head to head · open source
SiYuan vs projectmem
SiYuan has 46,471 GitHub stars, 3,016 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped today. projectmem has 833 stars, 42 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 5,479% (46,471 vs 833 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; projectmem is written in Python under MIT. SiYuan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, projectmem 5%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (agentic-ai), 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 | projectmem | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 833 |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-23 | 2026-09-15 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 42 |
| 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 projectmem if
- You want the projectmem feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and projectmem 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 projectmem
projectmem is an open source, local first memory layer for AI coding agents, built for developers who use Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, Antigravity or Codex and want each new session to start from what the project already learned rather than from nothing.
read the full projectmem overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or projectmem more popular?
SiYuan has 46,471 GitHub stars and projectmem has 833. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and projectmem free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and projectmem under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and projectmem?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and projectmem 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 projectmem?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (46,471 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose projectmem if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.