Founded
2020
Starting Price
$0
Category
Productivity
Last updated February 7, 2026
About Obsidian
Obsidian is a powerful knowledge base and note-taking application built on a local folder of plain text Markdown files. It features bidirectional linking, graph visualization, and an extensive plugin ecosystem with 1,000+ community plugins, giving users complete ownership and control over their data.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Completely free for personal and commercial use with no feature limitations
- Local-first architecture gives full ownership and control over your data
- Markdown files are portable and future-proof — not locked into any proprietary format
- Massive plugin ecosystem with 1,000+ community plugins for virtually any workflow
- Bidirectional linking and graph view enable powerful knowledge discovery and connections
Key Features
Local-First Markdown Files
All notes are stored as plain text Markdown files on your device, giving you full ownership and portability
Bidirectional Linking
Create connections between notes with internal links and backlinks that automatically update
Graph View
Visual knowledge graph showing all notes as nodes and their connections as edges to surface patterns and clusters
Canvas
Infinite 2D freeform space to arrange and connect notes, images, attachments, and web pages visually
Bases
Database-like views of your notes with customizable dynamic tables and maps
Community Plugins
Ecosystem of 1,000+ plugins extending functionality from Kanban boards to calendars to advanced queries
Obsidian Sync
End-to-end encrypted sync service to keep notes in sync across all your devices
Pricing
Free
$0
- All core features
- Unlimited notes and vaults
- 1,000+ community plugins
- Custom themes
- Graph view and Canvas
Best For
Personal Knowledge Management
Build a 'second brain' by capturing, connecting, and navigating notes using linked thinking and the Zettelkasten method
Academic Research
Manage references, annotations, and reading notes with Zotero integration, backlinks, and graph visualization
Writing & Content Creation
Draft long-form content in distraction-free Markdown with outlining, linking, and publish-to-web capabilities
Meeting Notes & Project Management
Capture meeting notes, extract action items, and link them to people, projects, and themes for a connected workspace
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