Craft vs Siyuan
Choose SiYuan when self-hosting, local data control, Markdown editing, and block-level knowledge linking matter more than an integrated planning suite. Stay with Craft when the primary workflow is turning notes into polished shared documents alongside calendars, tasks, reminders, daily notes, and whiteboards; those adjacent capabilities are not documented for SiYuan in the supplied sources.
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Siyuan if
- Individuals building a block-linked personal knowledge base
- Users requiring local-first access and user-controlled storage
- Organizations able to operate a Docker-hosted notes service themselvesizable access controls and persistent storage need careful configuration; hosted mobile and desktop clients cannot connect to the Docker deployment.
Stay with Craft if
- Calendar-based planning is required
- Tasks and reminders must live beside documents
- Daily-note or journal workflows are essentialconfigured or backed up by the operator. SiYuan is AGPL-3.0, and most features are free, although the README states that some features require paid membership. Desktop and app
Deployment and operations
SiYuan is AGPL-3.0 and available as desktop/mobile installation packages or through app stores. It can be self-hosted with the documented b3log/siyuan Docker image. Operators must mount the workspace persistently, configure an access authorization code or OIDC, manage file permissions, and perform upgrades. The Docker version is browser-only: desktop and mobile apps cannot connect to it, and server-side Markdown import or PDF, HTML, and Word export is unsupported.
Feature fit
What Siyuan covers
- Structured document editing
- Mobile apps on Android and iOS
- Reusable templates or snippets
- External API access
What’s different or missing
- No documented calendar planning
- No documented daily journal workflow
- No documented tasks or reminders
- No documented whiteboards
- No documented MCP connection
- No documented Craft importer
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 45,825
- Contributors
- 118
- Language
- TypeScript
- Last commit
- Aug 12, 2026
- Latest release
- Aug 15, 2026
Categories: Content Management Systems, AI Assistants, Business Intelligence, Data Integration, Document Collaboration, Knowledge Management, Note Taking, File Sync & Storage, Calendars & Scheduling, Task Management, Search Engines, Project Management, Digital Whiteboards
Sources and editorial review10 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
An open-source, privacy-first, self-hosted knowledge workspace where humans and AI agents work together
repository description · github.comSiYuan is a privacy-first personal knowledge management system, supporting fine-grained block-level reference and Markdown WYSIWYG.
readme · github.comBlock-level reference and two-way links; Markdown WYSIWYG; PDF, Word and HTML export; Template snippet; Android/iOS/HarmonyOS App; Docker deployment; API
readme · github.comThe easiest way to serve SiYuan on a server is to deploy it through Docker.
readme · github.comSiYuan is a privacy-first personal knowledge management system, supporting fine-grained block-level reference and Markdown WYSIWYG.
verdict · github.comAll content exists on a block basis, and documentation pages are no exception. Blocks can be converted to each other, splitting, reorganizing and moving do not affect existing links.
shared feature · b3log.orgThe easiest way to serve SiYuan on a server is to deploy it through Docker.
deployment · github.comBe sure to confirm the correctness of the mounted volume, otherwise the data will be lost after the container is deleted
deployment · github.comDoes not support desktop and mobile application connections, only supports use on browsers
deployment · github.com- Android/iOS/HarmonyOS App - Docker deployment - [API](https://github.com/siyuan-note/siyuan/blob/master/docs/API.md) - Community marketplace
shared feature · github.com
