head to head · open source
SiYuan vs Zen
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars, 3,095 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zen has 1,194 stars, 65 forks, 1 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. SiYuan leads on adoption by 3,840% (47,039 vs 1,194 stars). SiYuan is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0; Zen is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. SiYuan has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, Zen 5%. SiYuan was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (markdown), 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 | Zen | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-25 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 65 |
| 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 Zen if
- You want the Zen feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Zen 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 Zen
Zen Live Demo • Features • Updates Features Single Go binary or Docker Compose Low resource usage Standard Markdown files, local SQLite database Organize with flexible tags, not rigid folders Markdown features like tables, code blocks, task lists, highlights, and more Full text search with BM25 ranking Import and export data with full portability Templates Pinned notes Archive and soft delete notes Bulk archive and delete Internal note links with side panel preview Minimal dependency footprint Automated backups (via Zen Backup) Import from other services (via Zen Import) Experimental Features Canvas for spatial…
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Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or Zen more popular?
SiYuan has 47,039 GitHub stars and Zen has 1,194. SiYuan has the larger community by that measure.
Are SiYuan and Zen free?
Both are open source. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Zen under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between SiYuan and Zen?
SiYuan is written in TypeScript and Zen in JavaScript. 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 Zen?
Choose SiYuan if you want the larger community (47,039 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Zen if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.