head to head · open source
SiYuan vs Tolaria
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars, 3,095 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Tolaria has 20,423 stars, 1,409 forks, 49 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 130% (47,039 vs 20,423 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Tolaria is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Tolaria 7%. Tolaria was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Tolaria | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 20K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| 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 Tolaria if
- You want the Tolaria feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Tolaria 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 Tolaria
💧 Tolaria Tolaria is a desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux for managing markdown knowledge bases . People use it for a variety of use cases: Operate second brains and personal knowledge Organize company docs as context for AI Store OpenClaw/assistants memory and procedures Personally, I use it to run my life (hey 👋 Luca here). I have a massive workspace of 10,000+ notes, which are the result of my Refactoring work + a ton of personal journaling and second braining . Sponsors Tolaria is supported by a small panel of tools that help keep the project healthy, tested, and ready for AI assisted development. I…
read the full Tolaria overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or Tolaria more popular?
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars and Tolaria has 20,423. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and Tolaria free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Tolaria under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and Tolaria?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and Tolaria 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 Tolaria?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,039 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Tolaria if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.