nb 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.
SiYuan
Privacy-first personal knowledge management system
| Feature | nb Notes | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 100 · Excellent |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Shell | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,410 | ★ 46,488 |
| First released | 2019 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion | Notion, Evernote |
What are nb Notes and SiYuan?
nb Notes
nb is a command-line and local web tool for plain-text note-taking, bookmarking, and archiving with Git-backed versioning and syncing. It works entirely in the terminal and supports encryption.
- Plain-text notes and bookmarks
- Git-backed sync
- Optional encryption
- Tagging and search
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
nb Notes vs SiYuan: key differences
Nb Notes is written in Shell, while SiYuan is built with TypeScript. Nb Notes is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 512 MB for SiYuan. SiYuan has the considerably larger community, at 46,488 GitHub stars versus 8,410. SiYuan lists first-class Docker deployment; nb Notes does not.
Why pick each one
Choose nb Notes if…
- Powerful for terminal users
- Versioned with Git
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No graphical client
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 nb Notes or SiYuan better?
Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community, while nb Notes is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are nb Notes and SiYuan free and open-source?
Yes. nb Notes is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run nb Notes and SiYuan with Docker?
nb Notes: check the project docs for container support. SiYuan: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, nb Notes or SiYuan?
nb Notes has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for SiYuan. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.