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SiYuan vs flatnotes: catalog facts
SiYuan	flatnotes
Freemium Most features are free, including for commercial use. The official cloud sync and assets…	Free Free to self-host from the public GitHub repository.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Self-hosted	Web, Self-hosted
Block-level references and two-way links with custom attributes SQL queries embedded inside notes for building your own views	No database; notes are plain Markdown files Flat folder storage is easy to back up or sync
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	Requires running your own server Flat folder structure offers little hierarchy for large collections
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: AGPL-3.0	License not stated
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026

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