head to head · open source
SiYuan vs nocturne_memory
SiYuan has 46,422 GitHub stars, 3,011 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. nocturne_memory has 1,359 stars, 168 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 23 days ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 3,316% (46,422 vs 1,359 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; nocturne_memory is written in Python under MIT. SiYuan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, nocturne_memory 12%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (agentic-ai, mcp), 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 | nocturne_memory | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-08-27 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 168 |
| 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 nocturne_memory if
- You want the nocturne_memory feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and nocturne_memory 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 nocturne_memory
Nocturne Memory is an MIT licensed, Python based Long Term Memory Server that speaks the Model Context Protocol, giving MCP capable agents persistent, structured, rollbackable memory across sessions, models and tools — built for anyone running Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Codex or another MCP client who is tired of an agent that forgets who it is.
read the full nocturne_memory overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or nocturne_memory more popular?
SiYuan has 46,422 GitHub stars and nocturne_memory has 1,359. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and nocturne_memory free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and nocturne_memory under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and nocturne_memory?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and nocturne_memory in Python. 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 nocturne_memory?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (46,422 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose nocturne_memory if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.