--- title: My favorite Obsidian alternative isn't Logseq or Joplin,... description: SiYuan is presented as a compelling Obsidian alternative that uses a block-based approach where every paragraph, heading, and list item gets its own unique ID,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/my-favorite-obsidian-alternative-isn-t-logseq-or-joplin-it-s-a-block-based-app-that-s-actually-more-lnse8etzt twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: My favorite Obsidian alternative isn't Logseq or Joplin, it's a block-based app that's actually more private | daily.dev og:description: SiYuan is presented as a compelling Obsidian alternative that uses a block-based approach where every paragraph, heading, and list item gets its own unique ID,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/my-favorite-obsidian-alternative-isn-t-logseq-or-joplin-it-s-a-block-based-app-that-s-actually-more-lnse8etzt og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/LNse8eTzT.png og:image:alt: My favorite Obsidian alternative isn't Logseq or Joplin, it's a block-based app that's actually more private og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # My favorite Obsidian alternative isn't Logseq or Joplin, it's a block-based app that's actually more private **[XDA Developers](https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary SiYuan is presented as a compelling Obsidian alternative that uses a block-based approach where every paragraph, heading, and list item gets its own unique ID, enabling precise cross-document block references without duplicating content. Unlike Logseq's outline-first model, SiYuan supports traditional long-form writing while retaining block flexibility. It ships with backlinks, graph view, document history, templates, and daily notes built in — reducing plugin dependency. For privacy-conscious users, SiYuan stores data locally and offers an official Docker image for self-hosting, making it easy to run on personal hardware and access via browser. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Logseq's outliner approach eliminated the note-taking chaos I created in every other app](https://daily.dev/posts/logseq-s-outliner-approach-eliminated-the-note-taking-chaos-i-created-in-every-other-app-umb6aj77f) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Logseq vs Obsidian: Notes, Markdown, Sync, Plugins and Workflow Compared](https://daily.dev/posts/logseq-vs-obsidian-notes-markdown-sync-plugins-and-workflow-compared-ro77jgfco) · It's Foss · 4 upvotes · 0 comments - [Please stop overcomplicating your notes — these lightweight apps do everything Obsidian does](https://daily.dev/posts/please-stop-overcomplicating-your-notes-these-lightweight-apps-do-everything-obsidian-does-ynfhllcvh) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Introduction to Obsidian](https://daily.dev/posts/introduction-to-obsidian-ceake8lug) · Hacker News · 2 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#productivity](https://daily.dev/tags/productivity), [#self-hosting](https://daily.dev/tags/self-hosting) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/my-favorite-obsidian-alternative-isn-t-logseq-or-joplin-it-s-a-block-based-app-that-s-actually-more-lnse8etzt) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"My favorite Obsidian alternative isn't Logseq or Joplin, it's a block-based app that's actually more private","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/my-favorite-obsidian-alternative-isn-t-logseq-or-joplin-it-s-a-block-based-app-that-s-actually-more-lnse8etzt","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/my-favorite-obsidian-alternative-isn-t-logseq-or-joplin-it-s-a-block-based-app-that-s-actually-more-lnse8etzt"},"datePublished":"2026-07-16T22:00:40.688Z","dateModified":"2026-07-16T22:01:03.200Z","description":"SiYuan is presented as a compelling Obsidian alternative that uses a block-based approach where every paragraph, heading, and list item gets its own unique ID,...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/fc95d29949ce4ea6540612cfa290144a?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/fc95d29949ce4ea6540612cfa290144a?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"XDA Developers","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"XDA Developers","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--kCg6yyAP--/f_auto,q_auto/v1774964407/logos/xda-developers?_a=BAMAMiWQ0","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/my-favorite-obsidian-alternative-isn-t-logseq-or-joplin-it-s-a-block-based-app-that-s-actually-more-lnse8etzt","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":0},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"productivity,self-hosting","timeRequired":"PT4M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"XDA Developers","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/xda-developers"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"My favorite Obsidian alternative isn't Logseq or Joplin, it's a block-based app that's actually more private"}]} ```