Joplin vs SiYuan
| Feature | Joplin | SiYuan |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Knowledge & Docs | Knowledge & Docs |
| Sub-category | Wiki / Notes | Notes App |
| Maturity | stable | stable |
| Complexity | beginner | intermediate |
| Performance tier | medium | medium |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| License type | copyleft | copyleft |
| Pricing | fully free | fully free |
| GitHub stars | 47.0K | 26.0K |
| Contributors | 0 | 0 |
| Commit frequency | weekly | weekly |
| Plugin ecosystem | none | none |
| Docs quality | good | good |
| Backing org | Joplin | B3log |
| Funding model | community | community |
| Min RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Min CPU cores | 1 | 1 |
| Scaling pattern | single_node | single_node |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Yes |
| K8s native | No | No |
| Offline capable | No | Yes |
| Vendor lock-in | none | none |
| Languages | TypeScript | Go, TypeScript |
| API type | REST | REST |
| Protocols | HTTP | HTTP |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| SDK languages | — | — |
| Team size fit | solo, small, medium | solo, small |
| First release | 2020 | 2020 |
| Latest version | — | — |
When to use Joplin
- ✓ Primary: personal-notes
- ✓ Primary: encrypted-notes
- ✓ Primary: cross-device-sync
When to use SiYuan
- ✓ Private knowledge base with encrypted cloud sync
- ✓ Block-based note organization with SQL queries
- ✓ Bidirectional linking for knowledge graph
Joplin anti-patterns
SiYuan anti-patterns
- ✕ Less polished than Notion
- ✕ Sync requires paid subscription
- ✕ Smaller plugin ecosystem
- ✕ Chinese-origin — some docs not fully translated