Why move from Roam Research?
The pioneer that stopped innovating
Roam Research basically invented the networked note-taking category back in 2019. Bidirectional links, block references, graph view: all concepts that Roam popularized. But honestly? In 2026, Roam feels like it's standing still while competitors sprint ahead.
The pricing is the first thing that pushes people away. $15/month or $165/year for what is essentially a note-taking app. That's more than Notion, Obsidian Sync, and most productivity software. When Roam launched, the features justified the price. Now? Not so much.
Performance gets worse as your database grows. I used Roam for about a year and by the time I hit 5,000 notes, the lag was noticeable. Opening the graph view took 10+ seconds. Searching felt sluggish. For a tool meant to help you think faster, the slowness is ironic and frustrating.
The lack of offline support is baffling for a note-taking app in 2026. Everything lives in the cloud, which means no internet equals no access to your notes. Obsidian and Logseq store notes locally as Markdown files. Roam locks everything behind their servers.
Feature development has slowed down. The community plugins and themes that were promised took years to arrive, and even now, the plugin ecosystem is tiny compared to Obsidian's 1,000+ community plugins. Roam announced lots of features (whiteboards, mobile improvements, API access) that either took forever to ship or still aren't here.
The mobile apps are mediocre at best. Slow, buggy, and missing features compared to the desktop version. I've lost edits because the mobile app crashed or didn't sync properly. For something I'm paying $15/month for, that's unacceptable.
Maybe you're just tired of the cult-like community that formed around Roam in 2020-2021. The #roamcult hashtag was fun at first, but the tool worship got exhausting. Turns out plenty of other apps do networked thinking just as well (or better) without the hype.
Or maybe you want local-first storage, better performance, more plugins, or just a tool that's actively improving instead of coasting on past innovation. Whatever the reason, you've got options.
Obsidian
Best overall alternative
Obsidian is the most popular Roam alternative, and for good reason. It does everything Roam does (bidirectional links, graph view, block references) but stores your notes as local Markdown files that you actually own. No cloud lock-in, no vendor dependency.
The performance is stupidly fast. I migrated from Roam with 6,000+ notes and Obsidian handles it without breaking a sweat. Instant search, smooth graph navigation, no lag. The difference is night and day compared to Roam's sluggishness with large databases.
The plugin ecosystem is massive. Over 1,000 community plugins covering everything from calendar views to advanced task management to integration with Readwise, Zotero, and Anki. Roam has maybe 50 plugins. If you need customization or specific workflows, Obsidian destroys Roam.
Obsidian is free for personal use. Sync costs $8/month if you want official syncing across devices (or you can use iCloud, Dropbox, Syncthing for free). Publish costs $8/month if you want to publish notes to the web. Even if you pay for both, you're spending $16/month, which is the same as Roam but with way more features and ownership of your data.
The community is enormous and helpful. Reddit's r/ObsidianMD has 200k+ members. Any question you have, someone's already answered it. Any workflow you want to build, there's probably a plugin or guide for it. Roam's community is smaller and less active these days.
Migrating from Roam is straightforward. Export your Roam database as Markdown, import to Obsidian, and most of your structure (links, tags, blocks) transfers cleanly. You'll need to adjust some syntax (Roam uses `#[[tags]]`, Obsidian uses `#tags`), but nothing major breaks.
Downsides? The learning curve is steeper than Roam. Obsidian is more "build your own system" while Roam has opinions about structure (daily notes, page references). Some people love the flexibility; others find it overwhelming. Also, Obsidian's graph view is functional but not as pretty as Roam's.
The mobile apps are solid. Not perfect, but way better than Roam's. They work offline, sync reliably, and handle large vaults without crashing. I edit notes on my phone regularly without issues.
Logseq
Best free Roam clone
Logseq is the closest thing to a free, open-source Roam clone. It uses the same outliner structure, supports bidirectional links and block references, has a graph view, and stores everything as local Markdown files. If you love Roam's workflow but hate the price, Logseq is your answer.
The daily notes workflow is nearly identical to Roam. Open the app, start writing in today's page, create links and blocks, reference them later. Muscle memory from Roam transfers almost perfectly. I know several people who switched from Roam to Logseq and barely noticed a difference in their workflow.
Logseq is completely free and open-source. No premium tier, no subscription, no catch. Sync costs $5/month if you want official syncing, but you can use iCloud, Dropbox, or Syncthing for free. Compared to Roam's $15/month, you're saving $180/year.
The plugin system is growing fast. Not as mature as Obsidian's, but there are plugins for PDF annotation, flashcards, pomodoro timers, and more. The community is active and constantly building new stuff.
Performance is good with small to medium databases (under 10k notes). Once you get larger, it can slow down a bit, but it's still faster than Roam. The graph view renders quickly even with thousands of notes.
Logseq also has built-in task management and queries that feel more powerful than Roam's. You can create complex queries to pull tasks by project, priority, or date. Roam has queries too, but Logseq's implementation is more flexible.
Migration from Roam is easy. Export your Roam data, import to Logseq, and the outliner structure transfers almost perfectly. Some cleanup needed for edge cases, but 90% of your notes work immediately.
Downsides: The mobile apps are decent but not as polished as Obsidian's. They work, but they feel a bit rough around the edges. Also, Logseq is outliner-first (everything is a bullet point), which some people love and others find limiting compared to Obsidian's flexibility.
The UI feels more cluttered than Roam or Obsidian. There are lots of buttons and options visible by default. You can customize it, but out of the box, it's busier than I'd like.
Notion
Best for structured collaboration
Notion is a totally different beast than Roam. It's not an outliner, it doesn't have block references the same way, and the graph view is non-existent. But if you're moving away from Roam and want something more structured with databases and better collaboration, Notion is worth considering.
The bidirectional linking works, but it's not as central to the experience as in Roam. You create links between pages, but you don't build a web of connected thoughts in the same way. Notion is more about organizing information hierarchically (folders, pages, databases) than building a knowledge graph.
Where Notion destroys Roam: team collaboration and databases. If you need to share notes with teammates, build project dashboards, or create relational databases, Notion is leagues ahead. Roam's collaboration is basic at best. Notion was built for it.
The templates and use cases are endless. Task management, CRM, documentation, wikis, content calendars: Notion handles all of it. Roam is strictly for personal knowledge management and note-taking. If you need your notes to do more than just connect to each other, Notion offers way more flexibility.
Pricing is competitive. Free for personal use with unlimited blocks (Notion dropped the block limit in 2026). Plus plan is $8/month, which is half the cost of Roam. For teams, Business plan is $15/user/month with advanced features.
Performance is... okay. Not as fast as Obsidian, better than late-stage Roam. Large databases can get slow, but Notion's been improving performance over the past year. Still not as snappy as local-first tools.
The AI features (Notion AI) are genuinely useful for writing, summarizing, and organizing notes. Costs extra ($8-10/month), but it's way more advanced than anything Roam offers. If AI-assisted note-taking matters to you, Notion wins.
Downsides: Everything lives in Notion's cloud. No local storage, no Markdown export that preserves structure perfectly. If Notion goes down or changes pricing drastically, you're at their mercy. Roam has the same problem, but at least Obsidian and Logseq don't.
The mobile apps are solid. Better than Roam's, not as fast as Obsidian's. They work offline (sort of), but the experience is clearly optimized for desktop/tablet use.
RemNote
Best for students and learning
RemNote combines networked note-taking with spaced repetition flashcards, which is a unique angle. If you're using Roam for learning and want built-in memorization tools, RemNote is designed exactly for that use case.
The bidirectional linking and outliner structure work similarly to Roam. You create notes, link concepts, build a knowledge graph. But RemNote adds the ability to turn any note or block into a flashcard with spaced repetition scheduling. This is huge for students, researchers, or anyone learning complex material.
The flashcard system is more powerful than Anki for some workflows because the cards are embedded in your notes. You're not maintaining a separate flashcard deck; you're just marking concepts in your notes for review. The scheduling algorithm is solid (based on SuperMemo).
RemNote is free for core features including unlimited notes and basic spaced repetition. Pro plan is $6/month, which is way cheaper than Roam and includes features like custom CSS, advanced flashcard settings, and PDF annotation.
The PDF annotation feature is excellent for academic work. Import research papers, highlight passages, add notes, and create flashcards directly from the PDF. Those highlights and notes integrate with your knowledge graph. For researchers, this workflow is stupidly useful.
Performance is decent. Not as fast as Obsidian, but comparable to Roam with medium-sized databases. The graph view is functional but not as fancy as Roam's.
Migration from Roam is possible but not seamless. You'll need to manually export and reformat some content. RemNote's outliner syntax is similar but not identical to Roam's.
Downsides: The interface feels more cluttered than Roam. There are flashcard features, knowledge base features, and document features all visible at once. It's powerful but overwhelming for newcomers. Also, RemNote is cloud-based like Roam, not local-first like Obsidian.
The mobile apps work but feel like an afterthought. You can review flashcards on your phone easily, but editing complex notes is clunky compared to desktop.
Tana
Best for power users
Tana is what happens when you take Roam's outliner approach and add powerful database features similar to Notion. It's an outliner, but every node can have fields, tags, and relationships. Think Roam meets Notion with better performance.
The "supertags" system is Tana's killer feature. You can create tags with custom fields and views. For example, create a #book supertag with fields for author, rating, and status. Tag a note as #book and those fields appear automatically. This is way more powerful than Roam's simple tagging.
Queries and views are incredibly flexible. You can create custom dashboards pulling data from across your notes based on tags, fields, and relationships. It's like Notion's databases but in an outliner format. For people who want Roam's flexibility with Notion's structure, Tana hits that sweet spot.
Performance is excellent. Fast search, smooth navigation, no lag even with large databases. The team clearly learned from Roam's performance problems and built something snappier.
Tana is currently free while in beta (as of 2026). They'll eventually charge, but pricing hasn't been announced. Expect it to be somewhere between Roam and Notion once they launch officially.
The learning curve is steep. Tana has lots of concepts (nodes, fields, supertags, commands) that take time to understand. Roam is simpler; Tana is more powerful but harder to master. Budget a few weeks to get comfortable.
Downsides: Still in beta, so some features are rough or missing. The mobile experience is basically non-existent (mobile web works but isn't optimized). Also, Tana is cloud-based, not local-first. Your data lives on their servers.
Migration from Roam is manual and tedious. There's no automated import (yet). If you have thousands of Roam notes, expect to spend significant time moving things over or just start fresh.
The community is smaller than Roam, Obsidian, or Logseq. Still active and helpful, but fewer resources, templates, and guides available.
Heptabase
Best for visual thinking
Heptabase takes a visual, whiteboard-first approach to knowledge management. Instead of Roam's text-heavy outliner, Heptabase lets you organize notes as cards on infinite canvases. If you think visually and Roam's linear structure feels limiting, Heptabase is worth exploring.
The whiteboard interface is excellent for brainstorming, project planning, and connecting ideas spatially. You place note cards on the canvas, draw connections between them, group related concepts visually. It's like having a massive desk where you can spread out your thoughts and see relationships at a glance.
Bidirectional links work, but they're less central than in Roam. You can link notes together, but the primary organization method is spatial (where cards live on whiteboards) rather than link-based. Different mental model, works better for some people.
The card-based editing is smooth. Each note is a card that can live on multiple whiteboards. Update a card in one place, and it updates everywhere. This is similar to Roam's block references but more visual.
Heptabase is great for visual thinkers and people working on complex projects that need spatial organization. Research projects, book writing, course planning: all use cases where seeing the big picture spatially helps. Roam is better for stream-of-consciousness daily notes.
Pricing is $8.99/month, which is cheaper than Roam and competitive with other alternatives. There's a free trial to test the workflow.
Performance is solid. Loading whiteboards is fast, moving cards around is smooth, no lag with medium-sized knowledge bases (haven't tested with huge databases).
Downsides: The learning curve is moderate. The whiteboard metaphor is intuitive, but figuring out how to organize knowledge spatially takes adjustment if you're coming from Roam's outliner. Also, Heptabase is less mature than Obsidian or Notion, so some features are still being built out.
Mobile apps are basic. You can view and edit cards, but the whiteboard experience doesn't translate well to phone screens. Heptabase is really optimized for desktop/tablet use.
The plugin ecosystem is tiny (basically non-existent). If you rely heavily on customization and third-party plugins like in Obsidian, you'll be disappointed.
Choosing the right Roam Research alternative
Picking the right Roam alternative depends on what you actually loved about Roam and what drove you away.
If you want the closest Roam experience
Logseq. Same outliner structure, similar daily notes workflow, free and open-source. Migration is straightforward, and you'll feel at home immediately.
If you want maximum flexibility and customization
Obsidian. Huge plugin ecosystem, local Markdown files you own, fast performance. The learning curve is steeper, but the payoff is a system that adapts to exactly how you work.
If you need team collaboration
Notion. Roam isn't built for collaboration; Notion is. Real-time editing, permissions, databases, templates: all the features teams actually need.
If you're a student or researcher
RemNote for built-in spaced repetition and PDF annotation. Obsidian with community plugins (Spaced Repetition, Zotero integration) is also excellent.
If you think visually
Heptabase. The whiteboard interface is perfect for spatial thinkers who find Roam's linear structure limiting.
If you want power-user database features
Tana. It's like Roam meets Notion with custom fields, queries, and views. Still in beta, but already more powerful than Roam in many ways.
If budget is a concern
Logseq (free), Obsidian (free for personal use), or Notion (free for individuals). All of them undercut Roam's $15/month significantly.
If data ownership matters
Obsidian or Logseq. Both store notes as local Markdown files. Roam, Notion, RemNote, and Tana lock your data in their cloud.
Bottom line: Roam was innovative in 2019 but has been surpassed. Almost every alternative on this list offers better value, performance, or features depending on your needs.
Migrating from Roam Research
Moving your knowledge base from Roam takes time, but it's less painful than you'd think.
Export your Roam database first
Go to Settings > Export All and download your entire graph as JSON and Markdown. Do this even if you're not migrating yet. It's your backup if Roam ever disappears or you lose access.
Start small, don't migrate everything
Pick 50-100 of your most important notes and migrate those first. Get comfortable with your new tool's workflow before dumping 5,000 notes into it. I made the mistake of migrating everything at once and spent weeks cleaning up formatting issues.
Expect syntax cleanup
Roam's block references (`((block-id))`) won't translate perfectly to Obsidian or Logseq. Tags work differently. Queries need rewriting. Budget time for manual cleanup. It's tedious but necessary.
Most tools have import scripts
Obsidian and Logseq both have community-built scripts for importing Roam exports. Search GitHub for "roam to obsidian" or "roam to logseq" and you'll find tools that automate 80% of the work. The remaining 20% is manual cleanup.
Don't try to recreate Roam exactly
Your new tool probably has different strengths. Let yourself adapt. Maybe Obsidian's canvas view works better for project planning than Roam's links did. Maybe Logseq's queries are more powerful. Don't force your old workflow onto a new system.
Use both tools in parallel for a week
Keep Roam open (read-only) while you build your new system. Reference old notes as needed, but create all new notes in the new tool. After a week or two, you'll naturally stop opening Roam.
Cancel Roam when you're ready
Once you're fully migrated and comfortable, cancel your Roam subscription. Don't feel bad about leaving. You paid for a tool, the tool didn't keep up with alternatives, you made a rational decision to switch. That's normal software evolution.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Obsidian better than Roam Research?
For most people, yes. Obsidian is faster, more customizable, cheaper (free for personal use), and you own your data as local Markdown files. Roam's only advantage is a slightly simpler initial setup. But once you push past Obsidian's learning curve, it's hard to go back.
What's the best free Roam alternative?
Logseq. It's open-source, works almost identically to Roam, and costs nothing. Obsidian is also free for personal use (sync costs extra). Both are excellent free options.
Can I switch from Roam without losing notes?
Yes. Export your Roam database as Markdown, then import to Obsidian, Logseq, or another tool. Some formatting and syntax will need cleanup, but the core content transfers. Budget a few hours for migration and cleanup depending on database size.
Which alternative is best for academic research?
RemNote for built-in spaced repetition and PDF annotation. Obsidian with Zotero and Spaced Repetition plugins is also excellent. Both handle citations, research notes, and learning better than Roam.
Do any alternatives have Roam's graph view?
Yes. Obsidian, Logseq, RemNote, and Notion all have graph views. Obsidian's is the most customizable. Logseq's is closest to Roam's aesthetically. None are identical, but all serve the same purpose.
Why is Roam so expensive compared to alternatives?
Good question. When Roam launched in 2019, the features justified the $15/month price. But competitors caught up and undercut them. As of 2026, you're mostly paying for the brand and early-mover status. Most alternatives offer better value.
Which tool is fastest for large databases?
Obsidian. It handles 10k+ notes without lag. Logseq is decent up to 5-10k notes. Roam slows down noticeably past 5k notes. Notion can get sluggish with large databases too.