head to head · open source
SiYuan vs vnote
SiYuan has 46,422 GitHub stars, 3,011 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vnote has 12,963 stars, 1,298 forks, 270 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 258% (46,422 vs 12,963 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; vnote is written in C++ under LGPL-3.0. SiYuan has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, vnote 10%. 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 | vnote | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 13K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | LGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | C++ |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 1.3K |
| 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 vnote if
- You want the vnote feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the LGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches C++
- You evaluated both and vnote 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 vnote
VNote is a Qt based, free and open source note taking application written in native C++, focused on Markdown and aimed at anyone who wants structured note management and a strong editing experience instead of a bare Markdown text editor.
read the full vnote overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or vnote more popular?
SiYuan has 46,422 GitHub stars and vnote has 12,963. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and vnote free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and vnote under LGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and vnote?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and vnote 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 vnote?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (46,422 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose vnote if its feature set, stack or LGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.