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Comparison · Collab
SiYuan vs Typst
A side-by-side editorial comparison of SiYuan and Typst — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
SiYuan vs Typst: at a glance
What is SiYuan?
SiYuan's 3.8 branch turns a local-first notebook into an agent-readable knowledge store.
SiYuan publishes near-daily alpha tags whose notes are cumulative, so each release restates the previous one's feature list and appends what is new. The 3.7.4 line was pure enhancement work — Android and HarmonyOS parity, export fidelity, Pandoc packaging, drag-and-drop and font handling. The 3.8.0 line, opened on 4 August, carries four genuinely new features that had no predecessor in 3.7.4: OIDC authentication, an AI Agent, semantic search via embeddings and reranking, and MCP support.
What is Typst?
Typst keeps widening past PDF — first accessibility, now HTML, MathML and multi-file output
Typst reached 0.15 in June, adding variable font support, MathML-backed HTML equation export, multiple bibliographies per document, simultaneous PDF standard targeting, and an experimental bundle export target that lets one project emit multiple files. The 0.14 line before it made accessible PDFs the default and covered the full PDF/A range. Patch releases since have been font and math regression fixes.
SiYuan vs Typst: editorial side-by-side
SiYuan
6.3COLLAB
SiYuan's 3.8 branch turns a local-first notebook into an agent-readable knowledge store.
◆ Current state
SiYuan publishes near-daily alpha tags whose notes are cumulative, so each release restates the previous one's feature list and appends what is new. The 3.7.4 line was pure enhancement work — Android and HarmonyOS parity, export fidelity, Pandoc packaging, drag-and-drop and font handling. The 3.8.0 line, opened on 4 August, carries four genuinely new features that had no predecessor in 3.7.4: OIDC authentication, an AI Agent, semantic search via embeddings and reranking, and MCP support.
◆ Where it's heading
The mobile and export grind continues underneath, but the branch cut is where the direction changed. Semantic search plus MCP means the vault becomes queryable by meaning and reachable by external agents, while OIDC is the first real answer for multi-user or organizational deployment — a notable turn for a product built around single-user local storage. The alpha.3 addition of LAN peer-assisted sync acceleration points the same way: sync is being optimized for several devices, or several people, on one network.
◆ Prediction
Expect the 3.8 alphas to keep layering onto the AI Agent and MCP surfaces — most likely which blocks or notebooks an agent may read, since OIDC arriving in the same release implies identity is about to gate access rather than just login.
Typst
2.5COLLAB
Typst keeps widening past PDF — first accessibility, now HTML, MathML and multi-file output
◆ Current state
Typst reached 0.15 in June, adding variable font support, MathML-backed HTML equation export, multiple bibliographies per document, simultaneous PDF standard targeting, and an experimental bundle export target that lets one project emit multiple files. The 0.14 line before it made accessible PDFs the default and covered the full PDF/A range. Patch releases since have been font and math regression fixes.
◆ Where it's heading
The through-line across both majors is output surface. Typst started as a typesetting system that produced a PDF; it now produces conformant, accessible, standard-tagged PDFs and is building a credible HTML path with real equation rendering and multi-page bundling. Each major has picked one output format and made it a first-class target rather than an export afterthought.
◆ Prediction
The bundle target is flagged experimental, so the next cycle most likely stabilises it and extends HTML export coverage rather than opening a third output format.
Alternatives to SiYuan and Typst
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 Typst.
Readarr
Six releases of small fixes and translations, then nothing since June 2025.
LibrePhotos
Five repos became one, and the authorization model got a public-safe user view.
Komga
A mature media server whose releases are format edge cases and Kobo plumbing.
Prowlarr
A steady indexer-maintenance cadence: fixes, definitions, translations, repeat.
noVNC
noVNC ships about once a year, and its betas and finals carry identical notes.
See all SiYuan alternatives → · See all Typst alternatives →
Recent activity from SiYuan and Typst
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 12h agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8.0-alpha.3 adds LAN peer-assisted sync acceleration
- 1d agoSiYuanSiYuan v3.8.0-alpha.2
- 1d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8 opens with AI Agent, semantic search, MCP, and OIDC ⚡
- 4d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.7.4-alpha.6: tab dragging, child docs, S Pen hover
- 5d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.7.4-alpha.5: database performance and mobile audio recording
- 5d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.7.4-alpha.4: S Pen popovers and export file handling
- 20d agoTypstVersion 0.15.1 (July 17, 2026)
- 1mo agoTypstTypst 0.15 adds MathML HTML export and multi-file bundles ⚡
- 1mo agoTypstVersion 0.15.0, Release Candidate 1 (June 9, 2026)
- 7mo agoTypstVersion 0.14.2 (December 12, 2025)
- 8mo agoTypstVersion 0.14.1 (December 3, 2025)
- 9mo agoTypstTypst 0.14 makes accessible, standards-conformant PDFs the default ⚡
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SiYuan and Typst?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. SiYuan is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), 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 Typst?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. SiYuan is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), 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 Typst?
Top Typst alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Typst alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/typst for the full list with editorial commentary on each.