SiYuan vs ZenNotes
SiYuan
b3log.orgZenNotes
zennotes.orgSide by side
| Figure | SiYuan | ZenNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $64/mo | $1/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 5 | 6 |
| Spec score · Note-taking apps | 9.1 (#12) | 8.9 (#25) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Paid options include third-party S3 and WebDAV data sync and backup; users must provide their own storage, and Nutstore is not supported for WebDAV. | Git,iCloud,Dropbox,Claude Code,Claude Desktop,Codex |
| Note sharing | Yes | Yes |
| Offline access | Yes | Yes |
| Supported platforms | Windows,macOS,Linux,iOS,Android,web interface,Chrome/Edge extension,API,Docker self-hosting | macOS,Windows,Linux,iOS,Android,self-hosted browser |
| Self-hosting | SiYuan can be deployed on a server using its Docker image, with access rights controlled through an authorization code. | The free open-source web app can be self-hosted using the published Docker image and opened in a browser on the user's network. |
Plans
SiYuan
- FreeFree
- PRO Features$64 a month
- Subscription$148 a month
- PRO Features$64, paid once
- Subscription$148, paid once
ZenNotes
- ZenNotes appFree
- 10 vaults add-on$1 a month
- 25 vaults add-on$2 a month
- 10 GB storage add-on$3 a month
- Publish to the web add-on$3 a month
- ZenNotes Cloud$5 a month
In their own words
SiYuan
SiYuan is a personal knowledge management system for building a linked collection of notes. It supports Markdown, block-level references and bidirectional links, and organizes content into blocks with more than 20 block-level and more than 10 span-level element types. Backlinks can be filtered and searched; relationship graphs are available across a notebook and at block level. Databases support relations, rollups and templates, while flashcards use the FSRS spaced-repetition algorithm. Its AI feature connects to OpenAI for writing continuation, translation, summaries, brainstorming and grammar or spelling corrections. SiYuan supports offline access, and the maker describes multi-device synchronization as incremental and end-to-end encrypted. It is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android and the web, with a Chrome/Edge extension, API and Docker self-hosting. The maker says data stays under the user's control on their device. Free access is free; PRO Features is listed at $64 a month with lifetime-use wording, and Subscription at $148 a month with 8GB cloud storage.