What is the main difference between Beaver Notes and SiYuan?

Beaver Notes and SiYuan are both note-taking tools but differ in their approach, features, and target audience. Compare their GitHub stats, technology stack, and community adoption to make the best choice.

Which is better: Beaver Notes or SiYuan?

The choice between Beaver Notes and SiYuan depends on your specific needs, technical requirements, and team preferences. Both are quality open source solutions with active communities.

Can I migrate from Beaver Notes to SiYuan?

Migration between Beaver Notes and SiYuan is possible but requires careful planning. Consider data export/import capabilities, feature parity, and potential workflow changes.

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Beaver Notes vs SiYuan

Learn how Beaver Notes and SiYuan differ in their key features, development activity, technology stack and community adoption, so you can decide which of these note-taking tools is best for you.

Beaver Notes

A privacy-focused, offline-first note-taking app that stores everything on your device, with Markdown, note linking, file attachments, LaTeX math, and bring-your-own sync.

Visit Beaver Notes Read more

1,354stars+11(+0.8%)

Last 30 days

Last commit
7 days ago
Repository age
3 years
Version
4.4.0
License
MIT
Repository
beaver-notes

SiYuan

Personal knowledge management system with WYSIWYG block editing, bidirectional links, spaced repetition flashcards, a relational database, and end-to-end encrypted sync.

Visit SiYuan Read more

46,902stars+425(+0.9%)

Last 30 days

Last commit
11 hours ago
Repository age
6 years
Version
v3.8.8
License
AGPL-3.0
Self-hosted
Yes
Repository
siyuan-note/siyuan

Detailed Comparison

SiYuan appears to have several advantages over Beaver Notes, particularly in popularity, maturity and features. Consider your specific needs regarding popularity, growth, activity, technology, maturity, licensing and features when making your decision.

SiYuan wins

Community & Popularity

SiYuan significantly outpaces Beaver Notes in community adoption with 46,902 stars compared to 1,354 stars on GitHub. This 34.6x difference suggests SiYuan has a much larger and more active community. In terms of developer contributions, SiYuan has 3,085 forks, indicating strong developer engagement.

Comparable

Growth Momentum

Beaver Notes and SiYuan are moving at much the same rate, adding 11 stars and adding 425 stars respectively over the last 30 days (+0.8% vs +0.9%). Neither is pulling away from the other on momentum alone.

Comparable

Development Activity

Both projects show recent activity, with Beaver Notes last updated 7 days ago and SiYuan 11 hours ago.

Comparable

Technology Stack

Both tools share common technology foundations, being built with JavaScript, CSS, Typescript, SCSS. However, they differ in their additional technology choices: Beaver Notes uses JSX, Vue while SiYuan leverages Bash, Python, Golang.

SiYuan wins

Project Maturity

SiYuan has been in development longer, starting 6 years ago, compared to Beaver Notes which began 3 years ago. This 2.9-year head start suggests SiYuan may have more mature features and established processes.

Beaver Notes wins

Licensing

Beaver Notes uses the MIT license, which is more permissive than SiYuan's AGPL-3.0 license, potentially offering greater flexibility for commercial use and integration.

Comparable

Use Cases & Features

Both tools serve similar use cases in Note-Taking, Personal Knowledge Management (PKM). However, they also have distinct specializations: Beaver Notes also focuses on Secure & Encrypted Notes.

SiYuan wins

Hosting & Deployment

SiYuan provides self-hosting options for complete data control and customization, while Beaver Notes may be primarily cloud-based or require different deployment approaches.