# SiYuan vs HomeLab Watcher

The clearest difference is rating: HomeLab Watcher at 5.0 against SiYuan's 3.9. SiYuan's advantage is ratings volume (30 vs 2). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. SiYuan sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and HomeLab Watcher sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

HomeLab Watcher holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: SiYuan has 30 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

SiYuan ships an update weekly, HomeLab Watcher every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SiYuan | HomeLab Watcher |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.9 (30 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/siyuan/id1583226508/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/homelab-watcher/id6795194546/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **30** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Weekly | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 434 MB | 15 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Yunnan Liandi Technology Co., Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1583226510) | [YANCY SHEPHERD](https://appshunter.io/developer/1845759346) |

## What reviewers say

### SiYuan

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/siyuan/id1583226508)

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.

**Highlights:** Privacy-first design, Offline data storage, End-to-end encrypted sync, Block-based organization, Outline structuring, Bidirectional linking

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| PRO Features | $79.99 | one-time |
| Subscription | $188.99 | one-time |


### HomeLab Watcher

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/homelab-watcher/id6795194546)

Monitor the health of your homelab resources with a private, one-glance dashboard. View HTTP services, Beszel machines, and Proxmox VE nodes, with customizable widgets for your home and lock screens. All data and configuration remain on your device.

**Highlights:** Unified dashboard for HTTP, Beszel, and Proxmox VE, Real-time status and observation age, Home Screen, Lock Screen, and interactive widgets, Direct refresh from iPhone, Private by design: no accounts, cloud, or analytics, Read-only status checks

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Apple Watch app

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| HomeLab Watcher Lifetime | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SiYuan free?

SiYuan is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is HomeLab Watcher free?

HomeLab Watcher is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, SiYuan or HomeLab Watcher?

HomeLab Watcher is rated higher. SiYuan averages 3.9 out of 5 from 30 ratings, while HomeLab Watcher averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do SiYuan or HomeLab Watcher have ads?

Neither SiYuan nor HomeLab Watcher shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SiYuan or HomeLab Watcher?

SiYuan ships an update weekly, and HomeLab Watcher every 5 days. Most recently, SiYuan was updated on October 24, 2026 and HomeLab Watcher on October 25, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*