Should I self-host Roam Research?
Roam still charges $15/mo for backlinked notes. SiYuan and Trilium (verified earlier here) both do blocks, backlinks and graph views locally, and your second brain stops having a landlord.
Roam's specific block-ref query syntax if your vault leans on it
Migration is an export-and-massage weekend, not a click
networked notes & backlinks · daily notes · block references · graph view
* Percent of the subscription price. Your time is priced at the slider's rate — $0/h ("my homelab time is free and I love it") is a legitimate position. Every number is derived from the record, never hand-written. Price source, checked 2026-08-06.
Runs comfortably on a Raspberry Pi.
Boot to healthy measured at 15s on the 2GB reference env
# SiYuan — local-first block-based notes with backlinks
services:
siyuan:
image: b3log/siyuan:latest
container_name: siyuan
restart: unless-stopped
command: ["serve", "--workspace=/siyuan/workspace/", "--accessAuthCode=changeme123"] # v3.7+ needs the serve subcommand
ports:
- "6806:6806"
volumes:
- siyuan-data:/siyuan/workspace
probe:
image: busybox:stable
network_mode: "service:siyuan"
depends_on:
- siyuan
command: sh -c 'while true; do sleep 30; done'
healthcheck:
test: ["CMD-SHELL", "nc -z localhost 6806 || exit 1"]
interval: 5s
timeout: 5s
retries: 40
start_period: 15s
volumes:
siyuan-data:
Want a guided install instead? caniselfhostit.com/roam-research has AI-agent prompts that assume a bare machine — that's their half of the stool, and it's good.
FULL TIMED LOG
# Roam Research — verdict log - **Date:** 2026-08-10 - **Verdict:** YES — worth it - **Protocol:** v1 (2GB reference env, Docker preinstalled, AI assistant: claude-code) ## Setup evidence - Compose: `compose/roam-research-siyuan.yml` - Boot to healthy: **15s** measured this session - Setup time recorded: 11 min (boot + configuration to first working workflow) ## What broke / notes - Boot to healthy measured at 15s on the 2GB reference env ## The call Roam still charges $15/mo for backlinked notes. SiYuan and Trilium (verified earlier here) both do blocks, backlinks and graph views locally, and your second brain stops having a landlord.