⚡Stack Radar

Note Taking · Reviewed 23 Oct 2026

Obsidian

A free, flexible, private note-taking app for building personal knowledge bases.

free tier · obsidian.md ↗

Paid against free › Note Taking › Obsidian

Obsidian at a glance
6.1MEstimated total trafficModeled monthly visits57KRanking keywordsPublic search sample94/100Technical health15 pages checked37.5KReferring domainsLive backlink summary

Overview

01

Summary

The useful answer before the supporting detail.

Obsidian is a free, flexible note-taking app for private thoughts, designed to help users think clearly and organize ideas effectively S13 S1. It is used by individuals and teams for personal notes, journaling, knowledge bases, and project management, solving the problem of fragmented information by creating connections between notes S13. Its main practical value is that it uses open file formats, so users are never locked in, and it offers optional paid services for sync and publishing S13 S46.

02

Product identity and positioning

Name, category, positioning, audience, and first-party claims.

  • Identity: Obsidian is a free and flexible note-taking app for private thoughts S13.
  • Core purpose: It helps users think clearly and organize ideas effectively S1.
  • Intended users: Individuals and teams who want to manage personal notes, knowledge bases, and projects S13.
  • Product scope: A single app with optional paid services for sync and publishing, plus a web clipper and CLI S46 S59 S113.
  • Positioning: The vendor emphasizes that your thoughts are yours and data should be future-proof and private S13 S1.
  • Claimed distinction: It uses open file formats, so you're never locked in S13.
03

Use cases and audiences

Who the product serves and the jobs it is designed to handle.

AudiencePractical use case
IndividualsCreate a personal knowledge base by linking notes and building a personal wiki S13.
TeamsCollaborate on shared files without compromising private data S13.
ResearchersUse Canvas to research, brainstorm, diagram, and lay out ideas S58.
JournalersKeep a private journal with version history for every note S13.
Project managersTrack tasks across the entire vault S13.

Features

09

Features and capabilities

Core functions and evidence-backed product capabilities.

CapabilityWhat it does
Linking and graphingCreate connections between notes to build a personal wiki S13.
CanvasInfinite space to research, brainstorm, diagram, and lay out ideas S58.
Web ClipperHighlight and capture web pages in your favorite browser S59.
CollaborationWork with your team on shared files without compromising private data S13.
Version historyTrack changes between revisions with one year of version history for every note S13.
ExtensibilityThousands of plugins and themes, plus an open API to build your own S13.
Task managementTrack tasks across your entire vault S13.
10

Integrations and ecosystem

Connected products, exports, APIs, and workflow compatibility.

Integration or interfaceTypeWhat it enables
Plugins and themesExtension frameworkThousands of plugins and themes let you shape Obsidian to fit your way of thinking S13.
Open APIAPIBuild your own plugins and themes using the open API and documentation S13.
CLICommand-line interfaceControl Obsidian from your terminal for scripting, automation, and integration with external tools S53.
Web ClipperBrowser extensionHighlight and save content from the web directly into Obsidian S53.
JSON Canvas formatData portabilityCanvas files are stored in an open format designed to work with other tools S58.
Siri and ShortcutsIntegrationOpen and edit notes using Siri and Shortcuts on iOS S53.

Pricing

11

Pricing and plans

Published plans, free access, trials, credits, and pricing limitations.

Plan or offerVerified price and billingIncludedLimits
Obsidian app$0 S46Full app, unlimited local notes S46No sign-up; commercial use allowed S46
Sync$4 or $5 per user per month, billed annually or monthly S46End-to-end encryption; version history; shared vaults S46Not established
Publish$8 or $10 per site per month, billed annually or monthly S46Custom theme; graph and full-text search on the site S46Not established
Catalyst$25 one-time payment S46Early access to beta versions S46Not applicable
Commercial$50 per user per year S46Optional licence for organizations S46Not applicable

Competition

12

Competitive landscape

Domains competing for the same organic search demand.

Sampled competitors

CompetitorFirst-page appearancesSampled queriesAverage positionQueries observed
reddit.com2231.12 7, admonitions obsidian
forum.obsidian.md215.5admonitions obsidian
youtube.com216.51.12 7
mcversions.net1111.12 7
community.obsidian.md111admonitions obsidian
github.com112admonitions obsidian
minecraft-updates.fandom.com1131.12 7
minecraft.net1141.12 7
notes.nicolevanderhoeven.com115admonitions obsidian
spigotmc.org1161.12 7

Website intelligence — Collected evidence

Customers, testimonials, and first-party review claims

No supporting public-page evidence was collected for this category.

Independent review sources discovered

No links to supported independent review platforms were discovered on the collected pages.

14

AI visibility

Measured ChatGPT and Google AI mentions with cited sources.

AI-assistant referral traffic

  • Estimated current generative-AI referral share: 1.6%
MonthSource
—All AI assistants
—All AI assistants
—All AI assistants

Website intelligence — Collected evidence

Site-stated AI capabilities

No supporting public-page evidence was collected for this category.

These are first-party product claims, not independent measurements of AI-search visibility.

15

Marketing opportunities

Actions calculated directly from the collected evidence.

OpportunityRecommended actionEvidence
Competitor gapReview the sampled queries where reddit.com appears.2 first-page appearances across 1.12 7, admonitions obsidian

Website intelligence — Collected evidence

Website evidence gaps

  • features: no usable public page was collected; verify whether the site publishes this evidence.
  • integrations: no usable public page was collected; verify whether the site publishes this evidence.
  • customers: no usable public page was collected; verify whether the site publishes this evidence.
  • reviews: no usable public page was collected; verify whether the site publishes this evidence.
  • technical: no usable public page was collected; verify whether the site publishes this evidence.

Trust and proof

16

Customers, proof, and reviews

Published proof, customer signals, and review evidence.

Independent reviews

PlatformPageHow it was foundNote
Toolradar / G2Obsidian Reviews, Pricing & Alternatives (2026) - 4.5/5Grounded web search## Ratings Across the Web 4.5(12 reviews) Obsidian holds an aggregate rating of 4.5 out of 5 from 12 reviews across G2, last checked August 23, 2026. Toolradar 1 review 4/5 Read G2 12 reviews 4.5/5 Ratings aggregated from independent review
CheckThatObsidian Alternatives: 7 Tools ComparedGrounded web searchObsidian stores notes in local-first Markdown files and supports 1,600+ community plugins. It holds a 4.8/5 rating on Capterra from 46 reviews and a 4.5/5 on G2 from 12 reviews. But recent forum threads and reviews show consistent friction around mobile performance, paid sync, missing collaboration, and clunky tables. Below we compare seven alternatives, from free local-first tools to five-figure team platforms. ... Mobile startup times, missing collaboration, and the cost of Sync draw the most
Bike Gremlin I/OObsidian.md software and Sync service review / Bike Gremlin I/OGrounded web searchI’m using Obsidian daily – despite the here-listed flaws, it’s still the least bad note-taking software (when all the pros and cons are considered and weighed against the existing alternatives). I’m even paying for the Sync option – so that I can seamlessly transit between my Windows and Linux desktops and
Which 50Obsidian / Which 50Grounded web searchObsidian is a very powerful note-taking app with a great free plan, supporting deep customization and linking of notes. It has a steep learning curve and a basic, less attractive interface, but performs well and is favored for personal knowledge management
findalternative.toObsidian reviewGrounded web searchdevice, so the vault opens offline and instantly, syncs with whatever tool you already use ... - Biggest weakness: Obsidian is built around one person's local vault, so the things a ... there is no web version at all, which means a vault is unreachable
saashub.comObsidian.md reviews. Is Obsidian.md good? - SaaSHubGrounded web searchwhen I felt I had to handle too much information and I felt like grasping water not being able to remember everything I ... latest comments about Obsidian.md on Reddit. This can help you find out how popualr the product is and what people think about it.
facedragons.comObsidian.md Review: Is Obsidian the Note-Taking App for You? - Face DragonsGrounded web searchFor students, creatives, researchers, writers, bloggers, or anyone who wants to organize their minds, ... want to give an honest review with the pros and cons of Obsidian, tell you who it’s for, and whether you should install Obsidian on your devices.
redditfavorites.comWhat is the crowd's opinion of Obsidian?Grounded web search## By popularity online, this Service is: ## 100 reviews of this app found across the web: ... It's not designed with worldbuilding in mind, but allows you to ... a "vault" of plain text files that can link to each other and embed images. It's entirely

Customer proof

No named customers, testimonials, or customer case studies were found.

Independent mentions

  • Obsidian Problems & Issues 2026 - Sync Bugs & Learning Curve / Try or Bye — use. Many users report using Obsidian 'wrong' for months before finding a setup that works. For average users, it's way too tinkery and complicated to use power features ... Impact: 7/10 Reported 9x Negative via Reddit (45 sources) expectation mismatch
  • Obsidian / cask.news — Maturity: Highly mature with strong community support, evidenced by 15k+ stars and active development. Community: Community sentiment is overwhelmingly positive, with praise for its CLI, TUI, and mobile capabilities on HN and Reddit. #### Pros - + Works with local Markdown files, offering flexibility and control - + Extensive plugin ecosystem for customization - + Introduction of CLI and TUI enhances accessibility ... #### Cons - - Steep learning curve for new users - - Limited cloud sync featur

External links were grounded in one live web search. Search snippets are leads, not independently scraped page content; rejected links remain available in Review evidence.

17

Company, security, and trust

Ownership, policies, security signals, and public trust evidence.

SignalFindingSource
Company and ownership@licat • Co-founder • CTOsource
Contact and supportFor bulk purchases and other inquiries, contact us at sup\ email protected\source
Legal and privacyWhat is your refund policy?source
Security and complianceAccess your notes on any device, secured with end-to-end encryption. Learn more.source
Uptime and status pageNot published on the collected pages.—
Domain registered2020-03-13—

Not found on the collected pages: uptime and status page. This only means Scout did not find it on the pages it read; it says nothing about the company itself.

18

Documentation and product updates

Help resources, product guidance, and visible changes over time.

Resource or updateTypeWhat is availableDate or freshness
Obsidian Changelog - ObsidianChangelogFollow the latest updates to Obsidian apps for desktop and mobile. (source)Not dated
Obsidian Roadmap - ObsidianRoadmapWe (source)Not dated
Obsidian Roadmap - ObsidianChangelogPublic product change history. (source)Not dated

Not found in the collected public sources: status page, separate help center or knowledge base.

Technical

19

Technical and delivery signals

Delivery model, platforms, API, data ownership, reliability claims and release activity.

SignalFindingSource
Delivery model (cloud, self-hosted, desktop, browser extension)Obsidian is available as a desktop app, mobile app, and browser extension S177 S53.S177 S53
Platforms and appsObsidian is available on all major platforms, including Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android S13 S177.S13 S177
API and extensibility (API, SDK, webhooks, MCP, plugins)Obsidian has an open API for building plugins and themes S13.S13
Data ownership and exportObsidian uses open file formats, so you're never locked in S13.S13
Performance and reliability claimsObsidian is optimized for performance S13.S13
Release activityThe changelog includes all new features and bug fixes up to Obsidian Desktop v1.14.4 S60.S60
20

Measured infrastructure

Domain, certificate, and hosting signals, measured directly.

SignalFinding
First archived2020-04-10 — web archive
TLS certificateGoogle Trust Services, valid, expires 2026-12-24
Security headersHSTS, X-Content-Type-Options, X-Frame-Options, Referrer-Policy
Headers not servedCSP
Server headercloudflare
Mail handled bymxa.mailgun.org, mxb.mailgun.org
Nameserversolga.ns.cloudflare.com, lloyd.ns.cloudflare.com

Not measurable: rdap: no RDAP server published for .md. A gap here means the lookup was unavailable, not that the finding is negative.

21

Technical site audit

A bounded multi-page crawl with page-level issues and URLs.

Scout — Bounded technical crawl

  • Pages crawled: 15 of 15 maximum
  • Technical health: 94/100
  • Critical issues: 0
  • Warnings: 17
  • Notices: 5

Issues

SeverityIssueValueAffected URL
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/
warningPage should have one primary H10https://obsidian.md/download
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/download
noticeMeta description length should be reviewed41https://obsidian.md/pricing
warningPage should have one primary H10https://obsidian.md/pricing
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/pricing
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/sync
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/publish
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/enterprise/
noticeMeta description length should be reviewed38https://obsidian.md/ar/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/ar/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/bn/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/de/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/es/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/fr/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/it/
noticeMeta description length should be reviewed24https://obsidian.md/ja/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/ja/
noticeMeta description length should be reviewed21https://obsidian.md/ko/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/ko/
noticeMeta description length should be reviewed46https://obsidian.md/pl/
warningMissing canonical URL—https://obsidian.md/pl/

Crawled pages

StatusTitleH1sWordsResponseURL
200Obsidian - Sharpen your thinking1112553 mshttps://obsidian.md/
200Download - Obsidian017135 mshttps://obsidian.md/download
200Pricing - Obsidian061528 mshttps://obsidian.md/pricing
200Obsidian Sync1628107 mshttps://obsidian.md/sync
200Obsidian Publish172831 mshttps://obsidian.md/publish
200Meet the teams that trust Obsidian - Obsidian135193 mshttps://obsidian.md/enterprise/
200Obsidian - شحذ تفكيرك1984117 mshttps://obsidian.md/ar/
200Obsidian - আপনার চিন্তাকে আরও ধারালো করুন11109126 mshttps://obsidian.md/bn/
200Obsidian - Schärfe dein Denken11118129 mshttps://obsidian.md/de/
200Obsidian - Afila tu pensamiento11207122 mshttps://obsidian.md/es/
200Obsidian - Affûtez votre pensée11244108 mshttps://obsidian.md/fr/
200Obsidian - Affina il tuo pensiero11209133 mshttps://obsidian.md/it/
200Obsidian - 思考を研ぎ澄ます1372128 mshttps://obsidian.md/ja/
200Obsidian - 사고를 날카롭게1915105 mshttps://obsidian.md/ko/
200Obsidian — myśl wyraźniej11118129 mshttps://obsidian.md/pl/

This is a bounded Scout crawl. Core Web Vitals and Lighthouse scores are not claimed unless a dedicated performance audit is connected.

22

Search Console and Analytics

First-party search and behavioral data connection state.

Modeled acquisition channels

ChannelEstimated share
direct29.4%
search56.9%
search organic56.9%
search paid0.0%
social4.0%
social organic3.9%
social paid0.0%
referrals7.1%
paid referrals0.1%
mail1.0%
gen ai1.6%
affiliate0.0%
other0.0%

First-party connections

IntegrationStatusData available after connection
Google Search ConsoleNot connectedClicks, impressions, CTR, average position, queries, pages, countries, and devices
Google AnalyticsNot connectedOrganic sessions, engagement, landing pages, conversions, geography, and devices

No first-party Search Console or Analytics numbers are shown until the site owner authorizes the corresponding Google account. Scout traffic model values above are modeled estimates, not private analytics totals.

Limits and method

23

Limitations and open questions

Known constraints and missing evidence from the collected pages.

The collected pages do not mention any competitors by name. Evidence gaps include: no independent review ratings or customer testimonials were collected; no uptime or status page information was published; no detailed pricing for Sync and Publish beyond the base rates was provided; and no information about data export formats beyond open file formats was found.

24

Sources, method, and limitations

Evidence inventory, collection method, provider use, and constraints.

This report is based on 15 collected pages from obsidian.md, including the homepage, about, pricing, changelog, roadmap, security, canvas, clipper, CLI, and brand pages. The evidence catalog includes 177 items, with 15 pages collected via static and browser rendering providers. External proof search was enabled but only used for verification; no external review profiles were scraped. Limitations: some pages may have been rendered with JavaScript, and pricing information was verified from the pricing page on 2026-10-22.

Paid against free, in your inbox

One job at a time: the paid tools worth paying for, the free ones you can run yourself, and who should pick which.

No tracking pixels. One click to leave. We use your address to send Stack Radar and nothing else. Privacy.