head to head · open source
SiYuan vs MoeMemos
SiYuan has 47,118 GitHub stars, 3,104 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. MoeMemos has 916 stars, 82 forks, 83 open issues and last shipped 7 days ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 5,044% (47,118 vs 916 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; MoeMemos is written in Swift under MPL-2.0. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, MoeMemos 9%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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
| SiYuan | MoeMemos | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 916 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Swift |
| Last push | 2026-11-08 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 82 |
| 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 MoeMemos if
- You want the MoeMemos feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Swift
- You evaluated both and MoeMemos 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 MoeMemos
Moe Memos ========= Moe Memos is an app to help you capture thoughts and ideas. Use Moe Memos with either a self hosted ✍️memos server or local on device storage (no server required). Note: Current Moe Memos version supports Memos 0.21.0 and Memos 0.27.0 to 0.31.0. Memos updates may introduce breaking API changes. If you are using a version higher than 0.31.0, it is recommended to use Mortis to convert the newer Memos API to the Memos 0.21.0 API and re login in Moe Memos. Installation Moe Memos is available on App Store for free. You can also build this app with Xcode and run on your devices. iOS 18 or higher is…
read the full MoeMemos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or MoeMemos more popular?
SiYuan has 47,118 GitHub stars and MoeMemos has 916. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and MoeMemos free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and MoeMemos under MPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and MoeMemos?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and MoeMemos in Swift. 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 MoeMemos?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,118 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose MoeMemos if its feature set, stack or MPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.