head to head · open source
SiYuan vs dnote
SiYuan has 47,089 GitHub stars, 3,100 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dnote has 3,091 stars, 123 forks, 41 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 1,423% (47,089 vs 3,091 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; dnote is written in Go under Apache-2.0. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, dnote 4%. 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 | dnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-05 | 2026-10-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 123 |
| 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 dnote if
- You want the dnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and dnote 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 dnote
========================= Dnote is a simple command line notebook. Single binary, no dependencies. Since 2017. Your notes are stored in one SQLite file portable, searchable, and completely under your control. Optional sync between devices via a self hosted server with REST API access. Installation Or download binary. Server (Optional) Server is a binary with SQLite embedded. No database setup is required. If using docker, create a compose.yml: Then run: Or see the guide for binary installation. Documentation See the Dnote doc.
read the full dnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or dnote more popular?
SiYuan has 47,089 GitHub stars and dnote has 3,091. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and dnote free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and dnote under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and dnote?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and dnote in Go. 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 dnote?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,089 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose dnote if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.