head to head · open source
SiYuan vs NotallyX
SiYuan has 47,137 GitHub stars, 3,104 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. NotallyX has 794 stars, 54 forks, 297 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 5,837% (47,137 vs 794 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; NotallyX is written in Kotlin under GPL-3.0. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, NotallyX 7%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | NotallyX | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 794 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Kotlin |
| Last push | 2026-11-09 | 2026-11-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 54 |
| 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 NotallyX if
- You want the NotallyX feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Kotlin
- You evaluated both and NotallyX 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 NotallyX
NotallyX Minimalistic note taking app Due to multiple users experiencing data loss (e.g. I temporarily removed the App from the Google Play Store. If you use the app, ensure that you have setup auto backup (e.g. daily) and ideally also backup on save! Features Notally, but eXtended See Documentation Create rich text notes with support for bold, italics, mono space and strike through Create task lists and order them with subtasks (+ auto sort checked items to the end) Set reminders with notifications for important notes Complement your notes with any type of file such as pictures , PDFs, etc. Sort notes by title…
read the full NotallyX overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or NotallyX more popular?
SiYuan has 47,137 GitHub stars and NotallyX has 794. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and NotallyX free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and NotallyX under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and NotallyX?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and NotallyX in Kotlin. 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 NotallyX?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,137 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose NotallyX if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.