Planka vs SiYuan

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeaturePlankaSiYuan
CategoryProject Management & TasksNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 12,330★ 45,670
First released20192020
ReplacesTrelloNotion, Evernote

Why pick each one

Choose Planka if…

  • Fast real-time updates
  • Familiar interface
  • Lightweight
Planka details

Choose SiYuan if…

  • Powerful block-based model
  • Works offline and self-hosted
SiYuan details

Frequently asked questions

Is Planka or SiYuan better?

Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community, while Planka is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Planka and SiYuan free and open-source?

Yes. Planka is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SiYuan under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Planka and SiYuan with Docker?

Planka: yes. SiYuan: yes.

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