SiYuan vs WizNote
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
VS
WizNote
Cross-platform note-taking app with a self-hosted server
| Feature | SiYuan | WizNote |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 18 · At risk |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46,488 | ★ 2,660 |
| First released | 2020 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Notion, Evernote | Evernote, OneNote |
What are SiYuan and WizNote?
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
WizNote
WizNote is a cross-platform note-taking app with desktop and mobile clients. The Qt desktop client is open source; the self-hostable sync server is distributed as a closed-source Docker image with a free tier for small teams.
- Cross-platform note clients
- Self-hostable sync server
- Rich note formatting
- Attachment support
SiYuan vs WizNote: key differences
SiYuan is written in TypeScript, while WizNote is built with C. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for SiYuan versus GPL-3.0 for WizNote. WizNote is the more established project (first released 2011), while SiYuan arrived in 2020. SiYuan has the considerably larger community, at 46,488 GitHub stars versus 2,660.
Why pick each one
Choose SiYuan if…
- Powerful block-based model
- Works offline and self-hosted
Watch out for
- Documentation strongest in Chinese
- Some advanced features are paid
Choose WizNote if…
- Mature multi-platform apps
- Server can be self-hosted
Watch out for
- Documentation strongest in Chinese
- Client and server are separate projects
Frequently asked questions
Is SiYuan or WizNote better?
Neither is universally better. SiYuan has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are SiYuan and WizNote free and open-source?
Yes. SiYuan is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WizNote under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SiYuan and WizNote with Docker?
SiYuan: yes. WizNote: yes.