SiYuan

What is SiYuan?

Personal knowledge base of linked blocks, with Markdown editing, flashcards and local storage.

Who is SiYuan best for?

SiYuan is best for students and researchers who keep a linked-block knowledge base on their own device.

• Linked thinking

  Any block can be referenced or embedded elsewhere, with two-way links and SQL queries across notes.

• Study and review

  Built-in flashcards with spaced repetition and links into annotated PDFs turn reading notes into review.

• Private notes

  Notes stay in a workspace folder on your device, and notebooks can be encrypted.

• Home servers

  The Docker image serves SiYuan from a home server or NAS, behind an access code.

How much does SiYuan cost?

SiYuan is free with local storage; PRO Features cost $96 once for S3 and WebDAV sync, and the Subscription with 8 GB of official cloud sync is $296 a year.

PRO Features connect S3 or WebDAV storage that you buy or run yourself. The Subscription includes 8 GB of SiYuan's own cloud storage plus the same third-party sync options, and renewals stay at the price of your first subscription. A trial can be turned on in the desktop app under Settings, Account; SiYuan does not refund subscriptions. Full pricing on b3log.org. We checked these prices on 8 Nov 2026.

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Is SiYuan open source?

Yes. SiYuan's code is public under the AGPL 3.0 licence, so you can run it on your own server.

Host it on a serverHostinger and Railway set it up on a server for you with a one-click install.

Hosting with

What are the best SiYuan alternatives?

SiYuan is an open source alternative to Anytype, Capacities, Evernote and Obsidian. AppFlowy and Notesnook do the same job and are open source too.

AnytypeFree

Private, open-source notes with local-first sync.

CapacitiesFree

Notes organised as objects: people, projects, books and meetings.

EvernoteFree

Notes, tasks and calendar with AI search.

ObsidianFree

Local-first Markdown notes with a plugin ecosystem.

AppFlowyOpen Source

Open-source workspace for docs, wikis and databases you can self-host.

NotesnookOpen Source

End-to-end encrypted notes.

Questions about SiYuan