Memos 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 | Memos | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 63,295 | ★ 46,488 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Notion, Google Keep | Notion, Evernote |
What are Memos and SiYuan?
Memos
Memos is a lightweight, privacy-first note-taking service for quick notes and memos with a clean timeline interface. It targets individuals who want a fast personal microblog-style note tool. It is deployed via Docker as a single container.
- Fast Markdown memo timeline
- Tagging and filtering
- REST API
- Tiny single-binary footprint
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
Memos vs SiYuan: key differences
Memos is written in Go, while SiYuan is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Memos versus AGPL-3.0 for SiYuan. Memos is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SiYuan. SiYuan is the more established project (first released 2020), while Memos arrived in 2022.
Why pick each one
Choose Memos if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Quick capture workflow
- Simple deployment
Watch out for
- Not for long structured docs
- Limited organization features
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 Memos or SiYuan better?
Memos is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider SiYuan if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Memos and SiYuan free and open-source?
Yes. Memos is licensed under MIT and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Memos and SiYuan with Docker?
Memos: yes. SiYuan: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Memos or SiYuan?
Memos has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for SiYuan. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.