SiYuan vs Databag
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SiYuan
A privacy-focused personal knowledge management system that allows offline use and encrypted data synchronization. It combines blocks, outlines, and bidirectional links to help users organize and refine their thoughts.
- Privacy-first design
- Offline data storage
- End-to-end encrypted sync
- Block-based organization
- Outline structuring
- Bidirectional linking
Read full descriptionHide full description
SiYuan is a privacy-first personal knowledge management system that supports complete offline use, as well as end-to-end encrypted data sync. Fuse blocks, outlines, and bidirectional links to refactor your thinking.
Databag
This self-hosted messaging service offers decentralized and federated communication with end-to-end encryption. Organize conversations by topic and enjoy low latency with mobile alerts for new messages and calls.
- Decentralized communication
- Federated accounts
- End-to-end encryption
- Topic-based threads
- Audio and video calls
- Mobile alerts
Read full descriptionHide full description
Databag is a selfhosted messaging service. Notable features include: - Decentralized (direct communication between app and server node) - Federated (accounts on different nodes can communicate) - Public-Private key based identity (not bound to any blockchain or hosting domain) - End-to-End encryption (the hosting admin cannot view sealed topics, default unsealed) - Audio and Video Calls (nat traversal requires separate relay server) - Topic based threads (messages organized by topic not contacts) - Lightweight (server can run on a raspberry pi zero v1.3) - Low latency (use of websockets for push events to avoid polling) - Unlimited accounts per node (host for your whole family) - Mobile alerts for new contacts, messages, and calls (supports APN)
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Databag at 5.0 against SiYuan's 4.0. Databag also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (100% vs 70%). SiYuan's advantage is ratings volume (29 vs 1) and update cadence (weekly vs fortnightly). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. SiYuan sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Databag asks for nothing beyond the download.
Databag holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SiYuan has 29 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of SiYuan's written reviews are positive against 100% of Databag's.
SiYuan ships an update weekly, Databag fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SiYuan | Databag |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (29 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 29 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 13.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 419 MB | 45 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Yunnan Liandi Technology Co., Ltd. | Roland Osborne |
Customer experience
SiYuan
Databag
In-app purchases
SiYuan
- PRO Features$79.99
- Subscription$188.99
Databag
No in-app purchases
