Notion vs Obsidian

Notion is a cloud workspace for organising personal projects and coordinating work. Its pages, blocks, and databases support note sharing and real-time collaboration, and offline access is available. It runs on the web, Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, with a Chrome extension also listed. Connections include Slack, Google Drive, Figma, GitHub, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams. Notion supports semantic search, AI search or answers, and version history. The Free plan costs $0 per member per month and includes trial AI capabilities and a trial of Notion AI. Free uploads are limited to 5 MB per file, multi-member Free workspaces have a limited number of blocks, and external guests are limited to 10. Plus costs $10 per member per month, and Business costs $20 per member per month; yearly payment saves up to 20%. Paid plans list unlimited guests. Notion says data is encrypted and private, and that Notion AI does not use customer data to train models unless users opt in. Enterprise workspaces get zero data retention with LLM providers.

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.