Is Obsidian worth it? Our review

Best Features, Pros, Cons, Pricing & User Reviews

Here's an exploration into Obsidian and whether it is a suitable tool for you and your note-taking:

Obsidian is one of the most popular PKM note-taking applications in the space right now.

The concept is very simple. Obsidian wants you to help take your notes together and bring them all into a networked thought system. This system allows you to see relationships between notes and also helps you collaborate and better manage them. The experience is free. It's not as easy to use, but it does take some time to learn.

However, it is an application that many people are moving towards from popular apps like Evernote and other such resources to take back control of their notes and create a system they can use every day. Let's explore it in this review as we've tried and tested Obsidian to give you the best breakdown and see whether it's the best application for you.

What is Obsidian?

Obsidian is a note-taking application designed to help you connect and organize your ideas effectively. It’s a local-first, markdown note-taking app, meaning your notes are stored securely on your device, prioritizing privacy. Obsidian is accessible on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android, and no account or sign-up is required unless you want to sync between devices.

This makes it easy to use, and Obsidian is becoming a well-known Evernote alternative.

Who is Obsidian best suited for?

Obsidian is typically best for those who want to organize their notes in a connected environment. Obsidian won't be for everyone, primarily because it's quite challenging to learn.

Obsidan isn't like a traditional notes app with a simplistic user interface and a set of features that you could probably start using from day one.

Obsidian is an amalgamation of features. Not using some of the more advanced features feels like underutilizing the platform. The application is, of course, free to use, which makes it really accessible for the more budget-conscious. But we typically recommend or find that Obsidian is most suitable for those who want to create relationships between their notes and build a digital brain of all of their ideas and concepts. It's popular with researchers, students, and busy professionals.

But we typically find that those who want to diverge from their notes-taking concepts a little bit more and embrace systems like the second brain find the best qualities of Obsidian. So, if you meet those criteria, it's worth exploring.

How does Obsidian work?

Obsidian works by allowing you to take notes, connect them & visualize them.

Obsidian works very simply, like most other note-taking applications. You can create a new note. And inside of that note, the concept is pretty simple. You can start writing, adding headers, and adding details like images and other such bits.

How does markdown work in Obsidian?

You can also use Markdown to write these notes, which makes them accessible and great for moving platforms in the future. If you're interested, try checking out some of our Obsidian alternatives.

Obsidian will allow you to use Markdown to format your items, adding everything you need, including code and maths, as well as up to six headings too. You can also insert tables, callouts, and horizontal rules as part of the regular text formatting. Now, inside each of the notes you take, you can use the brackets to search for a note you may have in your account.

How do backlinks work in Obsidian?

This is called backlinking, and Obsidian's power is brought into one experience. The idea is to connect a note in your system and build it from there. You can also see the word count and characters that you've used per note.

This is where the real magic comes in with Obsidian, is you can go and see the graph view, which will allow you to get a perspective of all of the notes you've created in your account and how they connect up. You need to start using backlinking to be able to see those relationships merge, but this is an exciting offering. This is well explained by people like Nick Milo, Obsidian expert.

Many people use Obsidian to build relationships between notes, allowing you to enhance them and see how they interconnect. Obsidian uses local-first, which means you can view notes offline, but you can use it without storing data outside of your device. You can sync it with other devices (say you have iOS and Windows), but you would need the Obsidian sync pricing, which allows you to sync and have E2E notes. Obsidian also works with markdown, which means you can take easy notes and move between apps.

How does Obsidian graph view work?

Obsidian also has more views for visualizing notes, like graph and canvas views.

Both are effective ways to take notes and see how they connect. Graph view acts like a brain and a visual representation of all the notes in your account. Many people also like Obsidian Canvas, which provides users with a Miro-like layout for organizing notes, images, and documents in a canvas-like layout.

Obsidian uses plugins to optimize your use; community plugins allow you to add experiences like Kanban, calendar, and task management to Obsidian in a (what feels like) hacky style for better workload management. There are also core plugins, which are the features available to Obsidian users as part of the core experience that you can choose to switch on and off, making Obsidian very customizable. Now, Obsidian is packed with many other features, but in terms of its core structure, everything is built from something called Evolve. This means everything in Obsidian is locally stored, which is incredibly helpful for many people.

Whilst we tested it, it worked very well as a way to locally store all of the notes in Markdown format. This doesn't just make it ideal as a concept for moving applications in the future, but for security as well. You own the notes. You can move the notes anywhere you like.

Some have found it beneficial to add it into secure iCloud folders so that they can use it between devices. But obviously, that's up to your liking. And of course, Obsidian is available on a range of devices.

Feature Focus

Obsidian: Offline Mode

How does offline work in Obsidian?

Obsidian has a local-first focus, which allows you to build a vault. This helps store your files and documents on the device, allowing for a more secure setup. This will enable you to store your vault on the device you own.

Many people find Obsidian's offline local-first focus an attractive solution to companies owning your data. An optional "sync" mode allows you to sync between devices, but this comes as a monthly fee.

Feature Focus

Obsidian: Note Editor

What can I add to Obsidian notes?

Obsidian notes can contain the following formats: text, links, images, tags, tables, backlinks, and embeds like YouTube videos, PDFs, and code snippets. Obsidian's plugin community allows for more Kanban Boards and calendar views.

This comes in a minimal and easy-to-use layout.

Feature Focus

Obsidian: Canvas View

What is Obsidian Canvas?

Obsidian Canvas is a feature that allows you to connect notes, visualize images and notes in one place, and build a visual workspace that can help bring ideas to life. Many visual thinkers like this experience to bring their ideas together.

The feature is perfect if you have an idea and want to express it in a visual manner, allowing you to use diagrams and existing notes in your Obsidian vault. Other apps like Scrintal and Milanote have features like this.

Feature Focus

E2E notes in Obsidian Sync

Does Obsidian have E2E Notes?

Obsidian offers an optional upgrade for Obsidian Sync (see pricing) that will help you sync between devices and have E2E notes used to sync between devices. The application is excellent because upgrading to the premium syncing options allows you to use end-to-end encryption to store and securely manage your notes between devices.

There's also version history, which allows you to see the version history for every note for one year. Also, if you want to work on team notes, there is a shared file with private data.

Feature Focus

Obsidian: Graph View

What is Obsidian Graph View?

Obsidian graph view helps people visualize notes connected across their workspace. This is perfect for those who want to see relationships between notes created and the creativity of ideas formed in your account.

You can use the filtering of nodes to narrow your search better, but much like the human brain, the graph view shows the synapses between notes and thoughts you've had. This is a popular feature in the note-taking PKM space.