Flatnotes 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.
Flatnotes
Self-hosted, database-less note-taking web app
VS
SiYuan
Privacy-first personal knowledge management system
| Feature | Flatnotes | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 88 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Vue | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,230 | ★ 46,488 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Simplenote | Notion, Evernote |
What are Flatnotes and SiYuan?
Flatnotes
Flatnotes is a self-hosted web application for taking notes, with a focus on simplicity and storing all notes as flat Markdown files. It has no database and keeps notes easy to back up and access.
- Flat Markdown file storage
- No database required
- Full-text search
- Clean minimal interface
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
Flatnotes vs SiYuan: key differences
Flatnotes is written in Vue, while SiYuan is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Flatnotes versus AGPL-3.0 for SiYuan. Flatnotes is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SiYuan. SiYuan has the considerably larger community, at 46,488 GitHub stars versus 3,230.
Why pick each one
Choose Flatnotes if…
- Trivial to back up
- Very lightweight
Watch out for
- Basic feature set
- Single-user oriented
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 Flatnotes or SiYuan better?
Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community, while Flatnotes is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Flatnotes and SiYuan free and open-source?
Yes. Flatnotes is licensed under MIT and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Flatnotes and SiYuan with Docker?
Flatnotes: yes. SiYuan: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Flatnotes or SiYuan?
Flatnotes 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.