095 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. AppFlowy leads on adoption by 66% (78,112 vs 47,039 stars). AppFlowy is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0; SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. AppFlowy has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, SiYuan 7%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (note-taking), 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
| AppFlowy | SiYuan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 78K | ★ 47K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Dart | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-10-28 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 6.2K | ⑂ 3.1K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AppFlowy if
- You weight community size — 78K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick SiYuan if
- You want the SiYuan feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and SiYuan fits your workflow better
About AppFlowy
AppFlowy ⭐️ The Open Source Alternative To Notion ⭐️ AppFlowy is the AI workspace where you achieve more without losing control of your data Website • Forum • Discord • Reddit • Twitter User Installation Download AppFlowy Desktop (macOS, Windows, and Linux) Other channels: FlatHub, Snapcraft, Sourceforge Available on App Store: iPhone Play Store: Android 10 or above; ARMv7 is not supported Self hosting AppFlowy Source Built With Flutter Rust Stay Up to Date Getting Started with development Please view the documentation for OS specific development instructions Roadmap AppFlowy Roadmap ReadMe AppFlowy Public…
read the full AppFlowy overview →
About SiYuan
From thought to insight, with agents English 中文 日本語 Türkçe Table of Contents 💡 Introduction 🔮 Features 🏗️ Architecture and Ecosystem 🗺️ Roadmap 🚀 Download Setup App Market Installation Package Package Manager Docker Hosting Unraid Hosting TrueNAS Hosting Test Channels ⌨️ Command line Interface 🏘️ Community 🛠️ Development Guide ❓ FAQ How does SiYuan store data? Does it support data synchronization through a third party sync disk? Is SiYuan open source? How to upgrade to a new version? What if some blocks (such as paragraph blocks in list items) cannot find the block icon? What should I do if the data repo…
read the full SiYuan overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy or SiYuan more popular?
AppFlowy has 78,112 GitHub stars and SiYuan has 47,039. AppFlowy has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppFlowy and SiYuan free?
Both are open source. AppFlowy is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppFlowy and SiYuan?
AppFlowy is written in Dart and SiYuan 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, AppFlowy or SiYuan?
Choose AppFlowy if you want the larger community (78,112 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose SiYuan if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.