head to head · open source
SiYuan vs Butterfly
SiYuan has 47,064 GitHub stars, 3,097 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped today. Butterfly has 2,089 stars, 159 forks, 47 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 2,153% (47,064 vs 2,089 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Butterfly is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Butterfly 8%. 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
| SiYuan | Butterfly | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 159 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick SiYuan if
- You weight community size — 47K 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 Butterfly if
- You want the Butterfly feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and Butterfly fits your workflow better
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 →
About Butterfly
Butterfly 🎨 Take notes, draw freely, and organize ideas across an endless workspace 🎨 Website • Download • Crowdin • Matrix • Discord • Mastodon • Bluesky • Linwood • Contribute Think visually. Keep your canvas yours. Butterfly is an open source app for people who think better with space around their ideas. Instead of writing everything from top to bottom on a fixed page, you get an endless workspace where you can place notes, sketches, diagrams, images, and documents wherever they make sense. Use it for class notes, meeting notes, research, math, worksheets, planning, whiteboarding, storyboards, product…
read the full Butterfly overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or Butterfly more popular?
SiYuan has 47,064 GitHub stars and Butterfly has 2,089. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and Butterfly free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Butterfly under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and Butterfly?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and Butterfly 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, SiYuan or Butterfly?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,064 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Butterfly if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.