Obsidian is a Note-taking & docs tool: Local-first markdown knowledge base.

How much does Obsidian cost?

Obsidian uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $5 per month.

What are the best alternatives to Obsidian?

Community-listed alternatives to Obsidian include Evernote, Logseq, Microsoft OneNote, Display.

What does Obsidian integrate with?

Obsidian integrates with Obsidian Sync, Obsidian Publish, Git (plugin), Readwise, Zotero (plugin), Todoist (plugin) and more.

Which platforms does Obsidian support?

Obsidian is available on macos, windows, linux, ios, android.

Obsidian

Local-first markdown knowledge base

Freemium · $5Personal productivity Note-taking & docs

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Obsidian is a note-taking & docs tool for Freelancers and Developers, offered as freemium ($5/mo). Based in Canada, founded in 2020. Popular alternatives include Evernote, Logseq, Microsoft OneNote.

About Obsidian

Obsidian is a local-first knowledge base and note-taking app made by Dynalist Inc., launched in 2020 by Shida Li and Erica Xu. Notes are plain Markdown files in a folder on your own device, linked with wikilinks and shown as a graph, so your notes stay readable by any text editor and nothing reaches Obsidian's servers unless you choose its paid services.

The core app includes backlinks, a graph view, Canvas for visual boards, daily notes, templates, powerful search, Bases for database-style views over notes, and apps for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android. A community ecosystem of more than 2,000 plugins and many themes adds task management, calendars, spaced repetition, Dataview queries, Zotero integration, Kanban boards and much more. Obsidian is free for personal use and, since 2025, for commercial use as well; paid add-ons are Sync for end-to-end encrypted syncing with version history and Publish for turning notes into a website, plus an optional one-time Catalyst supporter license.

Obsidian suits individuals, researchers, students, developers and writers who want long-term ownership of their notes and deep customization. It is single-player by design, with no real-time collaboration, and the plugin ecosystem can tempt users into endless setup. Notion and Outline are better for shared team wikis, Logseq offers a free outliner-based alternative with similar local files, and Apple Notes or Bear suit people who want zero setup.

The introduction of Bases in 2025 brought database views into the core app, reducing reliance on community plugins for structured notes.

Key features of Obsidian

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

Pros and cons

Pros

You own your files; works offline forever
Free for personal and commercial use
Unmatched extensibility through plugins
Fast and lightweight

Cons

No real-time collaboration
Plugin quality varies; setup can rabbit-hole
Sync and Publish are paid add-ons
Mobile experience depends on plugins used

Obsidian pricing

Obsidian uses a freemium model.

Plan	Price	Includes
Free	$0	Full 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	$25	One-time supporter license, early access
Commercial	$50 / user/year	Optional license for organizations

Source: obsidian.md · checked on Oct 20, 2026

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How Obsidian compares in Note-taking & docs

Rank by votes: #1 / 19
Starting price: $5
Free alternatives: 4

Obsidian ranks #1 of 19 note-taking & docs tools by community votes and is priced below most tools in the category.

Common use cases

1Personal knowledge management and Zettelkasten
2Research notes linked to PDFs and citations via Zotero
3Daily journaling and task tracking with Tasks plugin
4Publishing a digital garden with Obsidian Publish

Best for

Individuals, researchers and writers who want ownership, longevity and deep customization.

Not ideal for

Teams needing shared, collaborative documents or users who want a zero-setup tool.

Integrations

Obsidian Sync
Obsidian Publish
Git (plugin)
Readwise
Zotero (plugin)
Todoist (plugin)

Our take

Obsidian is the best personal knowledge base if you value owning your notes and are willing to tinker. For team wikis, use something collaborative and keep Obsidian for your own thinking.

FAQ

What is Obsidian?: Obsidian is a Note-taking & docs tool: Local-first markdown knowledge base.
How much does Obsidian cost?: Obsidian uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $5 per month.
What are the best alternatives to Obsidian?: Community-listed alternatives to Obsidian include Evernote, Logseq, Microsoft OneNote, Display.
What does Obsidian integrate with?: Obsidian integrates with Obsidian Sync, Obsidian Publish, Git (plugin), Readwise, Zotero (plugin), Todoist (plugin) and more.
Which platforms does Obsidian support?: Obsidian is available on macos, windows, linux, ios, android.
Who is Obsidian for?: Individuals, researchers and writers who want ownership, longevity and deep customization.

Alternatives to Obsidian

See all 10

Evernote
▲ 0
Veteran note app with web clipping, tasks and AI search
Freemium · $15Freelancers
checked Oct 20
Logseq
▲ 0
Open-source outliner with bi-directional links
Open sourceDevelopers
checked Oct 20
Microsoft OneNote
▲ 0
Free freeform digital notebook from Microsoft with ink and sync
FreeFreelancers
checked Oct 20
Display
▲ 0
Shared workspace where AI agents publish docs, prototypes and apps
Freemium · $12Developers
checked Nov 3
Xmind
▲ 0
Mind mapping app with an AI agent that builds maps through chat
FreemiumFreelancers
checked Nov 3
XWiki
▲ 0
Open-source enterprise wiki, self-hosted or cloud, now with MCP
Open sourceEnterprise
checked Oct 31

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Lex
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A word processor with AI built in
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checked Oct 20
Coda
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Docs that work like apps
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GitBook
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Docs that sync with Git
Freemium · $65Developers
checked Oct 20
Outline
▲ 0
Fast, self-hostable team knowledge base
Freemium · $10Developers
checked Oct 20
AppFlowy
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Open-source workspace you can self-host
Open source · $16Developers
checked Oct 20
Slite
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Knowledge base with AI-powered answers
Paid · $10Small businesses
checked Oct 20

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