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Comparison · Collab
SiYuan vs Contractbook
A side-by-side editorial comparison of SiYuan and Contractbook — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
SiYuan vs Contractbook: at a glance
| Feature | SiYuan | Contractbook |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Collab | Collab |
| Velocity score | 6.3 | 5.0 |
| Sparks · 30d | 1 | 0 |
| Top themes | note-taking, mcp, semantic-search, local-first | contract-automation, permissions, two-factor-auth, ai-extraction |
| Last editorial update | 2h ago | 5h ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
What is SiYuan?
SiYuan opened a 3.8 branch and put AI agents, embeddings search and MCP in the first alpha.
The 3.7.4 alpha series ran as pure enhancement work with cumulative notes — each alpha restates the previous list and adds a line or two — covering mobile and HarmonyOS parity, database view refinements, drag-and-drop polish, and sync performance. The first 3.8 alpha breaks that pattern with a Feature block: secure OIDC authentication, an AI Agent, semantic search using embeddings and reranking, and Model Context Protocol support.
What is Contractbook?
Contract automation grows up: admin permission maps, 2FA, and forms that do their own arithmetic.
Contractbook released a batch of six changes on a single day covering three areas at once. Administration gets a company-wide Spaces access page answering who can reach which space and with what permission, plus OTP two-factor authentication at login. Contract creation gets calculation fields in forms that compute totals and pro-rated amounts and insert them into the document automatically. The AI side gets a new extraction model and a dedicated place to manage AI upload contract types, with built-in defaults now editable per company.
SiYuan vs Contractbook: editorial side-by-side
SiYuan
6.3COLLAB
SiYuan opened a 3.8 branch and put AI agents, embeddings search and MCP in the first alpha.
◆ Current state
The 3.7.4 alpha series ran as pure enhancement work with cumulative notes — each alpha restates the previous list and adds a line or two — covering mobile and HarmonyOS parity, database view refinements, drag-and-drop polish, and sync performance. The first 3.8 alpha breaks that pattern with a Feature block: secure OIDC authentication, an AI Agent, semantic search using embeddings and reranking, and Model Context Protocol support.
◆ Where it's heading
Two years of this changelog have been editor and database ergonomics for a local-first note tool. The 3.8 opening moves the product into retrieval and agent territory in one step, and pairs it with OIDC — which suggests the target is shared or self-hosted deployments, not just single-user vaults. The mobile and HarmonyOS work continues underneath.
◆ Prediction
Expect the 3.8 alpha series to spend several releases stabilising the embedding and MCP surface, with the practical questions — which models, local or remote, and what leaves the vault — resolved in later alphas rather than this one.
Contractbook
5.0COLLAB
Contract automation grows up: admin permission maps, 2FA, and forms that do their own arithmetic.
◆ Current state
Contractbook released a batch of six changes on a single day covering three areas at once. Administration gets a company-wide Spaces access page answering who can reach which space and with what permission, plus OTP two-factor authentication at login. Contract creation gets calculation fields in forms that compute totals and pro-rated amounts and insert them into the document automatically. The AI side gets a new extraction model and a dedicated place to manage AI upload contract types, with built-in defaults now editable per company.
◆ Where it's heading
The pattern is a product being fitted for larger customers: the access-visibility page is gated to Accelerate and Enterprise plans, group-level company permissions landed earlier in the year, and 2FA closes the obvious procurement objection. Meanwhile the AI features are moving from fixed behaviour toward configurable behaviour — extraction types are now a company's own list rather than the vendor's. Calculations remove the last common reason to edit a generated .docx by hand.
◆ Prediction
The admin thread points toward more permission surface — audit trails or per-space delegation would follow naturally from a page that already explains where each permission comes from. Nothing in these entries indicates how much extraction accuracy actually improved.
Alternatives to SiYuan and Contractbook
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 SiYuan or Contractbook.
EGroupware
EGroupware is pushing its old branch off a cliff on 15 August, and sweetening the landing with passkeys.
Ethico
The whistleblower hotline vendor is assembling a compliance suite, one module at a time.
Tana
The knowledge graph quietly turned itself into a meetings product.
Miniflux
A minimal RSS reader that made passkeys the only way in, then went back to polishing the reading experience.
Shiori
A Go bookmark manager rebuilding itself around an API — and only ever shipping release candidates.
See all SiYuan alternatives → · See all Contractbook alternatives →
Recent activity from SiYuan and Contractbook
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2h agoSiYuanSiYuan v3.8.0-alpha.1 ⚡
- 1d agoContractbook🧮 Calculations in forms
- 1d agoContractbook🔑 OTP two-factor authentication
- 1d agoContractbook🖼️ AI upload: contract types
- 1d agoContractbook🗺️ Spaces access
- 1d agoContractbook🔎 Search results revamp
- 1d agoContractbook✨ AI extraction model upgrade
- 2d agoSiYuan3.7.4-alpha.6 adds tab dragging and child documents from selection
- 3d agoSiYuan3.7.4-alpha.5 adds S Pen hover and configurable tab startup
- 3d agoSiYuan3.7.4-alpha.4 improves Pandoc storage and mobile fonts
- 5d agoSiYuan3.7.4-alpha.3 improves sync performance and database toolbars
- 9d agoSiYuan3.7.4-alpha.2 improves opening rows from the relation selector
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SiYuan and Contractbook?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. SiYuan is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 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 SiYuan better than Contractbook?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. SiYuan is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 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 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.
What are the best alternatives to Contractbook?
Top Contractbook alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Contractbook alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/contractbook for the full list with editorial commentary on each.