AppFlowy Cloud vs SiYuan
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
SiYuan
Privacy-first personal knowledge management system
| Feature | AppFlowy Cloud | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 100 · Excellent |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,004 | ★ 46,488 |
| First released | 2023 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Notion | Notion, Evernote |
What are AppFlowy Cloud and SiYuan?
AppFlowy Cloud
AppFlowy Cloud is the self-hostable backend service that powers collaboration and sync for the AppFlowy open-source workspace and note-taking application. It lets teams keep documents and data on their own servers.
- Self-hosted sync backend
- Real-time collaboration
- Document storage
- Open-source server
SiYuan
SiYuan is an open-source, privacy-first personal knowledge management system that supports block-level references and bidirectional links. It can run locally or be self-hosted for access across devices.
- Block-level referencing
- Bidirectional links
- Self-hosted or local mode
- End-to-end encrypted sync
AppFlowy Cloud vs SiYuan: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: AppFlowy Cloud's repository is archived and no longer developed, while SiYuan is actively maintained. AppFlowy Cloud is written in Rust, while SiYuan is built with TypeScript. SiYuan is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for AppFlowy Cloud. SiYuan is the more established project (first released 2020), while AppFlowy Cloud arrived in 2023. SiYuan has the considerably larger community, at 46,488 GitHub stars versus 2,004.
Why pick each one
Choose AppFlowy Cloud if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose SiYuan if…
- Powerful block-based model
- Works offline and self-hosted
Watch out for
- Documentation strongest in Chinese
- Some advanced features are paid
Frequently asked questions
Is AppFlowy Cloud or SiYuan better?
Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are AppFlowy Cloud and SiYuan free and open-source?
Yes. AppFlowy Cloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AppFlowy Cloud and SiYuan with Docker?
AppFlowy Cloud: yes. SiYuan: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, AppFlowy Cloud or SiYuan?
SiYuan has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for AppFlowy Cloud. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.