head to head · open source
SiYuan vs QOwnNotes
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars, 3,095 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. QOwnNotes has 5,939 stars, 498 forks, 63 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 692% (47,039 vs 5,939 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; QOwnNotes is written in C++ under GPL-2.0. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, QOwnNotes 8%. QOwnNotes 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 | ★ 47K | ★ 5.9K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 498 |
| 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 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
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 QOwnNotes
QOwnNotes Installation Changelog Issues Shortcuts Documentation Privacy Policy Screenshots Nextcloud API App ownCloud API App Matrix room Telegram Group IRC Chat Mastodon QOwnNotes Web Companion Firefox extension QOwnNotes Web Companion Chrome extension QOwnNotes Web App QOwnNotes Tor Hidden Service QOwnNotes is the open source notepad with Markdown support and todo list manager for GNU/Linux , macOS and Windows , that works together with Nextcloud Notes and ownCloud Notes . You are able to write down your thoughts with QOwnNotes and edit or search for them later from your mobile device , like with QOwnNotes…
read the full QOwnNotes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or QOwnNotes more popular?
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars and QOwnNotes has 5,939. 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 (47,039 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.