Obsidian
A local-first notes app that stores your vault as Markdown files.
Obsidian is a notes application built on a folder of Markdown files. You can use it with no account. The graph and backlinks are the point for people who write and research more than they assign tasks.
Obsidian’s pricing page lists the app as free, including for commercial use. Sync, the end-to-end encrypted add-on, is $4 per user per month billed annually. The Commercial license is $50 per user per year and is a way to support development, not a key that unlocks the editor.
Choose Obsidian when you want ownership of the files. Choose a workspace tool when the notes have to be edited by several people in a browser.
Pros
- Notes stay in plain Markdown files on your machine
- Free for work; a commercial license is optional support, not a feature gate
- Linking between notes suits research and long writing projects
Cons
- Sync across devices is a separate paid service
- Collaboration is weaker than a shared workspace
- Community plugins vary in quality and how long they stay maintained
Alternatives in this directory
Comparisons
Questions
What is Obsidian?
Obsidian is a free Markdown notes app. Sync and Publish are optional paid services, and commercial use does not require a license.
How much does Obsidian cost?
Obsidian is listed as free. Starting price: Free. Paid plans from $4 per user/month, billed annually (Sync). Those figures were checked on October 15, 2026.
What alternatives does StackFinds list for Obsidian?
StackFinds lists Notion as alternatives. Comparison pages repeat only the fields on those listings.
Added to StackFinds on .