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Comparison · Collab

Jellyfin vs SiYuan

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Jellyfin and SiYuan — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Jellyfin vs SiYuan: at a glance

FeatureJellyfinSiYuan
SectorCollabCollab
Velocity score5.06.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesrelease-candidate, performance, backend-rewrite, versioningknowledge-management, ai-agent, mcp, cross-platform
Last editorial update7d ago59m ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Jellyfin?

Jellyfin renumbers to 12.0 and spends the whole cycle paying down its backend rewrite.

Jellyfin is deep in a 12.0 release-candidate train — five RCs since late June — that exists almost entirely to stabilize the backend rewrite shipped in 10.11.0. The project also renumbered along the way: 10.11.x becomes 12.x, dropping a leading "10." that had made every release read as minor. The outgoing 10.11.x stable line is still getting fixes, but 10.11.11 is down to a single locking change.

Read the full Jellyfin trajectory →

What is SiYuan?

SiYuan stabilises 3.8.1 after a seven-build beta run, all of it widening the agent surface it opened in 3.8.0

SiYuan has just cut 3.8.1 stable, the endpoint of a beta chain that ran six builds in five days. The release groups into three areas: AI integration work - custom editor actions syncing across devices, an Agent panel shortcut, user-level skills read from a shared agents directory, nested rerank API formats and OpenAI Responses API support; editing and database throughput, including virtualised grouped-table rendering and faster document loading; and cross-platform reliability covering HEIF/HEIC previews, PDF export and mobile behaviour. A batch of MCP and publishing-service fixes rounds it out.

Read the full SiYuan trajectory →

Jellyfin vs SiYuan: editorial side-by-side

J
Jellyfin
COLLAB
5.0

Jellyfin renumbers to 12.0 and spends the whole cycle paying down its backend rewrite.

◆ Current state

Jellyfin is deep in a 12.0 release-candidate train — five RCs since late June — that exists almost entirely to stabilize the backend rewrite shipped in 10.11.0. The project also renumbered along the way: 10.11.x becomes 12.x, dropping a leading "10." that had made every release read as minor. The outgoing 10.11.x stable line is still getting fixes, but 10.11.11 is down to a single locking change.

◆ Where it's heading

The RC rounds are getting narrower as the train converges. RC1 was a cumulative dump covering the move to .NET 10, removal of legacy API route middleware and deprecated API members, and an HLS transcode seeking refactor; RC5 is batched database lookups and a fix for image endpoints upscaling past the source resolution. The 10.11.x branch is now being maintained mainly as an upgrade floor — 12.0 refuses to install on anything older than 10.10.7 and runs a multi-minute migration on first boot.

◆ Prediction

With RC5 down to query batching and individual endpoint fixes, a 12.0 final looks near — likely one or two more RCs at most. The plugin story is the loose end: the RCs still tell testers to disable external plugins and reinstall from the unstable repository, and that has to resolve before a general release.

S
SiYuan
COLLAB
6.3

SiYuan stabilises 3.8.1 after a seven-build beta run, all of it widening the agent surface it opened in 3.8.0

◆ Current state

SiYuan has just cut 3.8.1 stable, the endpoint of a beta chain that ran six builds in five days. The release groups into three areas: AI integration work - custom editor actions syncing across devices, an Agent panel shortcut, user-level skills read from a shared agents directory, nested rerank API formats and OpenAI Responses API support; editing and database throughput, including virtualised grouped-table rendering and faster document loading; and cross-platform reliability covering HEIF/HEIC previews, PDF export and mobile behaviour. A batch of MCP and publishing-service fixes rounds it out.

◆ Where it's heading

This is consolidation of the surface 3.8.0 opened, not an extension of it. The agent, semantic search and MCP endpoint arrived in the 3.8.0 line; 3.8.1 makes them portable and pluggable - skills come from a directory the user controls, editor actions follow the user between devices, and the provider layer now speaks the OpenAI Responses API rather than one bespoke shape. The high beta count against a modest final diff shows a project stabilising a young subsystem rather than building a new one.

◆ Prediction

The next line most likely pushes on the skills directory - discovery, sharing or marketplace distribution of user-level skills - since that is the piece 3.8.1 made user-editable without giving it a distribution path.

Alternatives to Jellyfin 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 Jellyfin or SiYuan.

See all Jellyfin alternatives → · See all SiYuan alternatives →

Recent activity from Jellyfin and SiYuan

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 22h agoSiYuanSiYuan 3.8.1 stabilises the agent, skills and Responses API work
  2. 2d agoSiYuanSlash menu items become configurable; table column widths distribute evenly
  3. 2d agoSiYuanTable headers left-align by default; double-click closes tabs
  4. 3d agoSiYuanUser-level agent skills and virtualized grouped-table rendering
  5. 3d agoSiYuanAI features move to the OpenAI Responses API
  6. 4d agoSiYuanAgent panel gains a shortcut; blockquote input fixed
  7. 8d agoJellyfin12.0 RC5: SQLite cache and batched lookups cut query load
  8. 16d agoJellyfin12.0 RC4: MP4 track detection and SyncPlay queue fixes
  9. 28d agoJellyfin12.0 RC3 reworks bitrate reporting, speeds book collections
  10. 1mo agoJellyfin12.0 RC2 revamps the startup UI, defers heavy DB tasks in scans
  11. 1mo agoJellyfinJellyfin drops the '10.' prefix and opens 12.0 on .NET 10
  12. 2mo agoJellyfin10.11.11 adds a UserManager lock helper

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Jellyfin and SiYuan?

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 0 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 Jellyfin better than SiYuan?

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 0 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 Jellyfin?

Top Jellyfin alternatives in Collab are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Jellyfin alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/jellyfin 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.