Display vs Obsidian
Display and Obsidian are both personal productivity tools. Display is aimed at developers and small businesses, while Obsidian is aimed at freelancers and developers. Obsidian costs less, from $5/mo versus $12/mo for Display. Both have a free plan.
Shared workspace where AI agents publish docs, prototypes and apps
Local-first markdown knowledge base
| Pricing | Freemium · $12 | Freemium · $5 |
| Starting price | $12/mo | $5/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Developers, Small businesses, Enterprise, Freelancers | Freelancers, Developers, Creators |
| Platforms | web | macos, windows, linux, ios, android |
| Country | EE | CA · 2020 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Display if
Product and engineering teams that already generate HTML docs and prototypes with coding agents and want one private place to share, review and version them.
- Works with any agent, so Claude and Codex users can edit the same doc
- Unlimited free viewers and commenters on every plan
- Flat Team price covers up to 150 editors
Look elsewhere if: Teams that mainly need a classic wiki or office-file storage with mature compliance paperwork (Confluence, Google Drive).
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.
Display vs Obsidian pricing
Display
- Free$01 editor, 3 gated docs, 50 MB, unlimited viewers
- Solo$12/mo1 editor, 5 GB, version history; $9/mo billed yearly
- Team$79/moUp to 150 editors, 100 GB, Shared Spaces; $59/mo yearly
- Business$265/mo1 TB, 365-day audit logs, sharing controls; $199/mo yearly
- EnterpriseCustom150+ editors, SAML SSO, signed DPA, SLA, custom storage
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
Display · Key features
- Publish agent-made HTML and Markdown docs to stable private URLs
- MCP server, CLI and Claude connector for agents such as Codex and Cursor
- Version on every publish, with restore on Solo and higher plans
- Line-level comments that agents can read and resolve
- In-browser editing for people with edit access
- Spaces and folders for docs, images, PDFs and data files
Cons
- No SOC 2 report yet, per the vendor's security page
- SAML single sign-on only on the custom Enterprise plan
- Version history and folders require at least the paid Solo plan
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
Display vs Obsidian: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Display or Obsidian?
Obsidian starts at $5/mo and Display at $12/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Display and Obsidian have a free plan?
Yes, both Display and Obsidian have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Display or Obsidian?
Display lists small businesses as a core audience, while Obsidian is aimed more at freelancers and developers.