Notion vs Obsidian: Which App Is Best? Detailed Comparison

Note-taking apps can be used for various purposes, including sharing files and planning daily activities. While several of these apps are available in the market, there may be a lack of clarity for individuals to find the one that suits their needs.

In our Notion vs Obsidian review, we’ll focus on the features, pricing, and user experience to analyze these competitors to see which is best.

Notion Overview

Notion is a simple and powerful multi-purpose note-taking tool that helps teams and individuals manage, organise and collaborate on tasks. The tool also integrates well with other popular applications, such as Slack and Google Drive, to give users additional freedom and capability.

Notion was founded in 2016 by Ivan Zhao and Simon Last to create a simpler workflow environment for people. Since then, it has expanded into a $10 billion market leader in the categories of remote work, productivity, and collaboration.

Every app has its advantages and disadvantages. Below, we take a look at Notions, pros and cons.

Pros

• Seamless integration with 37+ productivity apps including Slack
• Free plan for individuals with low budget
• Easy customization with over 16+ templates.
• Mobile apps available via iOS and Android for productivity on the go

Cons

• New users may experience a learning curve
• Slow customer service response

Obsidian Overview

Obsidian is a note-taking and knowledge graph app that users can customize for various levels of productivity. The platform was launched in 2020 by Shida Li and Erica Xu with the goal of creating a workspace where users can write down their ideas and communicate with others.

Dubbed the “second brain”, it enables users to create notes and link them with each other to develop complex knowledge graphs. With Obsidian, people can use Markdown – a text-to-HTML conversion tool for web writers, to create notes and save their files in a local folder.

Pros

• Intuitive and well-designed interface for easy navigation and customization
• Sync work across multiple devices using Obsidian Sync
• Mobile apps available on iOS and Android
• Offers about 750 Multiple plug-in options

Cons

• Doesn’t offer real-time collaboration
• Users have to backup their files online themselves

Notion vs Obsidian: Top Features

Both Notion and Obsidian are well-known for helping users organize their work and boost productivity. Let’s look at the notable features of these apps.

Note Saving and Storage

Obsidian works both online and offline, and files are kept on users’ devices. Users who like to keep track of their work across multiple devices can achieve this through “Obsidian Sync.”

However, they’ll have to pay a fee for the upgrade. The “Obsidian Sync” gives 10 GB of data space for work synchronization across multiple devices.

Notion, on the other hand, works online and stores files in the cloud. As a result, it provides seamless navigation between workspaces on different devices.

All Notion paid accounts have unlimited file storage, while free accounts offer up to 5 MB in size.

Collaboration and Note Sharing

Notion shines when it comes to collaboration and note-sharing. Users can simply share a link with a team member or friend to edit, comment on, or view their Notion workspace to collaborate in real time.

In contrast, Obsidian does not offer real-time collaboration. They can, however, share their markdown files through “Obsidian Publish” in text or PDF format. This costs a fee, and only their vault’s public URL is shared with the world for viewing only.

Backlinking

Both Notion and Obsidian allow users to collate ideas and converge their thoughts in one place with the backlinking feature.

Notion’s backlinking feature enables users to connect their ideas by automatically creating a backlink whenever they make a link. Then users can see where each backlink to a specific page was used and view them all. This feature is useful when creating wikis, integrating ideas, or handling tasks in Notion.

One of the core components of Obsidian Notes is backlinking, which makes creating wikis easier. A wiki is a page that has links to other pages to create a network of pages.

Obsidian lets users create a connected web of ideas with a knowledge graph in place of hierarchical files or databases, making it the perfect tool for students, academics, software engineers, and other professionals who are constantly taking notes.

Device Compatibility

Both Notion and Obsidian have mobile apps available for download from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. They also offer a native web app for desktop users.

However, Notion web apps are restricted to just Mac and Windows, while Obsidian edges out the competition by providing native web apps for Linux operating systems.

Notion vs Obsidian: User Experience

Both Notion and Obsidian have an easy-to-use and well-designed user interface.

Notion allows users to move between personal and team projects seamlessly, and several styles and features are available. Documents can be readily enhanced with media, tables, and Gantt charts.

However, some users have complained about the number of features available, making the software a bit overwhelming.

Obsidian offers a simple interface simple and clear to use. Users can easily navigate Obsidian’s knowledge graph, a highly visual web of concepts that organizes and connects all of the users’ notes using backlinks. All users’ connections and notes are graphically depicted in the graph view. The program has a minimal learning curve, and new users will feel right at home with it.

Notion and Obsidian also offer mobile and native web apps for a seamless transition. On the other hand, Obsidian outperforms Notion by having a native Linux app.

Notion vs Obsidian: Pricing

Notion and Obsidian provide different price tiers to accommodate users and enterprises of all sizes and budgets.

Notion has four price tiers:

Obsidian Price Tiers

Which is Better Notion or Obsidian?

Notion and Obsidian vary depending on the specific needs of each business or person.

Notion is one of the most widely used project management systems nowadays. It is appropriate for users looking for a centralized area to share files, folders, and documents with team members across multiple devices. Notion adjusts to how a team thinks and collaborates, increasing productivity and project management.

On the other hand, if users want simple, easy-to-use software that enables them to take notes without being distracted, Obsidian is the recommended note-taking tool. Obsidian functions offline and online and maintains users’ privacy because all of their files are saved locally on users’ devices rather than in the cloud. Given that it permits backlinking, it is ideal for collecting notes while conducting research.

Individuals and businesses will find Notion suitable for projects and collaboration. On the other hand, Obsidian tends to cater more to individuals and teams who want to create ideas or share their thoughts.

Alternatives

Aside from Notion and Notion, note-taking applications have additional options.

Nuclino

Nuclino is a centralized workspace where teams may organize knowledge, coordinate projects, and communicate ideas in one location. The platform is user-friendly, and the price starts at $5. It adjusts to a team’s specific workflow so that progress can be monitored on a Kanban board, work organized in a hierarchical list, or data arranged in a visual graph.

Confluence

Confluence is a platform for collaboration and content sharing that is largely used by users of Atlassian’s Jira project management software. Unlike document and file-sharing applications, Confluence is open and collaborative. It lets users create, manage, and contribute to everything from marketing campaigns to product launch plans. The price plan ranges from free to enterprise, with standard and premium prices of $5 and $11, respectively.

Evernote

Evernote is a collection of programmes and services for taking and saving notes. A “note” can be a paragraph of structured text, an entire webpage or a portion of one, a picture, a voice memo, or a note written in “ink” by hand. In addition to offering online synchronization and backup services, Evernote supports various operating systems and mobile apps. The price ranges from free to $7 per month.

We compared Notion to Evernote here, so take a look at that also.

Slite

Slite is a collaborative documentation platform to assist small and medium enterprises to create, share, and update knowledge bases to facilitate team meetings and employee onboarding. It enables users to manage project plans, monitor the revision history of documents, and receive team activity updates to maintain track of ongoing projects. The price range is free, $6 per month for the standard plan, and $12 for the premium plan.

The Verdict

It’s challenging to declare a clear winner in our Notion vs Obsidian comparison. Both note-taking applications are useful but also have their respective flaws.

For instance, Obsidian is mostly offline, making it challenging for users to sync their notes across devices. To achieve that, an additional $8 must be paid each month. Notion, on the other hand, is entirely online. However, while both have well-designed interfaces, users may have to go through a learning curve to understand Notion due to its many features.

FAQs

Is there a better alternative to Notion?

Notion is a capable app that lots of users will fancy. However, there are several alternatives to Notion apps, including Evernote, Nuclino, Slite, ClickUp, etc.

Is Obsidian hard to learn?

Obsidian has a minimal learning curve, and new users can quickly get the hang of it. However, some users have complained about how the app learning curve could be steep, especially trying to understand the markdown. We’ll say that it all depends on the individuals.

Is Notion blocked in China?

Notion’s servers have reportedly been disabled in China because they permit content to be uploaded online without prior regulatory approval.

Can Notion do a Gantt chart?

Users can’t use Notion for Gantt charts. However, Notion has its version of a Gantt chart called Timeline View, which may be built from scratch or utilized as an alternative view for already-existing databases.