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Comparison · Collab
Guru vs SiYuan
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Guru and SiYuan — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Guru vs SiYuan: at a glance
What is Guru?
Guru's Knowledge Agents stop waiting for a schedule and start reacting to events.
Guru's Knowledge Agent Automations can now fire on events, such as a card being verified or a new call recording arriving from a connected source, not only on a timer. Admins also get an API-only log of every call made to Guru's MCP server, gated by a new permission, and the card editor gains superscript and subscript. This sits on October's governance work: DLP masking on typed input, per-agent chat retention and SCIM-filled profile attributes.
What is SiYuan?
SiYuan 3.8.11 alphas add freeform mind maps and plugin snapshots right after 3.8.10.
SiYuan pushed 3.8.10 through betas and release candidates between November 7 and 9, carrying workspace AI memory, database sub-items and a built-in Markdown editor. The 3.8.11 alphas followed within days: freeform mind map relationships with per-node connector styles, browsing and restoring plugin snapshots, excluding assets from cleanup, a built-in date picker and rich text in database primary keys. Alpha 4 adds search and replace in the standalone Markdown editor.
Guru vs SiYuan: editorial side-by-side
Guru
6.3COLLAB
Guru's Knowledge Agents stop waiting for a schedule and start reacting to events.
◆ Current state
Guru's Knowledge Agent Automations can now fire on events, such as a card being verified or a new call recording arriving from a connected source, not only on a timer. Admins also get an API-only log of every call made to Guru's MCP server, gated by a new permission, and the card editor gains superscript and subscript. This sits on October's governance work: DLP masking on typed input, per-agent chat retention and SCIM-filled profile attributes.
◆ Where it's heading
Guru is turning its knowledge base into something agents act on, and pairing each step of autonomy with an audit or control surface. Event triggers raise the stakes on that pairing, since Guru itself warns that one Automation's output can trigger another.
◆ Prediction
Expect controls for chained Automations, such as a view of which Automations trigger which, and an in-app screen for the MCP tool call log that is API-only today.
SiYuan
5.0COLLAB
SiYuan 3.8.11 alphas add freeform mind maps and plugin snapshots right after 3.8.10.
◆ Current state
SiYuan pushed 3.8.10 through betas and release candidates between November 7 and 9, carrying workspace AI memory, database sub-items and a built-in Markdown editor. The 3.8.11 alphas followed within days: freeform mind map relationships with per-node connector styles, browsing and restoring plugin snapshots, excluding assets from cleanup, a built-in date picker and rich text in database primary keys. Alpha 4 adds search and replace in the standalone Markdown editor.
◆ Where it's heading
SiYuan works in fast public cycles, with the next version's alphas starting as soon as the last one stabilises. 3.8.11 is about polish and editing depth: mind maps, databases and the new Markdown editor all get more control.
◆ Prediction
Expect more 3.8.11 alphas, then betas and release candidates with the same list, following the 3.8.10 pattern.
Alternatives to Guru 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 Guru or SiYuan.
Nextcloud
Nextcloud's November patches lean on preview speed and sharing fixes across three branches.
Mattermost
Mattermost v12.1 puts bots and burn-after-reading messages under the same access rules.
Asana
Asana lets Division admins run their own custom roles, on top Enterprise plans only.
Double
Double turns a recorded Chrome session into an agent that repeats the task.
Hive
Hive turns reporting into a planning tool: shared inputs, grouped values, per-person drill-downs.
Recent activity from Guru and SiYuan
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 17h agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8.11 alpha 4 adds search and replace to Markdown editor
- 1d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8.11 alpha: freeform mind maps, plugin snapshots
- 4d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8.10 RC5: related database views, better LAN sync
- 4d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8.10 RC3: AI memory, database sub-items near stable
- 4d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8.10 release candidate 2
- 5d agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8.10 release candidate 1
- 7d agoGuruAutomations Can Now Run on Source and Card Events ⚡
- 7d agoGuruMCP Tool Call Logs
- 7d agoGuruSuperscript and Subscript in the Card Editor
- 10d agoGuruOctober Release Roundup Video
- 14d agoGuruRename Sources and Folders or Drives
- 14d agoGuruKnowledge Agents Can Now Return the Records Behind the Numbers
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Guru and SiYuan?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Guru 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 Guru better than SiYuan?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Guru 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 Guru?
Top Guru alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Guru alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/guru 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.