head to head · open source
SiYuan vs MarkFlowy
SiYuan has 46,429 GitHub stars, 3,012 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped today. MarkFlowy has 2,393 stars, 92 forks, 28 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 1,840% (46,429 vs 2,393 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; MarkFlowy is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. SiYuan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, MarkFlowy 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 (markdown), 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 | MarkFlowy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 92 |
| 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 MarkFlowy if
- You want the MarkFlowy 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 MarkFlowy 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 MarkFlowy
MarkFlowy is a free, open source, cross platform desktop Markdown and text editor, built with Tauri, Rust and Prosemirror, for developers, writers and knowledge workers who want WYSIWYG or source mode editing of large documents with built in AI assistance.
read the full MarkFlowy overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or MarkFlowy more popular?
SiYuan has 46,429 GitHub stars and MarkFlowy has 2,393. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and MarkFlowy free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and MarkFlowy under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and MarkFlowy?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and MarkFlowy 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 MarkFlowy?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (46,429 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose MarkFlowy if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.