Obsidian
Local Markdown notes that link into a graph of your own thinking
1/4Obsidian is a note-taking and knowledge management app that keeps everything as plain Markdown files in a folder on your own device, so notes work offline, stay private and remain readable without the app. Notes are joined with links and can be viewed as an interactive graph, while Canvas gives an infinite surface for laying ideas out spatially, and thousands of community plugins and themes built on an open API let people reshape the app around their own workflow. It is free to use, with optional paid add-ons: Sync for end-to-end encrypted syncing, version history and shared vaults across macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, and Publish for turning a set of notes into a public site. A Web Clipper extension saves pages from Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge and other browsers, and a command line interface reads, searches and writes to a vault from the terminal.
- Notes stored on your device as plain Markdown files you own
- Link anything to anything, and see the backlinks both ways
- Graph view for the relationships between your notes
- Canvas, an infinite space to brainstorm, diagram and lay out ideas
- Thousands of community plugins and themes, built on an open API
- Sync with end-to-end encryption, version history and shared vaults
- Publish a vault as a site with graph and full text search
- Command line interface to read, search and script against a vault
Based on what people have said
Every answer links back to the mentions it came fromHow do people handle quick note capture on mobile?
Several users find the standard Obsidian app too slow for rapid capture, leading them to use external tools like Apple Notes, Drafts, or custom shortcuts to append text to their daily notes. Others use voice-to-text plugins or dedicated capture apps that sync directly into their vault to avoid the friction of opening the main application.
21 mentions · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/macapps · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · Aug 2026
Is Obsidian difficult to set up and maintain?
Opinions vary; some users warn that over-engineering a system with too many plugins can lead to burnout and performance issues, suggesting instead that new users start with basic folders and only add complexity when a specific need arises. Conversely, others find the app's extensibility and community-built themes to be its greatest strength, though some acknowledge that initial configuration can feel like a side project.
16 mentions · r/ObsidianMD · r/vibecoding · r/ObsidianMD · r/digitaljournaling · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · and 3 more · Aug 2026
How do users manage PDFs and research materials?
Many users integrate Zotero with Obsidian to handle citations and metadata, often using plugins like PDF++ to annotate files. Some users keep PDFs in a separate folder indexed by Obsidian, while others use scripts or external tools to convert PDFs into Markdown files before importing them to ensure they are searchable and linkable.
15 mentions · r/traveller · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · Aug 2026
What are the options for syncing vaults across devices?
Users report success with a variety of methods: the official Obsidian Sync is praised for its speed, ease of use, and end-to-end encryption. Alternatives include using iCloud, Dropbox, or self-hosted solutions like Seafile and Syncthing, though some users note that free options may lack live-sync capabilities or require more technical setup.
11 mentions · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · Aug 2026
Can Obsidian be used for project management and task tracking?
Yes, users track tasks and projects using templates, properties, and plugins like Dataview. Some users prefer to keep everything within Obsidian, while others find it more effective to use it alongside dedicated task managers like TickTick or OmniFocus, using Obsidian primarily for documentation and knowledge management.
9 mentions · r/ObsidianMD · r/traveller · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · r/ObsidianMD · Aug 2026
These summarise counts and dates only. Read the quotes themselves under what people are saying.
What people are saying about Obsidian
48% positive“Scrolling isn’t infinite sadly since allowing infinite scroll means rendering large chunks of the book before they’re seen, and that caused a fair amount of performance issues on mobile. Glad you’re liking it so far!”
“same, consolidating the whole workflow into obsidian is really appealing”
“I can’t easily navigate pages on my mobile device. For instance, swiping opens the side panel of Obsidian, but AI can’t find an option for infinite scrolling pages. Any note on that?”
“I've been wanting to annotate ebooks for a while in obsidian but the other plugins weren't quite exactly what I wanted or didn't have support for mobile devices. I can't wait to try this during my trip!”
“I like that your plugin turns Obsidian into a proper reader and annotations stay in obsidian.”
“I had similar doubts but I'm so so happy I moved! My recommendation is do give it a try.”
“obsidian has homepage which can be customised using CSS snippit”
“In Obsidian I cannot do that. I have to manually update how many singles, doubles, etc. there are in the aggregate table, because those tables cannot talk to each other via relationships. It's not nearly as powerful as Notion, at least not out of the box.”
“I switched to Obsidian for privacy reasons, but especially with respect to formulas and calculations (most notably rollups) Notion is quite a bit ahead.”
“It’s not really designed for database stuff. Yes you can make it work but it’s the wrong tool for the job.”
“Notion is a database-first platform and not a filesystem-first/markdown ecosystem like Obsidian is.”
“I was using Notion to save various artists; and so I recreated it on Obsidian. Altough I do not know your use case”
“I've been thinking of migrating to Obsidian due to concerns about security and stability (in terms of not losing my stuff if anything were to happen to the company), and since Obsidian keeps files locally, it caught my eye.”
“I usually just use Obsidian for everything, but having a dedicated PDF reader could definitely streamline the process.”
“Obsidian can do the notes-per-slide part without a plugin and without screenshots. Put !\[\[lecture.pdf#page=12\]\] in a note and it shows the deck opened at slide 12.”
“If you don't know how to map out your life on paper, it's not going to be magically solved in Obsidian.”
“I think this is doable through Obsidian but unfortunately i don't have a direct answer off the top of my head.”
“I see how Obsidian links ideas together and want that in my life. I then research Obsidian, learn about it, but.... don't know how to use it.”
“typing notes next to each lecture slide in obsidian?”
“sometimes obsidian is still the cleanest vault visualizer”
“Go back to Obsidian afterwards, you'll then have a real habit of note-taking :)”
“For me I like to document everything in my life and it is so nice being able to open my vault on the go and access literally any information I need. It helps me remember everything.”
“Just start doing normal notes, use obsidian simple, and after a while start with plugins etc. I had the same problem, a this helped me”
“It's extremely easy to complicate obsidian by making hundreds of setup changes that you might never even use. Keeping things simple is the key for making a vault that you can use long term.”
“I'm developing an Obsidian plugin called card workspace , and eventually I want to build my own software. And once I poured my energy into that, all my reading and thinking naturally started leaning in that direction.”