head to head · open source
SiYuan vs DeepNotes
SiYuan has 46,488 GitHub stars, 3,020 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. DeepNotes has 604 stars, 54 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 7,597% (46,488 vs 604 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; DeepNotes is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. SiYuan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, DeepNotes 9%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| SiYuan | DeepNotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 604 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-24 | 2026-06-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 54 |
| 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 DeepNotes if
- You want the DeepNotes 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 DeepNotes 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 DeepNotes
DeepNotes is an open source, end to end encrypted visual note taking tool that arranges notes on an infinite canvas with deeply nested pages and realtime collaboration, aimed at individuals and teams who want private, self hostable knowledge management.
read the full DeepNotes overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Note Taking & Knowledge Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Note Taking & Knowledge Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or DeepNotes more popular?
SiYuan has 46,488 GitHub stars and DeepNotes has 604. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and DeepNotes free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and DeepNotes under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and DeepNotes?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and DeepNotes 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 DeepNotes?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (46,488 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose DeepNotes if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.