46,600 stars · AGPL-3.0 at master/LICENSE, verbatim unmodified v3 text with no added clauses, AND NO PROJECT COPYRIGHT HOLDER: the only copyright line is the Free Software Foundation's own, and the 'Copyright (C) <year> <name of author>' template at the end is unfilled. · v3.8.6, '29 Sep 01:39' with no year, settled as 29 September 2026 TWICE — by the ungh releases/latest record and by Docker Hub (b3log/siyuan tag v3.8.6, last_updated 2026-09-29T02:52Z). Pre-release builds v3.8.7-alpha.2/3/4 on 1, 3 and 4 October 2026. · Track this in Scout
A block-based notebook that keeps every note as a file in a workspace folder you own, with links between blocks and search across all of them.
▶Repo detailsthe review · specs · pros & cons · install
What it is
A block-based note application. Block-based means each paragraph is a thing you can link to, move or reuse on its own, not just text in a page. It stores a workspace folder you can back up, copy or read with any other program.
What it is good for. Anyone who has lost notes to a service closing, or who simply wants the file on their own disk. It is the self-hosted answer to the well-known paid notebooks, and the block linking makes it genuinely different from a folder of text files.
- 19 open issues and 3 open pull requests — an unusually small backlog for a project of this size.
- Ready-made installers for Windows, macOS and Linux, so no building is involved.
- Version 3.8.6 of 29 September 2026, with pre-release builds on 1, 3 and 4 October. It is moving fast.
- Keeping two devices in step is a paid feature. The project lists a one-time charge of 64 US dollars for syncing through storage you supply, and 148 US dollars for its own cloud service with 8 GB. The README's line that most features are free for commercial use does not mention that the one most people want is not.
- AGPL-3.0, and the licence file names no copyright holder beyond the Free Software Foundation's own line. Running a modified copy as a service for others brings real obligations.
- No memory, disk or processor figure is published anywhere. Building from source needs two separate toolchains and a manual step to fetch Electron 42.9.2 by hand, so for most people the installer or the container is the only sensible route.
- logseq/logseq
The same block-linked idea over plain Markdown files, and more popular; its README currently warns that the newer database version is in beta and that data loss is possible.
Track this in Scout - TriliumNext/Trilium
A long-established notebook with a deep tree and scripting, now maintained by the community after a handover from its original author.
Track this in Scout - AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy
The closest thing to the shape of the well-known paid notebooks, with databases and boards as well as notes.
Track this in Scout
# Easiest: download the installer for your system from # https://github.com/siyuan-note/siyuan/releases/latest # Or run it as a server you reach in a browser: docker run -d -v /siyuan/workspace:/siyuan/workspace -p 6806:6806 \ -e PUID=1001 -e PGID=1002 \ b3log/siyuan serve --workspace=/siyuan/workspace/ \ --accessAuthCode=CHOOSE-A-LONG-PASSWORD
