mdSilo 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?
mdSilo
Networked note-taking and knowledge base app
VS
SiYuan
Privacy-first personal knowledge management system
| Feature | mdSilo | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | source, binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 849 | ★ 45,670 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Obsidian, Roam Research | Notion, Evernote |
Why pick each one
Choose mdSilo if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is mdSilo or SiYuan better?
Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community, while mdSilo is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are mdSilo and SiYuan free and open-source?
Yes. mdSilo is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mdSilo and SiYuan with Docker?
mdSilo: check the project docs for container support. SiYuan: yes.