head to head · open source
SiYuan vs SurfSense
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars, 3,095 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SurfSense has 16,717 stars, 1,597 forks, 130 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 181% (47,039 vs 16,717 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; SurfSense is written in Python under Apache-2.0. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, SurfSense 10%. SurfSense was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (self-hosted), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| SiYuan | SurfSense | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 17K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 1.6K |
| 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 SurfSense if
- You want the SurfSense feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and SurfSense 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 SurfSense
English Español Português हिन्दी 简体中文 SurfSense: The Open Source NotebookLM Alternative for Open Web Research SurfSense is the open source NotebookLM alternative for AI agents , an open web research platform with live data connectors. Your agents research the live web with structured data from Reddit, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, Walmart, Google Maps, Google Search, Indeed, and any page on the open web , through one REST API or MCP server . Scheduled and event triggered agents turn what they find into briefs and alerts, and a built in knowledge base keeps every finding searchable with citations. [!NOTE]…
read the full SurfSense overview →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
More Note Taking & Knowledge Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Note Taking & Knowledge Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or SurfSense more popular?
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars and SurfSense has 16,717. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and SurfSense free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SurfSense under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and SurfSense?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and SurfSense 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 SurfSense?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,039 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose SurfSense if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.