Teable
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Comparison · Collab
Excalidraw vs SiYuan
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Excalidraw and SiYuan — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Excalidraw vs SiYuan: at a glance
What is Excalidraw?
Excalidraw's package went ESM-only in 0.18 — a big release, then 16 months of silence on this feed.
This feed tracks the embeddable @excalidraw/excalidraw package rather than the hosted app, so every entry is a library release aimed at developers integrating the canvas. Version 0.18.0 in March 2025 was the large one: command palette, multiplayer undo and redo, flowcharts, elbow arrows, scene search, image cropping, element linking, CJK fonts, and a move from UMD to ES modules that broke existing consumers. Earlier releases are smaller, mostly programmatic API surface and rendering fixes. Nothing has been captured since.
What is SiYuan?
SiYuan's v3.8.0 train restates one AI feature set across seven consecutive builds.
SiYuan is deep in a v3.8.0 preview train — four alphas and three betas since August 1 — and every build republishes the same four headline features: an AI Agent, semantic search over AI embeddings with reranking, Model Context Protocol support, and OIDC authentication. Two pairs of these builds carry byte-identical published notes, so the per-build delta is not visible from the feed at all. What does vary is a long enhancement list covering sync, mobile platforms and database views.
Excalidraw vs SiYuan: editorial side-by-side
Excalidraw
0.0COLLAB
Excalidraw's package went ESM-only in 0.18 — a big release, then 16 months of silence on this feed.
◆ Current state
This feed tracks the embeddable @excalidraw/excalidraw package rather than the hosted app, so every entry is a library release aimed at developers integrating the canvas. Version 0.18.0 in March 2025 was the large one: command palette, multiplayer undo and redo, flowcharts, elbow arrows, scene search, image cropping, element linking, CJK fonts, and a move from UMD to ES modules that broke existing consumers. Earlier releases are smaller, mostly programmatic API surface and rendering fixes. Nothing has been captured since.
◆ Where it's heading
The package's direction has been to expose more of the editor to host applications — API subscribers, programmatic element creation, viewport control, sidebar tabs — so Excalidraw can be embedded as a component rather than only used as a site. The ESM transition fits that: tree-shakable output matters to the teams shipping it inside their own products. With no releases captured in over a year, this source no longer says anything about current activity, which more likely reflects the crawl target than the project.
◆ Prediction
Insufficient data for a forward call from this feed: the last captured release predates the window by more than a year, so any prediction would be about the package's dormancy rather than Excalidraw's actual roadmap.
SiYuan
6.3COLLAB
SiYuan's v3.8.0 train restates one AI feature set across seven consecutive builds.
◆ Current state
SiYuan is deep in a v3.8.0 preview train — four alphas and three betas since August 1 — and every build republishes the same four headline features: an AI Agent, semantic search over AI embeddings with reranking, Model Context Protocol support, and OIDC authentication. Two pairs of these builds carry byte-identical published notes, so the per-build delta is not visible from the feed at all. What does vary is a long enhancement list covering sync, mobile platforms and database views.
◆ Where it's heading
The release notes are cumulative rather than incremental, which makes the train read as a single release delivered in installments. Beneath the repeated feature banner the actual work is platform breadth: LAN peer-assisted acceleration for cloud sync, audio recording on Android and HarmonyOS, custom font import on mobile, and configurable Stable, Beta and Alpha update channels. Reaching beta.3 within ten days of the first alpha says the train is converging.
◆ Prediction
A v3.8.0 stable release looks close given the move from first alpha to third beta inside ten days. The update-channel setting arriving in this same cycle suggests the project intends to keep running parallel preview streams once it ships.
Alternatives to Excalidraw and SiYuan
Other Collab products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Excalidraw or SiYuan.
GitHub
Copilot's model roster churns weekly while GitHub quietly rewires policy and billing plumbing
Hive
Governance and cross-workspace plumbing, not new AI surface
AFFiNE
A nightly canary train where the AI platform work hides between dependency bumps
Flame
Self-hosted dashboard that finished its feature arc and stopped shipping in 2023.
CommaFeed
A self-hosted RSS reader that now spends most of its release notes on security.
See all Excalidraw alternatives → · See all SiYuan alternatives →
Recent activity from Excalidraw and SiYuan
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoSiYuanThird v3.8.0 beta restating the AI Agent and MCP feature set
- 3d agoSiYuanSecond v3.8.0 beta, cumulative notes restated
- 3d agoSiYuanFirst v3.8.0 beta, notes identical to alpha.4
- 4d agoSiYuanFourth v3.8.0 alpha, notes identical to beta.1
- 6d agoSiYuanThird v3.8.0 alpha carries the database view work
- 7d agoSiYuanSecond v3.8.0 alpha, cumulative notes restated
- 1y agoExcalidrawExcalidraw 0.18 drops UMD for ESM and adds flowcharts ⚡
- 1y agoExcalidrawDuplicate capture of the 0.18.0 release
- 2y agoExcalidrawPatch release fixes UMD build and arrow label bounds
- 2y agoExcalidrawDuplicate capture of the 0.17.3 patch
- 2y agoExcalidrawRelease 0.17 expands the programmatic canvas API
- 2y agoExcalidrawDuplicate capture of the 0.17 release
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Excalidraw and SiYuan?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. SiYuan is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Excalidraw better than SiYuan?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. SiYuan is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Collab products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Excalidraw?
Top Excalidraw alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Excalidraw alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/excalidraw for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to SiYuan?
Top SiYuan alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "SiYuan alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/siyuan for the full list with editorial commentary on each.