head to head · open source
SiYuan vs reflect-open
SiYuan has 47,231 GitHub stars, 3,116 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped today. reflect-open has 1,622 stars, 143 forks, 70 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 2,812% (47,231 vs 1,622 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; reflect-open is written in TypeScript under MIT. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, reflect-open 9%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (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 | reflect-open | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 1.6K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-15 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 143 |
| 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 reflect-open if
- You want the reflect-open feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and reflect-open 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 reflect-open
Reflect Plain file notes for Mac and iPhone: daily notes, wiki links, local search, and optional AI over your own Markdown. Reflect is an open source note taking app built around a folder of Markdown files. It opens to today's note, lets [[wiki links]] connect people, projects, and ideas, and keeps search and backlinks fast without turning your notes into an app only database. The app does not require a Reflect account. Notes live in a folder you choose, and optional services such as AI providers, transcription, iCloud, GitHub, or another git remote are connected directly by the user. Features Daily notes: the…
read the full reflect-open overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or reflect-open more popular?
SiYuan has 47,231 GitHub stars and reflect-open has 1,622. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and reflect-open free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and reflect-open under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and reflect-open?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and reflect-open in TypeScript. 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 reflect-open?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,231 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose reflect-open if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.