Dnote 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 | Dnote | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 78 · Good | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,084 | ★ 46,488 |
| First released | 2017 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Simplenote | Notion, Evernote |
What are Dnote and SiYuan?
Dnote
Dnote is an open-source, simple command-line notebook for programmers and terminal users. It captures quick notes without breaking focus and can sync through a self-hostable server.
- Command-line note capture
- Self-hostable sync server
- Browser extension
- Spaced-repetition digests
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
Dnote vs SiYuan: key differences
Dnote is written in Go, while SiYuan is built with TypeScript. Dnote is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SiYuan. Dnote is the more established project (first released 2017), while SiYuan arrived in 2020. SiYuan has the considerably larger community, at 46,488 GitHub stars versus 3,084.
Why pick each one
Choose Dnote if…
- Stays out of the way for developers
- Quick capture from terminal
Watch out for
- Terminal-first workflow
- Limited rich formatting
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 Dnote or SiYuan better?
Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community, while Dnote is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Dnote and SiYuan free and open-source?
Yes. Dnote is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dnote and SiYuan with Docker?
Dnote: yes. SiYuan: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dnote or SiYuan?
Dnote has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for SiYuan. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.