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Roam Research vs SiYuan: catalog facts
Roam Research	SiYuan
Paid Paid subscription; current plans are listed on the Roam Research site.	Freemium Most features are free, including for commercial use. The official cloud sync and assets…
Web	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Self-hosted
Linked notes for building a graph of ideas Outline-style writing that feels like a bulleted list	Block-level references and two-way links with custom attributes SQL queries embedded inside notes for building your own views
Little detail is published on the homepage Proprietary with no open-source version	Notes live in the app's own store rather than plain files in a folder The interface has a lot of concepts to learn at once
Web application, Hosted service	Downloadable app, Self-hosted
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: AGPL-3.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.