Obsidian

Local-first Markdown note app with backlinks, graph view, canvas and a large plugin ecosystem.

Unclaimed

Visit website ↗

The Obsidian homepage — Screenshot of obsidian.md taken by TopTool.

Pricing: Freemium · see prices
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Categories: Productivity

About Obsidian

Obsidian is a note-taking and personal knowledge app that stores notes as plain-text Markdown files in a folder (a vault) on your own device, so they work offline and stay readable outside the app. Notes can be linked to each other, with backlinks and an interactive graph view of the connections, and Canvas offers an infinite board for laying out notes and ideas. Thousands of community plugins and themes extend it, for example calendars, Kanban boards, queries and task tracking. Optional paid services add end-to-end encrypted Sync with version history and shared vaults, and Publish for putting notes on the web. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android, and the team also offers a Web Clipper.

Good for

Writers, researchers and students who want a private, offline, file-based notes system that they can shape with plugins and keep using without being locked in.

Watch out for

Sync between devices through Obsidian's own service is a paid add-on, and community plugins are made by third parties, so quality and upkeep vary. The app itself is not open source, though notes are plain Markdown files.

Pricing notes

As of October 2026 the app is free with no sign-up, including for work use. Sync costs $4 per user/month billed annually or $5 monthly; Publish costs $8 per site/month billed annually or $10 monthly. An optional Commercial licence is $50 per user/year and Catalyst is a one-time $25 supporter licence.