Obsidian vs Recall

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.

Recall is a personal AI knowledge base for saving, summarizing, organizing, connecting, and discussing articles, videos, podcasts, PDFs, and notes. It can connect related saved items in a knowledge graph and surface those links while users browse. Users can chat with their saved material, the open web, or both using models including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. Recall can also generate quizzes and use spaced repetition to revisit saved content. Its MCP server connects with Cursor, Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini CLI, but currently allows read-only access to the knowledge base. Recall says it does not use user data for advertising, profiling, or AI training; it also describes augmented browsing as local-first, with processing on the device and no browsing data sent to its servers. Users can access, export, or delete their data. The Free plan includes 10 AI summaries per month, unlimited saved content and notes, and API and MCP access. Plus costs $10 a month billed yearly; Max costs $38 a month billed yearly. Recall supports web, iOS, Android, browser extensions, and offline access.