head to head · open source
SiYuan vs Vrite
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars, 3,095 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Vrite has 2,005 stars, 84 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 2,246% (47,039 vs 2,005 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Vrite is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Vrite 4%. SiYuan 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 | Vrite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 84 |
| 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 Vrite if
- You want the Vrite feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Vrite 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 Vrite
[!IMPORTANT] This is a WIP branch for Andesine (the v2 rewrite of Vrite). For the latest stable version of Vrite, please check out the main branch Open source, collaborative developer content platform Usage Guide Website Vrite Cloud Vrite is an open source, collaborative space to create, manage, and deploy product documentation, technical blogs, and knowledge bases. It aims to provide a high quality, integrated user and developer experience, with features like: Built in management dashboard for managing content production and delivery using Kanban or List view; Modern WYSIWYG editing experience with support for…
read the full Vrite overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or Vrite more popular?
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars and Vrite has 2,005. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and Vrite free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0, and Vrite has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between SiYuan and Vrite?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and Vrite 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 Vrite?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,039 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Vrite if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.