head to head · open source
SiYuan vs GitJournal
SiYuan has 46,422 GitHub stars, 3,011 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. GitJournal has 4,224 stars, 309 forks, 132 open issues and last shipped 4 months ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 999% (46,422 vs 4,224 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; GitJournal is written in Dart under AGPL-3.0. SiYuan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, GitJournal 7%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (markdown, 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 | GitJournal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 4.2K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-05-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 309 |
| 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 GitJournal if
- You want the GitJournal 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 GitJournal 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 GitJournal
GitJournal is a mobile first, privacy focused Markdown note taking app that stores every note in a Git repository of the user's choosing, built for people who want their writing to stay portable and version controlled instead of locked inside a proprietary sync service.
read the full GitJournal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or GitJournal more popular?
SiYuan has 46,422 GitHub stars and GitJournal has 4,224. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and GitJournal free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and GitJournal under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and GitJournal?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and GitJournal 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 GitJournal?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (46,422 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose GitJournal if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.