# Heptabase vs Obsidian (2026)

By Noah — last updated & pricing verified October 23, 2026.

> **Verdict:** Choose Heptabase if you research from PDFs, papers and video lectures and want highlights to become cards on whiteboards, with a built-in AI agent and a web app, from $8.99/month billed yearly. Choose Obsidian if you want a free app that keeps notes as plain markdown files on your own device, extended by 7,647 community plugins. The deciding factor is price and data ownership versus built-in research tools: Obsidian's app costs nothing and its markdown files stay readable without Obsidian, while Heptabase has no free plan but brings PDFs, YouTube, Readwise and Zotero onto its whiteboards.

**Choose Heptabase if:** You read PDFs, papers and YouTube lectures inside your note app and want highlights to become cards you can arrange; You think visually and want the same card to sit on several whiteboards and nested sub-whiteboards; You want a built-in AI agent that explains sources and reorganizes cards, with GPT, Claude and Gemini models on Heptabase Premium ($17.99/month billed yearly); You need a web app to reach your notes from machines where you cannot install software, which Obsidian does not offer; You want invited collaborators to edit shared whiteboards in real time without paying for a seat

**Choose Obsidian if:** You want a note app that is free without limits and needs no sign-up, rather than Heptabase's 7-day trial; You want notes stored as plain markdown files in a local folder that stay readable without Obsidian; You want to reshape the editor with 7,647 community plugins and 755 themes; Privacy matters: Obsidian states notes are inaccessible to the company, its apps collect no telemetry, and Obsidian Sync is AES-256 end-to-end encrypted; You want to publish notes as a website with Obsidian Publish at $8/site/month billed annually

## At a glance

|  | Heptabase | Obsidian |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing | From $8.99/mo | Free tier · paid from $4/mo |
| License | Paid | Freemium |
| Best for | turning PDFs, papers and video lectures into connected note cards laid out on whiteboards for a research or study project | individuals building a long-lived personal knowledge base who want their notes to stay plain markdown files they can read, back up, and move without the app |
| Ratings | — | Product Hunt 4.9/5 (173 reviews) · Capterra 4.8/5 (47 reviews) · Trustpilot 3.2/5 (17 reviews) |

## Feature comparison

| Feature | Heptabase | Obsidian |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Starting price | Yes (from $8.99/month (Pro, billed yearly)) | Yes (free app; Sync from $4/user/month (billed annually)) |
| Free tier | No (7-day trial; free only for invited collaborators) | Yes (full app, no limits, no sign-up) |
| Platforms | Yes (web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android) | Partial (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android; no web version) |
| License | No (proprietary, paid) | Partial (closed-source app, notes in open markdown files) |
| Note storage | Unknown | Yes (plain markdown files in a local folder) |
| Offline use | Yes (offline access) | Yes (fully offline, no server round-trip) |
| Whiteboards | Yes (core model: cards on nested whiteboards) | Yes (Canvas infinite whiteboard) |
| Source capture | Yes (PDF annotation, YouTube transcripts, web clipper, Readwise, Zotero) | Partial (Web Clipper) |
| AI | Yes (AI agent, 100 credits/month on Pro (Gemini only); GPT and Claude from Premium) | Partial (through community plugins) |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes (invited collaborators edit shared whiteboards free) | Partial (paid shared vaults on Obsidian Sync) |
| Plugins and themes | Unknown | Yes (7,647 plugins, 755 themes) |
| Publish notes as a website | Unknown | Yes (Publish, $8/site/month (billed annually)) |
| Privacy and encryption | Unknown | Yes (local notes, no telemetry, AES-256 end-to-end encrypted Sync) |
| Coding agent and MCP access | Yes (CLI for Claude Code and Codex, MCP connection) | Unknown |
| User ratings | Partial (4.3/5 from 71 ratings (App Store); 3.8/5 from 225 reviews (Google Play)) | Yes (4.9/5 from 173 reviews (Product Hunt); 4.8/5 from 47 (Capterra); 3.2/5 from 17 (Trustpilot)) |
| Learning curve | Partial (moderate) | Partial (moderate) |

## Heptabase vs Obsidian pricing: which costs less?

Obsidian costs less, because the Obsidian app is free without limits and its optional Sync starts at $4/user/month billed annually, while Heptabase has no self-serve free plan and starts at $8.99/month billed yearly after a 7-day trial.

Heptabase Pro is $8.99/month billed yearly ($107.88/year) or $11.99 monthly, with 100 AI credits a month. Heptabase Premium is $17.99 billed yearly ($215.88/year) or $23.99 monthly, with 1,800 credits, unlimited PDF uploads and GPT, Claude and Gemini models, and Premium+ is $53.99 billed yearly with 8,100 credits; credits do not roll over. Obsidian's app is free. Obsidian Sync Standard costs $4/user/month billed annually and Sync Plus $8, Publish costs $8/site/month billed annually, and the $50/user/year commercial license is optional even for work use. An Obsidian user on Sync Standard pays $48 a year against $107.88 for Heptabase Pro.

## Which is better for research and studying, Heptabase or Obsidian?

Heptabase is built for research from sources, reading PDFs, YouTube videos with transcripts, web pages, Readwise highlights and Zotero libraries in the app and turning highlights into cards on whiteboards, while Obsidian offers Canvas, a Web Clipper and 7,647 community plugins.

In Heptabase, all cards live in a card library, so the same card can sit on several whiteboards and one source note can feed multiple research topics; whiteboards nest into sub-whiteboards, and cards open as documents in a block-based editor. Heptabase's AI agent explains sources, takes notes and reorganizes cards, and Premium adds an AI Tutor. Obsidian links notes bidirectionally, maps them in an interactive graph view and lays them out on Canvas, an infinite whiteboard. Whiteboards are Heptabase's core model, while Obsidian's Canvas is one view on top of plain markdown files.

## Is Obsidian more private than Heptabase?

Obsidian makes the stronger documented privacy promise, keeping notes as local markdown files it says are inaccessible to the company, collecting no telemetry and encrypting Sync end to end with AES-256, while Heptabase's listing does not describe its storage or encryption.

Because an Obsidian vault is an ordinary folder on disk, any text editor can open it, any backup tool can copy it, and the notes stay readable if the app ever disappears. Obsidian's own apps are not open source, but the file format is open. Heptabase runs a web app alongside its native apps, and its AI agent can use a bring-your-own OpenAI or Anthropic API key or Codex sign-in; Heptabase Pro's agent runs on Gemini models. Buyers with strict data rules should ask Heptabase where cards are stored before committing.

## Which works better across devices, Heptabase or Obsidian?

Heptabase reaches more devices, with native apps for macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android plus a web app, while Obsidian has no web version and needs paid Sync from $4/user/month or a do-it-yourself iCloud, Dropbox or Git setup to move notes between devices.

Obsidian runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android and works fully offline, but the free app ships no sync of its own. Obsidian Sync Standard ($4/user/month billed annually) covers 1 vault, 1GB of storage, a 5MB file cap and 1 month of version history; Sync Plus ($8) covers 10 vaults, 10GB, a 200MB file cap and 12 months of history. Heptabase also works offline, and its iOS app rates 4.3/5 from 71 App Store ratings while its Android app rates 3.8/5 from 225 Google Play reviews.

## Strengths and weaknesses

### Heptabase

- Pro: Native apps on macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, plus a web app, with offline access.
- Pro: PDF annotation, YouTube transcripts, a web clipper and Readwise and Zotero integrations bring sources into the same workspace as notes.
- Pro: Invited collaborators can edit shared whiteboards and cards in real time for free.
- Pro: A bring-your-own OpenAI or Anthropic API key, or Codex sign-in, keeps the AI agent working after included credits run out.
- Pro: A Heptabase CLI works with coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex.
- Con: No self-serve free plan; new users get a 7-day trial.
- Con: AI credits do not roll over, and Pro's AI agent uses Gemini models only.
- Con: Unlimited PDF uploads require Premium ($17.99/month billed yearly); Pro has high but finite upload limits.
- Con: The Android app rates 3.8/5 from 225 Google Play reviews, below the 4.3/5 iOS rating from 71 App Store ratings.

### Obsidian

- Pro: The app is free without limits and needs no account; notes are stored locally as plain markdown files in open formats, so there is no lock-in.
- Pro: 7,647 community plugins and 755 themes let the editor be reshaped for research, writing, task management, or visualization.
- Pro: Works fully offline on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, with no server round-trip to open a note.
- Pro: Obsidian states notes stay on the device and are inaccessible to the company, its apps collect no telemetry, and Obsidian Sync is AES-256 end-to-end encrypted.
- Pro: Paid products are optional services rather than a feature wall: Sync from $4/user/month, Publish from $8/site/month, and a commercial license the FAQ says is not required.
- Con: There is no web version, so a vault is only reachable from a device where Obsidian is installed.
- Con: Cross-device sync is a paid add-on from $4/user/month, or a do-it-yourself setup on iCloud, Dropbox, or Git.
- Con: Real-time collaboration needs paid shared vaults on Obsidian Sync; there is no free multi-user editing.
- Con: Obsidian's own apps are not open source — obsidian.md publishes open file formats plus public release and plugin repositories, but not the application source.

## Which fits your use case?

| Use case | Pick | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Graduate student annotating papers and lecture videos for a thesis | Heptabase | Heptabase reads PDFs and YouTube transcripts in the app, pulls in Zotero libraries and turns highlights into cards on whiteboards. |
| Writer building a long-lived personal knowledge base on a zero budget | Obsidian | Obsidian's app is free without limits and keeps notes as plain markdown files that stay readable without the app; Heptabase has no free plan. |
| Privacy-conscious user who wants notes to stay on their own device | Obsidian | Obsidian stores notes locally, says they are inaccessible to the company and collects no telemetry; Heptabase's listing does not describe its storage. |
| Small study group editing the same whiteboard together | Heptabase | Heptabase lets invited collaborators edit shared whiteboards in real time for free; Obsidian needs paid shared vaults on Sync for real-time collaboration. |
| Person who needs notes on a locked-down work computer | Heptabase | Heptabase has a web app, while Obsidian has no web version, so an Obsidian vault is unreachable where the app cannot be installed. |
| Tinkerer who wants to customize every part of the editor | Obsidian | Obsidian's community library has 7,647 plugins and 755 themes covering integrations, AI, editing, automation and visualization. |

## Migration FAQ

### Should I use Heptabase or Obsidian?

Use Heptabase if you research from PDFs, videos and papers and want highlights as cards on whiteboards with a built-in AI agent, from $8.99/month billed yearly; use Obsidian if you want a free app that keeps notes as plain markdown files on your device, extended by community plugins.

### Is Heptabase cheaper than Obsidian?

No — the Obsidian app is free without limits, while Heptabase starts at $8.99/month billed yearly after a 7-day trial. Adding Obsidian Sync Standard costs $4/user/month billed annually, still less than Heptabase Pro.

### Can Obsidian replace Heptabase?

Yes for linked notes and visual layouts, since Obsidian has bidirectional links, a graph view and Canvas. Obsidian has no web version, needs paid Sync for real-time collaboration, and does not list Heptabase's built-in PDF, YouTube, Readwise and Zotero reading tools.

### Does Heptabase have a free plan?

No — Heptabase offers a 7-day trial, and its free tier exists only for collaborators invited by a paying user, without journals, a personal card library, tags or AI. Obsidian's app, by contrast, is free without limits.

### Does Obsidian have a web version?

No — Obsidian runs only as an installed app on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, so a vault is unreachable from machines where the app cannot be installed. Heptabase offers a web app alongside its native apps.

## Neither a match?

- 4 alternatives to Heptabase: https://findalternative.to/heptabase
- 9 alternatives to Obsidian: https://findalternative.to/obsidian

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