SiYuan

Privacy-first, self-hostable knowledge workspace with block-level references

What SiYuan does

  • Privacy-first, self-hostable knowledge workspace with block-level references
  • Built-in AI assistant using your OpenAI-compatible API
  • Free and open source, developed in China with English UI
  • Desktop, mobile and Docker

SiYuan — straight answers

What is SiYuan?

SiYuan is listed under AI Note-Taking & Docs, in the Productivity & Workflow category on Flocci AI Tools. Privacy-first, self-hostable knowledge workspace with block-level references. It is free, with no paid plan attached, and it lives at b3log.org.

Is SiYuan free?

SiYuan is listed as fully free — there is no paid tier attached to it in the catalog. That makes it one of the 399 entries on Flocci AI Tools with no upgrade path built in.

What can SiYuan do?

SiYuan does 4 things the catalog singles out: Privacy-first, self-hostable knowledge workspace with block-level references; built-in ai assistant using your openai-compatible api; free and open source, developed in china with english ui; desktop, mobile and docker.

What is the best free alternative to SiYuan?

AFFiNE is the closest free alternative: it sits in the same AI Note-Taking & Docs sub-category and is free. Blinko, Google AI Edge Eloquent and Karakeep also start free. The full list is on the alternatives page.

See the full list →

SiYuan alternatives

Compare all alternatives →

Notion AI

AI Note-Taking & Docs
freemiumLeaving soon
  • AI across docs, wikis, databases and projects
  • Cross-document Q&A and writing
  • Connectors to Slack, Drive and more
  • Free personal plan

Mem

AI Note-Taking & Docs
freemium
  • Self-organizing, AI-first notes
  • Auto-tagging and smart search
  • Chat with your knowledge base
  • Free tier

Coda AI

AI Note-Taking & Docs
freemium
  • Docs that combine text, tables and apps
  • AI to summarize, draft and automate
  • Coda Brain across your workspace
  • Free plan available

Obsidian

AI Note-Taking & Docs
freemium
  • Local-first markdown knowledge base
  • Rich AI plugin ecosystem
  • Graph view and backlinks
  • Free for personal use

Craft

AI Note-Taking & Docs
freemium
  • Beautiful native-feel docs with whiteboards, tasks, calendar in one app
  • AI assistant with Core/Fast/Max model tiers
  • Deep integrations with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor

Capacities

AI Note-Taking & Docs
freemium
  • Object-based (not page-based) note model with typed content
  • Core product free forever per vendor policy
  • AI assistant, smart queries, calendar integration on Pro

Head-to-head comparisons