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SiYuan vs Obsidian: catalog facts
SiYuan	Obsidian
Freemium Most features are free, including for commercial use. The official cloud sync and assets…	Free Free for everyone, including commercial use, in the vendor’s own words. Obsidian Sync and…
Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Self-hosted	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Browser extension
Block-level references and two-way links with custom attributes SQL queries embedded inside notes for building your own views	Notes are plain Markdown files in a folder you control, readable without the app Linking, backlinks, tags, graph view and fast search across the vault
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	The application is not open source, only the plugin ecosystem and the releases repository Syncing between devices means paying for Obsidian Sync or wiring up your own sync tool
Downloadable app, Self-hosted	Downloadable app, Browser extension
Open source	Closed source
License: AGPL-3.0	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 20, 2026

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