head to head · open source
Memos vs SiYuan
Memos has 63,129 GitHub stars, 4,766 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan has 46,409 stars, 3,012 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Memos leads on adoption by 36% (63,129 vs 46,409 stars). Memos is written in Go under MIT; SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Memos has attracted 8% as many forks as stars, SiYuan 6%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (markdown, note-taking, self-hosted), 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
| Memos | SiYuan | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 63K | ★ 46K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 3.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Memos if
- You weight community size — 63K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick SiYuan if
- You want the SiYuan 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 SiYuan fits your workflow better
About Memos
Memos is an open source, self hosted note taking tool designed for rapid capture of short form content like daily logs, links, code snippets, and microblog style entries. It lives in the Go ecosystem and uses a Markdown native, timeline based interface. Unlike traditional note apps that enforce folders or rigid templates, Memos prioritizes speed and simplicity: users write in Markdown, attach media, and save without selecting titles or locations.
read the full Memos overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Memos or SiYuan more popular?
Memos has 63,129 GitHub stars and SiYuan has 46,409. Memos has the larger community by that measure.
Are Memos and SiYuan free?
Both are open source. Memos is licensed under MIT and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Memos and SiYuan?
Memos is written in Go and SiYuan 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, Memos or SiYuan?
Choose Memos if you want the larger community (63,129 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose SiYuan if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.