Reor 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?
FeatureReorSiYuan
CategoryNotes & Knowledge BaseNotes & Knowledge Base
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM1,024 MB512 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcedocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 8,574★ 45,670
First released20242020
ReplacesEvernote, NotionNotion, Evernote

Why pick each one

Choose Reor if…

  • AI features without sending data away
  • Notes stay as portable files
Reor details

Choose SiYuan if…

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

Frequently asked questions

Is Reor or SiYuan better?

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

Are Reor and SiYuan free and open-source?

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

Can I run Reor and SiYuan with Docker?

Reor: check the project docs for container support. SiYuan: yes.

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