Obsidian — A free markdown note app that keeps your notes as plain files on your own device, with optional Sync from $4/user/month and Publish from $8/site/month.
By Noahlast updated pricing verified
Obsidian screenshots & video
Obsidian in 20 seconds
Best for: individuals building a long-lived personal knowledge base in plain markdown files they own
Pricing: The app is free; Obsidian Sync starts at $4/user/month billed annually and Obsidian Publish at $8/site/month billed annually.
- The Obsidian app is free without limits and requires no sign-up.
- Obsidian stores every note as a plain markdown file in a local folder on the device.
- Obsidian Sync costs $4/user/month billed annually for Sync Standard and $8/user/month for Sync Plus; Obsidian Publish costs $8/site/month billed annually.
- Obsidian's community library contains 7,647 plugins and 755 themes.
- Obsidian runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, and has no web version.
- Obsidian holds 4.9/5 from 173 Product Hunt reviews and 4.8/5 from 47 Capterra reviews.
Limitations: No web version, so a vault needs a device with Obsidian installed.; Cross-device sync costs $4-$8/user/month unless you build your own.; Real-time collaboration requires paid shared vaults on Obsidian Sync.
Top alternatives: Notion, Logseq, Anytype, Joplin, Standard Notes — full list
What is Obsidian?
Obsidian is a markdown editor and knowledge base built on one decision: your notes are ordinary .md files in an ordinary folder on your own disk, not rows in someone else's database.
That makes the vault fast, fully usable offline, and portable — any text editor can open it, any backup tool can copy it, and Obsidian states that notes are stored locally, are inaccessible to the company, and that its apps collect no telemetry. On top of the files sit bidirectional links, an interactive graph view, Canvas (an infinite whiteboard for laying out notes), a Web Clipper, and a community library of 7,647 plugins and 755 themes covering integrations, AI, editing, automation, and visualization. The app is free without limits and without a sign-up on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Obsidian's revenue comes from optional services instead: Obsidian Sync ($4/user/month billed annually for Sync Standard, $8 for Sync Plus) provides AES-256 end-to-end encrypted sync across devices, version history, file recovery, and shared vaults for real-time team collaboration; Obsidian Publish ($8/site/month billed annually) turns a vault into a website with themes, graph, and full-text search. A Catalyst license ($25 one-time) buys beta access and community badges, and a commercial license ($50/user/year) supports development — Obsidian's own FAQ states it is not required for work use.
Obsidian is a note-taking and personal knowledge management app that stores every note as a plain markdown file in a normal folder on your device, so the vault works offline and stays readable without Obsidian installed. The app itself is free without limits and requires no sign-up, on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android; the paid products are optional add-on services rather than a subscription wall. Obsidian Sync is $4/user/month billed annually for Sync Standard (1 vault, 1GB, 5MB file cap, 1 month of version history) or $8/user/month for Sync Plus (10 vaults, 10GB, 200MB file cap, 12 months of history), and Obsidian Publish is $8/site/month billed annually; a $25 one-time Catalyst license and a $50/user/year commercial license are both optional ways to fund development. A community library of 7,647 plugins and 755 themes reshapes the editor, and Obsidian holds 4.9/5 from 173 Product Hunt reviews and 4.8/5 from 47 Capterra reviews.
Standout feature: Every note is a plain markdown file in a normal folder on the device, so the vault opens offline and instantly, syncs with whatever tool you already use, and remains readable if Obsidian ever disappears.
Biggest weakness: Obsidian is built around one person's local vault, so the things a team takes for granted cost extra or do not exist: real-time collaboration only arrives through paid shared vaults on Obsidian Sync, and there is no web version at all, which means a vault is unreachable from any machine where you cannot install the app. Getting the same notes onto a phone and a laptop also means $4-$8/user/month for Sync or assembling your own iCloud, Dropbox, or Git setup, since the free app ships no sync of its own.
Pros
- 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.
- 7,647 community plugins and 755 themes let the editor be reshaped for research, writing, task management, or visualization.
- Works fully offline on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, with no server round-trip to open a note.
- 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.
- 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.
Cons
- There is no web version, so a vault is only reachable from a device where Obsidian is installed.
- Cross-device sync is a paid add-on from $4/user/month, or a do-it-yourself setup on iCloud, Dropbox, or Git.
- Real-time collaboration needs paid shared vaults on Obsidian Sync; there is no free multi-user editing.
- 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.
Obsidian pricing
Free tier · paid from $4/mo · verified from the vendor's pricing page
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Obsidian | Free | The app itself: free without limits, no sign-up required, on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. Notes live as markdown files in a local folder. |
| Sync Standard | $4/mo | Per user, billed annually ($5/user/month billed monthly): 1 synced vault, 1GB total storage, 5MB maximum file size, 1 month of version history, AES-256 end-to-end encrypted. |
| Publish | $8/mo | Per site, billed annually ($10/site/month billed monthly): publish a vault as a website with a customizable theme, graph view, and full-text search, with no technical setup. |
| Sync Plus | $8/mo | Per user, billed annually ($10/user/month billed monthly): 10 synced vaults, 10GB total storage, 200MB maximum file size, 12 months of version history, upgradable to 100GB. |
| Catalyst | $25 once | Optional one-time license supporting development: early access to beta builds, community badges, and exclusive Discord channels. |
| Commercial | $50/yr | Optional license for organizational use, per user per year. Obsidian's pricing FAQ states a commercial license is not required to use Obsidian at work. |
What reviewers say
Scores belong to their platforms; we display them with attribution and never fold them into our own ratings.