Obsidian icon
Obsidian icon

Obsidian

Privacy-oriented note-taking app for non-linear thinking, blending knowledge graph creation with wiki-style linking. Supports Markdown, end-to-end encryption, and plugins for customization. Offers distraction-free mode, tags, themes, syntax highlighting, and operates offline without tracking.

Obsidian screenshot 1

Cost / License

  • Freemium (Subscription)
  • Proprietary

Application type

Platforms

  • Mac
  • Windows
  • Linux
  • Android
  • iPhone
  • Android Tablet
  • iPad
  • Snapcraft
  • Microsoft Edge  Web Clipper
  • Google Chrome  Web Clipper
  • Flathub
  • Safari  Web Clipper
  • AppImage
  • Mozilla Firefox  Web Clipper
Obsidian screenshot 1
Obsidian screenshot 2
+6
Obsidian screenshot 3
Obsidian alternatives  
1223likes
348alternatives
30articles

Features

Properties

  1.  Intuitive Interface
  2.  Privacy focused
  3.  Support for Themes
  4.  Distraction-free

Features

  1.  Support for MarkDown
  2.  Local Storage
  3.  Works Offline
  4.  Graph view
  5.  Bidirectional links
  6.  Mind Mapping
  7.  No registration required
  8.  Personal Information Manager (PIM)
  9.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
  10.  Knowledge Management
  11.  Dark Mode
  12.  Backlink
  13.  Custom themes
  14.  Note organization
  15.  Write files in markdown
  16.  Knowledge Base Structuring
  17.  Tagging
  18.  Wiki-like local linking
  19.  Search by tags
  20.  Backlinks
  21.  No Tracking
  22.  Wiki
  23.  LaTeX Math
  24.  Multiplatform
  25.  Markdown preview
  26.  Folder Hierarchy
  27.  Ad-free
  28.  Syntax Highlighting
  29.  Full-Text Search
  30.  Spell Checking
  31.  Code Formatting
  32.  No Coding Required
  33. LaTeX icon  Support for LaTeX
  34.  Live Preview
  35.  Cloud Sync
  36.  Hierarchical Structure
  37.  Calendar View
  38.  End-to-End Encryption
  39.  File Tagging
  40.  WYSIWYG HTML Editor
  41.  Handwritten Notes
  42.  Portable
  43.  Autocompletion
  44.  Two-factor Authentication
  45.  Web Clipper
  46.  Encrypted Backup
  47.  Save as Markdown
  48.  HTML/CSS/JS rendering
  49.  Hyperlinks
  50.  Electron based
  51.  Note Manager
  52.  Cross Linking
  53.  Graphs
  54.  Graph relationships
  55.  PKM
  56.  Split-screen view
  57.  Plain text file
  58.  Backlink-aware editor
  59.  Live editing
  60.  Multitasking
  61.  Query Engine
  62.  Finds unlinked references
  63.  Embedded video
  64.  No Root Required
  65.  Nested tags
  66.  Block reference
  67.  Sort by date
  68.  Dynamic content
  69.  Flow Chart
  70.  RTL support
  71. Zotero icon  Zotero integration
  72.  Built-in player
  73.  Integrated PDF Viewer

 Tags

Obsidian News & Activities

Highlights All activities

Recent News

Recent activities

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Notion icon
Notion

Streamline teamwork with real-time collaboration, drag-and-drop content organization, and visual simplicity across notes, tasks, wikis, and databases.

 
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Comments and Reviews

   
Comment summary: Obsidian is highly praised for its local storage and use of Markdown, allowing flexibility and control over data. Users commend its extensive plugin support, vibrant community, and responsive developers. Many appreciate its compatibility across multiple platforms and devices, making it ideal for Personal Knowledge Management (PKM), especially for Zettelkasten methods. While not open-source, it provides significant customizability and features without vendor lock-in. A few find it complex and desire open-source availability.
Top Positive Comment
markgoodson
7

A great knowledge tool based in simple markdown files. You're in charge of your own data.

Top Negative Comment
Nuncio Bitis
2

Still has a way to go. Editing is not intuitive, and it frequently makes formatting mistakes. I constantly have to open the md files in an external text editor to correct the formatting. I had hoped the Draw.io plugins would work, but alas no. There's no way to create a diagram. Apparently you need to make a diagram externally and link it into your document.

Atlantis

I don't want to question your experience with Obsidian, but

fif7y
0

I really like Obsidian because it's plain markdown files on disk is the whole pitch for me. My notes are a folder, so my own scripts and AI agents can read and write the same vault I open in the app, and nothing is locked in. The app itself stays out of the way, is fast, and the graph view is a nice bonus rather than the point.

woroworo
0

The notetaking app that changed my life. It made me so much more efficient.

Review from a new or low-activity account — shown here, but not counted in the app rating.
Jared Scott
0

Local markdown files as the source of truth is the right call, and the plugin ecosystem is unmatched. It gets heavy once the plugins pile up, but plain files mean you can always walk away with your notes.

Jean-Baptiste Berthoux
0

A powerful second brain with excellent linking, Markdown support, and local storage. It is flexible enough to build a durable knowledge base around the way you actually think and work.

Review from a new or low-activity account — shown here, but not counted in the app rating.
Mirko Froehlich
0

I've used many note taking apps over the decades (including EverNote, OneNote, Notion). I landed on Obsidian and have been very happy with it. With the official Sync subscription, it works great across all my devices. Being able to sync all my notes offline on my mobile phone is critical for me (I'm often traveling without cell phone connection), and Obsidian handles that use case well.

Review from a new or low-activity account — shown here, but not counted in the app rating.
7 of 182 comments

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Official Links

AppStores & Other Links

Download from Google Play Store
Download from iPhone App Store

What is Obsidian?

Obsidian is a note-taking app that encourages non-linear thinking by allowing easy transitions between ideas. It allows connections between notes, creating a wiki-like linkage. Notes are stored locally as Markdown files, giving users control over their data and enhancing security and privacy.

Obsidian also features a customizable plugin system, with options like an in-app PDF viewer and an audio player. It supports embedding multimedia files with the ![[image.png]] syntax.

The software is free for both personal and commercial use, but additional services like Sync and Publish are available for a fee:

  • Sync ($5 per month, $48 per year): Allows sync across devices with end-to-end encryption and version history.
  • Publish ($10 per month, $96 per year): Allows publishing to Obsidian Publish.

There are also optional licenses to help development:

  • Catalyst ($25 one-time payment): Grants early access to beta versions of Obsidian, access to insider channels, and community badges.
  • Commercial ($50 per year): Originally required for commercial use, it's meant to support the development and become a featured organization.

Obsidian Videos

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Obsidian information

  • Developed by

    CA flagShida Li and Erica Xu

  • Licensing

    Proprietary and Freemium product.

  • Pricing

    Subscription ranging between $4 and $10 per month + free version with limited functionality.

  • Rating

    Average rating of 4.6 (122 ratings)

  • Alternatives

    348 alternatives listed

  • News

    30 news article related to Obsidian

  • Badge

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  • Supported Languages

    • English
    • Amharic
    • Arabic
    • Belarusian
    • Catalan; Valencian
    • Czech
    • Danish
    • German
    • Spanish
    • Persian
    • French
    • Hebrew
    • Hungarian
    • Indonesian
    • Italian
    • Japanese
    • Korean
    • Latvian
    • Malay
    • Sanskrit (Sa?sk?ta)
    • Dutch
    • Norwegian
    • Polish
    • Portuguese
    • Romanian
    • Russian
    • Albanian
    • Thai
    • Turkish
    • Ukrainian
    • Uzbek
    • Vietnamese
    • Chinese

Our users have written 182 comments and reviews about Obsidian, and it has gotten 1223 likes

Obsidian was added to AlternativeTo by dynalist on and this page was last updated .