Obsidian — The notes app you cannot be locked out of — free without limits, with paid services bolted on rather than baked in.
Short answer: Obsidian is a free, local-first Markdown editor with no sign-up and no usage limits. Your notes are plain .md files in a folder on your own disk, which means the app can never hold them hostage. The company makes money from two optional add-ons — Sync at $4 per user per month billed annually ($5 monthly) and Publish at $8 per site per month billed annually ($10 monthly) — plus a $25 one-time Catalyst license and a $50 per user per year Commercial license that is encouraged but explicitly not required. It suits people who intend to keep their notes for decades and want that guarantee in the file format rather than in a vendor’s promise.
On this page
Verdict at a glance
Your data is a folder of Markdown files on your own machine. Not an export option, not an API — the working format itself. No other tool in this comparison can say that, and it is the one property that survives a vendor going away.
Everything is a decision. There is no default structure, no onboarding path that ends in a working system, and roughly 2,000 community plugins to choose between. People who want an opinionated tool that tells them how to work will bounce off it.
Obsidian earns 4.5 because it solves the problem most notes apps quietly create: the possibility of losing access to your own thinking. The app is genuinely free, not free-tier free — no note caps, no block limits, no sign-up, no telemetry, and the vendor states it does not sell user data. Sync and Publish are conveniences priced like conveniences, and if you cancel them the notes stay exactly where they were, readable in any text editor. The half point comes off for the setup burden, which is real: a blank Obsidian vault is a blank folder, and the gap between installing it and having a system that works is measured in evenings, not minutes. If you want structure handed to you, Notion or Craft will get you working faster. If you want to still have your notes in 2046, this is the safer bet.
Quick facts
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ideal user | Long-horizon note keepers and researchers |
| Learning curve | ⚠️ High — you design the system yourself |
| Setup time | Minutes to install; evenings to configure |
| Free trial | ⭐ Not needed — the app is free without limits |
| Free tier | ⭐ The complete app, no sign-up required |
| Pricing | Free app · Sync $4/user/mo annual · Publish $8/site/mo annual |
| Data ownership | ⭐ Plain Markdown files on your own disk |
| Key limit | ⚠️ No structure out of the box; collaboration is thin |
Overview
Obsidian inverts the usual notes-app business model. The application itself is free, permanently and without metering — no note count, no block ceiling, no storage tier, and no account to create. You download it, point it at a folder, and that folder becomes your vault. Inside it are Markdown files with ordinary names, plus an attachments directory. There is no proprietary database, so the notes are readable by any text editor, greppable from a terminal, and backed up by whatever you already use to back up files.
Revenue comes from two optional services. Sync costs $4 per user per month billed annually, or $5 billed monthly, and adds end-to-end encrypted syncing across devices with version history and shared vaults. Publish costs $8 per site per month billed annually, or $10 monthly, and turns selected notes into a website with search and graph navigation. Neither is required to use Obsidian, and neither takes custody of your notes if you stop paying. There is also a $25 one-time Catalyst license for beta access and community badges, and a $50 per user per year Commercial license.
That Commercial license deserves attention because the vendor’s own FAQ undercuts it: asked whether payment is required for commercial use, Obsidian answers plainly that it is not, then asks organisations to buy one anyway to keep the project user-supported. This is unusual and worth taking at face value — it is an honesty signal from a company that could easily have made the licence mandatory and unenforceable. Students, faculty and nonprofit employees get 40% off Sync and Publish, and the vendor states these are the only discounts it offers.
Key features
- Local Markdown vaultthe working format is plain
.mdfiles in a folder you choose - No account requiredthe app never asks who you are to function
- Bidirectional links and backlinksevery reference is visible from both ends
- Graph viewa visual map of how notes connect, useful for spotting orphans
- Canvasan infinite spatial board that stores notes as files alongside the vault
- ~2,000 community pluginsthe reason two Obsidian setups rarely look alike
- Sync with end-to-end encryptionAES-256, and the vendor states it cannot read vault contents
- Publishselected notes become a searchable site with a custom theme and domain
- Web Clipper and a CLIfirst-party capture and scripting paths
- No telemetrythe vendor states the apps collect none and never sell user data
Pricing (as of 2026-10-01)
Model: free app, optional paid add-on services; licences are supporter-funded rather than mandatory · Free tier: ⭐ the complete application, unlimited, with no sign-up · Entry paid: $4/user/mo billed annually (Sync)
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Obsidian app | Free | ⭐ Unlimited notes and vaults · no sign-up · no telemetry · all core features including Canvas, graph view and plugins |
| Sync | $4/user/mo annual · $5/mo monthly | Cross-device sync · AES-256 end-to-end encryption · version history · collaborate on shared vaults · priority support |
| Publish | $8/site/mo annual · $10/mo monthly | Publish notes to the web · customisable theme · graph and full-text search · no technical knowledge required · priced per site, not per user |
| Catalyst | $25 one-time | Early access to beta builds · community badges · exclusive channels · non-refundable |
| Commercial | $50/user/year | ⚠️ Encouraged for business use but explicitly not required · supports development · non-refundable |
⭐ The free tier is the actual product, not a sample of it. There is no note limit, block limit, storage tier or feature gate — the distinction other vendors draw between free and paid does not exist here, because the paid items are services rather than software.
⚠️ Sync and Publish are priced on different units, which is easy to misread. Sync is per user; Publish is per site. One person publishing three sites pays $24 a month for Publish, while three people syncing one vault pay $12 for Sync.
⭐ Refunds are full within 7 days for Sync and Publish, no questions asked. Catalyst, Commercial and Obsidian Credit are non-refundable — worth knowing before buying a licence as a gift, which the vendor does support via Obsidian Credit.
⚠️ The 40% education and nonprofit discount applies to Sync and Publish only, and the vendor states it offers no other discounts or promotions. Do not wait for a sale.
Ratings breakdown
Pros
- ⭐ The app is free with no limits and no sign-up — not a trial, not a free tier
- ⭐ Notes are plain Markdown files on your disk, so no vendor can lock you out
- Sync is genuinely cheap at $4 per user per month annually, with end-to-end encryption
- Publish is priced per site rather than per user, which suits solo publishers
- No telemetry, and the vendor states it never sells user data
- Roughly 2,000 community plugins cover almost any workflow you can describe
- The Commercial licence is voluntary and the vendor says so in writing
- Full 7-day refunds on Sync and Publish, no questions asked
Cons
- ⚠️ An empty vault gives you no structure and no guidance — setup is on you
- ⚠️ Collaboration is weak next to Notion or Superhuman Docs; shared vaults are not real-time co-editing
- ⚠️ Plugin quality varies, and a broken community plugin can break your vault’s behaviour
- No first-party AI assistant — AI arrives via community plugins and your own API keys
- Mobile editing is capable but fiddlier than a purpose-built mobile notes app
- Publish costs stack per site, so multiple published vaults get expensive quickly
- Catalyst and Commercial licences are non-refundable
Who it’s for
- Researchers, writers and analysts building a knowledge base they expect to keep for years
- Anyone who has lost notes to a shut-down app and does not intend to repeat it
- Technical users comfortable assembling a workflow from plugins
- Privacy-sensitive users who want notes that never leave their device by default
Who it’s not for
- Teams that need real-time collaborative editing as the primary mode
- People who want a tool to impose structure rather than offer a blank canvas
- Buyers who need first-party AI features included in the price
- Organisations requiring SSO, SCIM and audit logs as standard
Best use cases
- A permanent personal knowledge base in a format that outlives any vendor
- Research notes with dense bidirectional linking between sources and arguments
- Long-form writing drafted in Markdown and version-controlled with Git
- A published digital garden or documentation site via Publish
- Zettelkasten and similar linked-thinking systems, which the linking model fits naturally
Integrations
Obsidian’s integration story runs through files and plugins rather than a connector marketplace. Because the vault is a folder, anything that reads files works: Git for version control, Dropbox or iCloud for sync if you decline to pay for Sync, and any editor or script you like. First-party pieces include the Web Clipper for capturing pages and a CLI. Beyond that, roughly 2,000 community plugins cover calendars, task management, citations, AI assistants using your own API keys, and syncing with other tools. The trade-off is that these are community-maintained, so an integration you depend on can be abandoned by its author.
How it compares
| Obsidian | Notion | Craft | Superhuman Docs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | ⭐ $4/user/mo annual (Sync add-on) | $10/member/mo annual (Plus) | $6.40/mo annual (Plus) | $12/Doc Maker/mo annual (Pro) |
| Free tier | ⭐ The complete app, unlimited | Unlimited pages for one person | 1,500 blocks, 1 GB | Collaborative docs, Docs AI trial |
| Working tier | $8/site/mo Publish | $20/member/mo Business | $50/mo Team (up to 10) | $33/Doc Maker/mo Business |
| Seat model | ⭐ Sync per user; Publish per site | Per member | Plus is one account; Family 2-6; Team up to 10 | ⭐ Per Doc Maker; Editors and Viewers free |
| Storage format | ⭐ Plain Markdown on your disk | ⚠️ Vendor database | ⚠️ Vendor database | ⚠️ Vendor database |
| Sign-up required | ⭐ No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Best fit | Local-first vault you own | General-purpose team workspace | Design-led documents on Apple platforms | Docs that behave like apps |
All four figures are vendor-published and verified on 2026-09-07. Obsidian’s entry price is for the optional Sync service — the application itself is free, which is why the comparison is not like-for-like and the other three columns buy you the software.
Alternatives
Notion is the obvious alternative and the opposite trade: structure, databases and real collaboration in exchange for keeping your content in someone else’s database, at $10 per member per month billed annually. Craft sits between the two, offering a far more polished writing surface than Obsidian at $6.40 a month billed annually, but it is still a hosted product and its shared workspace requires the Family or Team bundle. Superhuman Docs, the product formerly called Coda, is the choice when documents need to behave like applications, and its per-Doc-Maker pricing is the cheapest way to give a large audience access. If the appeal of Obsidian is specifically that notes are files you own, none of the three substitutes for it — the alternatives in that direction are other local-first tools rather than these hosted workspaces.
Recent changes
Obsidian’s pricing has been notably stable, which is itself worth reporting in a category where three of its closest peers repriced or rebranded during 2026. As verified on 2026-09-07, Sync remains $4 per user per month billed annually or $5 monthly, Publish remains $8 per site per month billed annually or $10 monthly, Catalyst is $25 one-time, and the Commercial licence is $50 per user per year. The 40% education and nonprofit discount on Sync and Publish still stands, and the vendor continues to state that no other discounts or promotions are offered. The company has added an Enterprise page and a first-party CLI alongside the existing Web Clipper. The free application remains free without limits and still requires no sign-up.
Frequently asked questions
Is Obsidian really free?
Yes, and without the usual qualifications. The application is free with no note limit, no block limit, no storage tier and no sign-up — you do not create an account to use it. Obsidian earns revenue from optional add-ons instead: Sync at $4 per user per month billed annually, Publish at $8 per site per month billed annually, a $25 one-time Catalyst licence and a $50 per user per year Commercial licence. If you never buy any of them, nothing about the app degrades.
Do I have to buy a Commercial licence to use Obsidian at work?
No. Obsidian’s own pricing FAQ states plainly that you are not required to pay for a commercial licence, and then asks organisations using it for work to buy one anyway so the project stays user-supported and independent. It costs $50 per user per year and is non-refundable. Treat it as a donation with a receipt rather than a compliance obligation.
How much does Obsidian Sync cost, and what does it do?
Sync is $4 per user per month billed annually, or $5 billed monthly. It syncs vaults across devices with AES-256 end-to-end encryption, keeps version history, supports collaborating on shared vaults, and includes priority support. Because encryption is end-to-end, the vendor states it cannot read your vault. You can also sync for free using Dropbox, iCloud or Git, at the cost of doing conflict resolution yourself.
How much does Obsidian Publish cost?
Publish is $8 per site per month billed annually, or $10 billed monthly. Note the unit: it is priced per site, not per user, so one person running three published sites pays for three. It turns selected notes into a website with a customisable theme, graph navigation and full-text search, and requires no technical setup.
What happens to my notes if I stop paying or Obsidian shuts down?
Nothing happens to them. Your notes are Markdown files in a folder on your own disk, so they remain readable in any text editor whether or not Obsidian exists. Cancelling Sync stops the syncing, not your access. This is the single strongest argument for Obsidian over any hosted alternative, and it is a property of the file format rather than a promise.
Is there an education or nonprofit discount?
Yes. Students, faculty members and nonprofit employees are eligible for 40% off Obsidian Sync and Publish. The vendor states explicitly that it offers no other discounts or promotions, so there is no seasonal sale to wait for. Discounts do not apply to the Catalyst or Commercial licences.
Does Obsidian have built-in AI?
Not from the vendor. Obsidian ships no first-party AI assistant, which is a real gap next to Notion, whose Business plan includes an agent, or Mem, which is built entirely around one. AI in Obsidian comes from community plugins that you connect to your own API keys — more work to set up, but it means prompts and notes go to a provider you chose rather than one bundled into the price.
Sources
- Obsidian — official pricing page
- Obsidian — pricing FAQ on commercial licences, refunds and discounts
- Notion — official pricing page
- Craft — official pricing page
- Superhuman Docs — official pricing page
Compiled from public sources; last verified 2026-10-01. Pricing is subject to change — verify with the vendor. Ratings reflect editorial opinion based on documented capabilities, published pricing, and aggregated user reviews. DigiJaws does not accept payment for review placement or rating.
Also in: Best AI Knowledge Base Apps (2026)
Looking for the numbers? Our Obsidian pricing page breaks down every plan, what each upgrade costs over a year, and what the headline price leaves out.
Obsidian Review (4.5/5): Features & Verdict (2026). DigiJaws, 2026. https://digijaws.com/reviews/obsidian-review/