Obsidian vs Raycast
Obsidian and Raycast are both personal productivity tools. Obsidian is aimed at freelancers and developers, while Raycast is aimed at developers and freelancers. Obsidian costs less, from $5/mo versus $10/mo for Raycast. Both have a free plan.
| Pricing | Freemium · $5 | Freemium · $10 |
| Starting price | $5/mo | $10/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Freelancers, Developers, Creators | Developers, Freelancers |
| Platforms | macos, windows, linux, ios, android | macos, windows, ios |
| Country | CA · 2020 | GB · 2020 |
| Rating | — | — |
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.
Choose Raycast if
Mac power users and developers who live on the keyboard.
- Replaces several utilities in one hotkey
- Huge extension ecosystem
- Free tier covers most features
Look elsewhere if: Users content with Spotlight or who rarely use shortcuts.
Obsidian vs Raycast pricing
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
Raycast
- Free$0Launcher, extensions, clipboard history, snippets; no AI
- Pro$10/mo$96/yr; 500 AI credits/mo; team seat $15/user/mo
- Pro+$20/mo$192/yr; 3,000 AI credits/mo, advanced models
- Max$50/mo$480/yr; 7,500 AI credits/mo, advanced models
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
Raycast · Key features
- Launcher with fuzzy search and aliases
- Clipboard history, snippets and quicklinks
- Window management and system commands
- Extension store with 2,000+ integrations
- Raycast AI chat, commands and model selection
- Notes, focus sessions and cloud sync (Pro)
Cons
- Mac-first; Windows still maturing
- AI features require Pro
- Some extensions depend on third-party APIs
Obsidian vs Raycast: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Obsidian or Raycast?
Obsidian starts at $5/mo and Raycast at $10/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Obsidian and Raycast have a free plan?
Yes, both Obsidian and Raycast have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.