Introduction
Most personal knowledge management tools ask you to make a trade. Notion gives you polish and hands your notes to a SaaS. Obsidian gives you local files and asks you to bolt on sync yourself. Siyuan tries a third path: local-first storage, block-level linking, and end-to-end encrypted cloud sync for roughly the price of a coffee per year.
I spent time actually running it — desktop, Docker, and mobile — instead of skimming the marketing page. This review is what I'd want a builder to tell me before I moved a few thousand notes into yet another tool.
Key Features
Block-based editor
Siyuan is built around blocks, not pages. It ships with 20+ block element types plus inline elements, and every block has its own ID. That ID is what makes the rest of the system work — you can link to a specific paragraph, embed it in another document, and see backlinks resolve to the exact block instead of the whole page.
Bidirectional links and knowledge graph
Backlinks and a graph view are table stakes now, but the block-level granularity is where Siyuan pulls ahead. Linking a single line of a meeting note into a project doc is a first-class operation, not a workaround.
Database blocks
You get relational database blocks with rollups and templates. It is not Notion-parity, but it covers the common cases — tracking reading lists, projects, contacts — without leaving the app.
Spaced repetition with FSRS
Flashcards use the FSRS algorithm, which is the current best-in-class scheduler. If you already use Anki for study, you can consolidate: cards live next to the notes they came from.
AI integration
Siyuan talks to any OpenAI-compatible endpoint for writing, translation, and summarization. Bring your own key. This is honest — no fake "AI credits" loaded into the price — but it means you are on the hook for setup and billing.
End-to-end encrypted sync and self-hosting
Sync is E2E encrypted, so the sync server (theirs or yours) never sees plaintext. You can self-host the whole thing in Docker, and a mobile device can even act as a local server for other devices on your network.
Pricing Breakdown
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Full local use, block editor, bidirectional links, FSRS flashcards, Docker self-hosting. No cloud sync. |
| Subscription | ~$8/year | Everything in Free, plus end-to-end encrypted cloud sync across devices. |
Read that price again. Eight dollars a year for encrypted multi-device sync is aggressive — Obsidian Sync is $48/year for the base tier, Notion's paid plans start at $10/month per user. If you self-host, the whole thing is free forever with no feature gating on the local app.
Pros
- Genuinely local-first. Works fully offline; no service to go down.
- End-to-end encryption is real, not marketing. The server can't read your notes.
- Block-level linking is more powerful than page-level linking in most competitors.
- Handles very large documents (millions of characters) via dynamic loading without choking.
- Cloud sync at ~$8/year is priced well below every serious competitor.
Cons
- UI and documentation are Chinese-first. English translations exist but lag behind and can be rough in newer features.
- Steeper learning curve than Notion or Obsidian if you are coming in cold as an English speaker.
- Plugin and theme ecosystem is smaller than Obsidian's. You will find fewer third-party extensions.
- Mobile app is functional but less polished than the desktop client.
- AI features require your own OpenAI-compatible key. No built-in credits, and the setup is not one-click.
Who Is It For
Siyuan is the right tool if:
- You want your notes to live on your machine first and the cloud second (or never).
- You care enough about privacy that "E2E encrypted" is a hard requirement, not a nice-to-have.
- You are comfortable navigating a UI where some menu labels are still translated word-for-word.
- You do PKM seriously — daily notes, backlinks, spaced repetition — and want block-level control.
- You already have or want to run a small Docker service for self-hosting.
It is the wrong tool if you want out-of-the-box polish and a large community answering every question in English. In that case Obsidian or Notion will be less friction.
Verdict
Siyuan is one of the most capable local-first PKM tools shipping right now, and the pricing borders on absurd for what you get. The catch is real: the Chinese-first UX and documentation add friction that Obsidian and Notion don't have for English-speaking users. If you can absorb that friction, you get block-level linking, encrypted sync, self-hosting, and FSRS flashcards in a single app for less than $10/year.
Recommendation: if privacy and local-first are non-negotiable for you, install Siyuan and give it a real week — import a few hundred notes, set up sync, try the database blocks. If the translation gaps break you in that week, they will keep breaking you, and Obsidian is a fair fallback. If they don't, you have probably found your long-term PKM.
Rating: 7.5/10.