Confluence vs Obsidian
Confluence and Obsidian are both note-taking & docs tools. Confluence is aimed at enterprise and developers, while Obsidian is aimed at freelancers and developers. Obsidian costs less, from $5/mo versus $7.15/mo for Confluence. Both have a free plan.
Team wiki tightly integrated with Jira
Local-first markdown knowledge base
| Pricing | Freemium · $7 | Freemium · $5 |
| Starting price | $7.15/mo | $5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | 14 days | — |
| Built for | Enterprise, Developers | Freelancers, Developers, Creators |
| Platforms | web, ios, android | macos, windows, linux, ios, android |
| Country | AU · 2004 | CA · 2020 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Confluence if
Organizations already standardized on Jira that need a governed knowledge base.
- Deep Jira integration and shared admin
- Mature permissions for large organizations
- Free for small teams up to 10 users
Look elsewhere if: Teams without Jira or those who value writing experience; Notion, Slite or Outline.
Choose Obsidian if
Individuals, researchers and writers who want ownership, longevity and deep customization.
- You own your files; works offline forever
- Free for personal and commercial use
- Unmatched extensibility through plugins
Look elsewhere if: Teams needing shared, collaborative documents or users who want a zero-setup tool.
Confluence vs Obsidian pricing
Confluence
- Free$0Up to 10 users, 2 GB storage, community support
- Standard$7.15/user/mo1-100 users monthly; tiered lower ($5.78 avg at 300); 250 GB
- Premium$14.10/user/mo1-100 users monthly ($11.16 avg at 300 users); 30-day trial
- EnterpriseCustom801+ users, advanced analytics, scale and security
Obsidian
- Free$0Full app, personal and commercial use
- Sync$5/user/mo$4 billed annually; E2E encrypted sync
- Publish$10/site/mo$8 billed annually; publish notes to web
- Catalyst$25One-time supporter license, early access
- Commercial$50/user/yearOptional license for organizations
Confluence · Key features
- Spaces, page trees and templates for specs, runbooks and meetings
- Live Jira issue embeds and requirement linking
- Whiteboards, databases and inline comments
- Rovo AI search, chat and writing
- Granular space and page permissions
- Marketplace apps for diagrams, forms and macros
Cons
- Editor and formatting can be frustrating
- Search quality is inconsistent
- Feels heavy compared with modern wikis
Obsidian · Key features
- Local Markdown files with bidirectional links and backlinks panel
- Graph view and Canvas for visual thinking
- Bases: database-style views over notes (2025)
- 2,000+ community plugins and themes
- End-to-end encrypted Sync and one-click Publish
- Daily notes, templates, search with operators, mobile apps
Cons
- No real-time collaboration
- Plugin quality varies; setup can rabbit-hole
- Sync and Publish are paid add-ons
Confluence vs Obsidian: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Confluence or Obsidian?
Obsidian starts at $5/mo and Confluence at $7.15/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Confluence and Obsidian have a free plan?
Yes, both Confluence and Obsidian have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.