SiYuan review

Block references and flashcards in an offline app

SiYuan is a block-based knowledge base where every block has an ID, so you can reference or embed any paragraph from anywhere and see backlinks both ways. It ships with a database (called attribute views), a built-in PDF annotator, flashcards with spaced repetition, and a document tree, and it runs entirely on your machine with no account.

Its pricing is the part that stands out. There is no subscription. You pay once for sync, or you never pay at all.

Built for offline setups and one-time payments

• People who want block-level references without paying a monthly fee for the privilege
• Offline-only setups, since nothing needs an account or a connection
• Self-hosters, thanks to an official Docker image that serves the app in a browser
• Anyone who wants flashcards and PDF annotation inside their note app rather than beside it

No subscription anywhere: $64 or $148, priced once

As of July 2026, the app is free for life with all basic functions, unlimited notebooks and blocks, and no account. The paid options are one-time purchases: PRO Features at $64 (listed down from $96) unlocks sync and backup through your own S3 or WebDAV storage, and the lifetime Subscription at $148 (listed down from $296) adds official sync and backup with 8 GB of cloud space, cloud asset hosting, and Cloud Inbox. SiYuan is upfront that 8 GB is a bandwidth-cost limit and points larger vaults toward third-party S3.

The limit is the format: JSON, not Markdown files

• Documentation and parts of the interface are translated from Chinese and read awkwardly in English, which slows down learning
• Data is stored as JSON rather than plain Markdown files, so portability is via export rather than by default
• The community is smaller and mostly Chinese-speaking, so English troubleshooting takes longer
• Sync in any form costs money, unlike Obsidian where a Dropbox folder works free
• The interface is dense. There are a lot of panels and features competing for attention on first launch

Good enough to learn, ranked below Obsidian anyway

SiYuan is a genuinely good tool that most English-speaking users have never heard of, and the one-time pricing is a real advantage over every subscription in this list. The JSON storage format and the translation rough edges are why we rank it below Obsidian and Logseq rather than above them. If you want block references, flashcards, and PDF annotation in one free offline app, it is worth the afternoon it takes to learn.