Knowledge 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.
Not the right match-up?
Knowledge
Desktop tool for saving, accessing and exploring sources
VS
SiYuan
Privacy-first personal knowledge management system
| Feature | Knowledge | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,459 | ★ 45,670 |
| First released | 2021 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Notion, Evernote | Notion, Evernote |
Why pick each one
Choose Knowledge if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Knowledge or SiYuan better?
Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community, while Knowledge is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Knowledge and SiYuan free and open-source?
Yes. Knowledge is licensed under MIT and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Knowledge and SiYuan with Docker?
Knowledge: check the project docs for container support. SiYuan: yes.