head to head · open source
SiYuan vs Vrite
SiYuan has 46,409 GitHub stars, 3,012 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Vrite has 1,998 stars, 84 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. SiYuan leads on adoption by 2,223% (46,409 vs 1,998 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 6% 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| SiYuan | Vrite | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.0K | ⑂ 84 |
| 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 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
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 Vrite
Vrite is an open source collaborative developer content platform. It lives in the Productivity & Utilities / Note Taking & Knowledge Management category, and its topics place it in the JavaScript and TypeScript ecosystem for content management, documentation, blogging, and headless CMS work. The project presents itself as a space where technical teams can create, manage, and deploy product documentation, technical blogs, and knowledge bases.
read the full Vrite 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 Vrite more popular?
SiYuan has 46,409 GitHub stars and Vrite has 1,998. 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 (46,409 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.