Obsidian vs Willow
Obsidian and Willow are both personal productivity tools. Obsidian is aimed at freelancers and developers, while Willow is aimed at freelancers and small businesses. Obsidian costs less, from $5/mo versus $15/mo for Willow. Both have a free plan.
Local-first markdown knowledge base
AI voice dictation and writing agent that works in any app
| Pricing | Freemium · $5 | Freemium · $15 |
| Starting price | $5/mo | $15/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Freelancers, Developers, Creators | Freelancers, Small businesses, Enterprise, Creators |
| Platforms | macos, windows, linux, ios, android | macos, windows, ios |
| Country | CA · 2020 | US · 2025 |
| 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 Willow if
Professionals and developers who write a lot of email, chat messages and AI prompts on Mac, Windows or iPhone and want to speak instead of type.
- Works system-wide, so no per-app plugins are needed
- Cleans and formats text instead of producing raw transcripts
- Wally and style memory adapt drafts to email, Slack or prompts
Look elsewhere if: Android users or people who mainly want grammar and style polishing of text they type themselves (Grammarly, Wordtune).
Obsidian vs Willow 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
Willow
- Basic$0Frontier Mini dictation model, 20 Scribe uses per week
- Pro$15/moPer user; Frontier Pro model, unlimited Scribe; $12 billed annually
- Business$35/moEnforced zero data retention, HIPAA, admin; $28 billed annually
- EnterpriseCustomSSO/SAML, invoice billing, MSA and DPA, usage API
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
Willow · Key features
- Hotkey voice dictation into any text field on Mac, Windows and iPhone
- Automatic filler removal, punctuation and app-aware formatting
- 100+ languages with switching, plus whisper and offline modes
- Auto-learning dictionary for names, product terms and abbreviations
- Scribe drafts emails and replies from a spoken brief or rewrites highlighted text
- Wally chat agent that iterates on drafts and learns your style per app
Cons
- No Android app yet; it is listed as coming soon
- Free plan uses a weaker model and caps Scribe at 20 uses a week
- Enforced zero data retention and HIPAA require the $35 Business plan
Obsidian vs Willow: FAQ
Which is cheaper, Obsidian or Willow?
Obsidian starts at $5/mo and Willow at $15/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do Obsidian and Willow have a free plan?
Yes, both Obsidian and Willow have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Obsidian or Willow?
Willow lists small businesses as a core audience, while Obsidian is aimed more at freelancers and developers.