Last checked October 15, 2026
Obsidian
Obsidian is a local Markdown notebook with a huge plugin ecosystem. The app is proprietary. Your files are not. Sync and Publish are optional paid add-ons.
Free, closed sourceProprietaryIndividualsStudentsWriters
The note format is plain Markdown. The application is closed source.
MacWindowsLinuxiOSAndroid
Free tier
The app is free, including commercial use. A commercial license is optional and encouraged at $50 per user/year.
Hosted
Sync is $4 per user/month billed annually. Publish is $8 per site/month billed annually.
Self-host
There is no Obsidian server. Sync can be DIY with a folder you already control, or via the paid Sync add-on.
Drop-in scores
Sources checked
https://ditchly.co/software/obsidian