Joplin vs Obsidian
Joplin
joplinapp.org
Obsidian
obsidian.mdSide by side
| Figure | Joplin | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | €2.39/mo | $4.17/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 10 | 6 |
| Spec score · Note-taking apps | 9.3 (#7) | 9.5 (#3) |
| Spec score · Note And Writing Apps | 9.0 (#4) | 8.9 (#7) |
| Education discount | Students and teachers can receive a 50% discount for one year, renewable while in education. | Students, faculty, and nonprofit employees receive a 40% discount on Sync and Publish. |
| End-to-end encryption | Joplin uses end-to-end encryption to secure notes so only the user can access them. | Obsidian Sync uses AES-256 end-to-end encryption. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | Joplin Cloud,Nextcloud,S3,WebDAV,Dropbox,OneDrive,Local filesystem | Notion,Airtable,Microsoft OneNote,Evernote,Apple Notes,Apple Journal,Google Keep,Bear,Craft,Roam Research,Logseq,Tomboy,Gnote |
| Note sharing | Joplin Cloud lets users share notes and collaborate with friends, family or colleagues. | Yes |
| Offline access | Yes | Yes |
| Supported platforms | web,Windows,macOS,Linux,iOS,Android,Chrome extension,API | Windows,macOS,Linux,iOS,Android,Chrome extension |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes | Yes |
| Storage limit | 2 | 1 |
| Supported platforms | The app is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS, plus a terminal app. | Obsidian supports Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android, and headless servers. |
Plans
Joplin
- Basic€2.99 a month
- Basic€28.69 a year
- Pro€5.99 a month
- Pro€57.48 a year
- Pro 100 GB€9.99 a month
- Pro 100 GB€95.88 a year
- Teams€7.99 a month
- Teams€80.28 a year
- Joplin Server BusinessPrice not published
- Joplin Server BusinessPriced on request
Obsidian
- Sync Standard$5 a month
- Sync Plus$10 a month
- Publish$10 a month
- Catalyst$25, paid once
- Commercial$50 a year
- FreeFree
In their own words
Joplin
Joplin is an open-source note-taking app with offline access and support for notes containing images, videos, PDFs and audio. It runs on Android, iOS, Windows, macOS, Linux and the web, with a Chrome extension and API also listed. A web clipper for Chrome and Firefox saves pages or screenshots as notes. Notes can sync through Joplin Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, S3, WebDAV or a local filesystem. Joplin uses end-to-end encryption, and shared notebooks can be set to editable or read-only. Basic costs €2.99 a month, with 2 GB of storage and a 10 MB limit per note or attachment. Pro costs €5.99 a month for 30 GB and a 200 MB per-note or attachment limit; Pro 100 GB costs €9.99 a month. Teams costs €7.99 a month per user, with a minimum of two users, and includes 50 GB of storage. Plans include a 14-day free trial. Students and teachers can receive a 50% discount for one year, renewable while in education.
Obsidian
Obsidian is a note-taking app for keeping notes and building a personal knowledge workspace. Its core app is free, has no sign-up requirement, and stores notes on the user's device so they remain available offline. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, and as a Chrome extension. Canvas provides an open workspace for research, brainstorming, diagrams, and ideas; thousands of plugins and an open API allow workflow customization. Shared vaults support team work with real-time updates. Sync adds synchronization and version history: Standard costs $5 per user per month billed annually, with one vault, 1 GB of storage, a 5 MB maximum file size, and one month of history. Plus costs $10 per user per month billed annually, with 10 vaults, 10 GB, a 200 MB maximum file size, and 12 months of history. Publish is $10 per site per month billed annually and includes up to 4 GB hosting per site. It offers themes, custom domains, password protection, and SEO optimization.