head to head · open source
SiYuan vs QOwnNotes
SiYuan has 46,422 GitHub stars, 3,011 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. QOwnNotes has 5,882 stars, 500 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 689% (46,422 vs 5,882 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; QOwnNotes is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. SiYuan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, QOwnNotes 9%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (local-first, markdown, 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 | QOwnNotes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 5.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 500 |
| 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 QOwnNotes if
- You want the QOwnNotes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and QOwnNotes 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 QOwnNotes
QOwnNotes is a GPL 2.0 licensed, C++ plain text notepad and todo list manager with Markdown support for GNU/Linux, macOS and Windows that stores every note as a Markdown file and pairs with Nextcloud or ownCloud so the same notes stay readable on mobile and in the web service.
read the full QOwnNotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or QOwnNotes more popular?
SiYuan has 46,422 GitHub stars and QOwnNotes has 5,882. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and QOwnNotes free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and QOwnNotes under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and QOwnNotes?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and QOwnNotes in C++. 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 QOwnNotes?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (46,422 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose QOwnNotes if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.