Beavers Notes 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?
Beavers Notes
Local-first note-taking with file-over-app philosophy
VS
SiYuan
Privacy-first personal knowledge management system
| Feature | Beavers Notes | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,324 | ★ 45,670 |
| First released | 2023 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Evernote, OneNote | Notion, Evernote |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Beavers Notes or SiYuan better?
Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community, while Beavers Notes is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Beavers Notes and SiYuan free and open-source?
Yes. Beavers Notes is licensed under MIT and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Beavers Notes and SiYuan with Docker?
Beavers Notes: check the project docs for container support. SiYuan: yes.