--- title: "Obsidian Reviews, Pros and Cons - 2026 Software Advice" description: "Reviews of Obsidian. Learn how real users rate this software's ease-of-use, functionality, overall quality and customer support. Talk to our advisors to see if Obsidian is a good fit for you!" source_url: "https://www.softwareadvice.com/help-desk/obsidian-profile/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- 1 million+ businesses helped. Get advice Get Free Advice [Home](https://www.softwareadvice.com/) / [Knowledge Management Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/help-desk/knowledge-management-comparison/) / [Obsidian](https://www.softwareadvice.com/help-desk/obsidian-profile/) / Obsidian Reviews Software Advice offers objective insights based on verified user reviews and independent product and market research. When our advisors match you to a software provider, we may earn a referral fee. [Overview](https://www.softwareadvice.com/help-desk/obsidian-profile/) Reviews [Alternatives](https://www.softwareadvice.com/help-desk/obsidian-profile/alternatives/) # Obsidian User Reviews ## Reviews summary - Overall rating: 4.8/5 - Total reviews: 47 ### Secondary ratings - Ease of use: 4.0/5 - Customer support: 4.3/5 - Value for money: 4.7/5 - Functionality: 4.6/5 ### Rating distribution - 5 stars: 39 reviews (83%) - 4 stars: 8 reviews (17%) - 3 stars: 0 reviews (0%) - 2 stars: 0 reviews (0%) - 1 star: 0 reviews (0%) ### Most mentioned pros - Local-first architecture keeps every note on my device, so it is lightning-fast and far less exposed to security threats - During the time I've been using the program I've loved the possibilities of customization that you have and the infinite number of plugins to accomplish tasks from the most specific to some more general, also in the aesthetic part also has many configuration options, from the options within the application, as well as using your own CSS files. - In general the use of Obsidian has been very good, after several configurations and a lot of help from the community I have managed to have a knowledge management system which adapts to my learning style and that I enjoy using it, besides that visually I have configured it so that even using it is a pleasant experience. ### Most mentioned cons - The free version does not support real-time collaboration. - There was a small learning curve and I was intimidated at first because it looked complex. - Learning curve might be off-putting for some (plugins, Markdown basics etc.) ## Obsidian customer reviews Showing reviews 1-25 of 47 (page 1). ### Amazing, but challenging to master - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: James B. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Marketing and Advertising - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for less than 6 months - Reviewed: February 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Overall, I think its excellent. I would just consider including a better tips or help section to guide people along. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I love the design and the overall aesthetic most of all. The app has a beautiful design and layout. #### Cons Its got a steep learning curve. Where the actual vaults are stored was a bit confusing as well. --- ### A Good Offline Notes App - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Olivia T. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 201-500 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 6 months - Reviewed: November 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I truly like Obsidian. There was a small learning curve and I was intimidated at first because it looked complex. However, it's pretty easy to use once you understand some of the commands. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I love that it's a offline note app so, I'm able to see my files on my computer. #### Cons Sometimes I have to look up what commands to use. For example, there isn't a button to underline words. I have to do the HTML tag to do it and I didn't know this until I Googled it. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian I needed an offline note app that I can use reliably. --- ### You may need some tech knowledge to use it better - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Ivy C. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Telecommunications - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 12 months - Reviewed: December 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I think Obsidian is ideal for text-centric tasks and it excels in note-taking and daily task tracking. #### Cons It's missing the ability to create forms which might be a bummer for me. Setting up team collaboration isn't a walk in the park either – it lacks the seamless integration for smooth group work. --- ### Obsidian, my go-to, every-day note-taking tool - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Alexander K. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Writing and Editing - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for less than 2 years - Reviewed: November 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I’m using Obsidian every day for personal notes and private notes. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I like how I have the feeling of control when it comes to organizing my notes and therefore my “second brain”. #### Cons Sometimes I would like to a way to organize elements freely like in a Word document but I know that’s not the intended usage. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian The Archive was getting slow when notes got very long, and in Obsidian performance is no longer a problem. --- ### Best Notetaking App - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Writing and Editing - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for less than 2 years - Reviewed: September 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Obsidian can take some getting used to but once you find your stride, it is such a powerful tool and customisable for your particlar ideosyncrasies. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Obsidian is the best notetaking app that I have used and the ability to connect notes and organise them into a personal wiki makes it very useful #### Cons The community is overwhelming because the numerous plugins can get out of hand. #### Reasons for choosing Obsidian Offline and control of my own notes and documents were critical #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian The limited capacity for formatting and review of notes --- ### The best knowledge management software - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Harold E. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Research - Company size: 10000+ employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I have been looking for years for a good (not even great) note-taking / knowledge management system. I have tried many different apps (like Evernote, Simplenote, Gnome Notes, Google Keep, etc.), but I did not like anything. I started considering writing my own app and was taking some notes. Then, Obsidian arrived and blew my mind. I increased my efficiency 100-fold after starting to use it for basically everything (from my notes on string theory and machine learning to my cooking recipes). I would never go back to any other system. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros The fact that it's very fast to take notes (simple markdown format, Latex included…) and to retrieve quickly something (through the fuzzy filename matching, full-text search or tags). That it's possible to sync across various devices (with an excellent mobile app) is outstanding. The extension system is very helpful to supplement features. Also having an open file format is reassuring in case the creators stop updating the app. #### Cons The single most annoying aspect is the lack of proper bibliography / citations management. There is a plugin, but I don't like too much how it works. Otherwise, there is no default. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian The other softwares were either too simple or too complex. Obsidian lies at the sweet spot between features and simplicity. --- ### Great tool, although not very attractive to use - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Marketing and Advertising - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: February 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. The interface is quite unpleasant and takes getting used to. There is a lack of detailed tutorials from the company, if it weren't for its disinterested community that shares tips and videos on YouTube it would be very difficult to learn how to take advantage of this tool. But, on the other hand, it is getting better every time, since it is updated frequently. I hope you continue to invest in this tool as it is the best in its field in my opinion. I've tried Logseq, Notion, etc., and I'm sticking with Obsidian. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I love that it allows markdown and hosting all your notes on your own computer. It has a large number of plugins and a community willing to help each other. #### Cons If you want synchronization between devices you will have to pay (there is a free option through Google Drive but it is not very effective). And the payment option is quite expensive per year. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian Notion does not allow you to host your data on your computer. They are always in the cloud and suffers quite frequent server crashes, so I was not confident. --- ### Great knowledge management tool, little pricey, a lot of manual work - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: January 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 2/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I love how fast it is. Since everything lives locally, you don't have to worry about pages not loading or missing internet access. Pages are cached in the background and can load instantly when you want to, making context switching instant and producing content super fast. #### Cons The idea of knowledge graph is more or less a "marketing concept" (according to [sensitive content hidden] of Reflect, [sensitive content hidden]). Not sure about the usability of it. But also since everything is done locally, it's a lot of work to back things up or sync across devices -- something you'd expect the product to handle like Notion. #### Reasons for choosing Obsidian It's fast, it's painless to use, and it requires minimal setup to start writing. It's best for personal knowledge management in my opinion, less that of a team knowledge base. --- ### Great Tool for Quick Note Taking - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Ozone B. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: E-Learning - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 6 months - Reviewed: September 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros The application is very light and easy to use, and provides easy sync across many platforms. It also has amazing vim support, which is very convenient for vim enthusiasts. #### Cons As the application is made to be lightweight, it might not feel as organized as something like Notion, and the formatting options are not as easy to find and implement as Notion. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian Notion does not have good support on Linux, and it has a very long boot time. The only option to get Notion on Linux is using it through snap or browser, which is inconvenient. --- ### Rock solid. It’s taking app - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Drew B. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 12 months - Reviewed: May 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I came to obsidium from a few disappointed attempts to use other apps, which would turn out to be TOO complicated or wouldn’t do what I needed or were just clunky. Linking files changed everything, for me. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros It is easy to grasp and easy use. Markdown makes it easy to tailor your text without lots of screen clutter and the way it supports linking documents is a dream. I love that! #### Cons It does take a couple of tries to get used to how the screen presents on a phone compared to a desktop. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian Obsidium was easier to use, more intuitive. --- ### Good for managing ideas - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Kayla M. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Marketing and Advertising - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 12 months - Reviewed: April 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Good alternative to Notion for organizing ideas #### Cons It's user-friendless when you switch from Notion --- ### The App for Zettelkasten - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Health, Wellness and Fitness - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: August 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Very good app for note taking and use with the Zettelkasten method. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros This is the only app I found realy useful to use with the Zettlekasten note taking method. Even being an app that works on local files, its quite easy to setup a folder on a cloud based storage like Gdrive and have all your devices sync the files seamlessly. With the community plugins its very easy to customize Obisidian for any workflow you use for your writing. #### Cons The mobile app UX could be improved. It takes some time to get used to navigate and use it. --- ### Note "Vaults" - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Diane C. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Law Practice - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 6 months - Reviewed: August 2022 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I did like Obsidian and how full it was. I stored notes and segments of legislation that I needed to reference frequently. I could find any note with the open display. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Notes are stored in Obsidian "Vaults", this certainly makes me feel more secure! Obsidian asks if you'd prefer internal or external storage, notes can be read offline too. Notebooks aren't displayed in a grid pattern like apps on your phone, they're displayed as dots and can be moved as you'd like. I like this and it's really ideal for a large number of notes. Obsidian can actually function as a knowledge base too. When clicking on a dot, a text preview is displayed. The background is dark and text is white, if your eyes strain easily or you have a lot of screen time during your work day this is great. Obsidian has quick access to most format options and text tools, I like the quick access reference tool. #### Cons I found it to be confusing, using it certainly wasn't effortless. The icons are very light grey and most of them don't connect to the action you'd expect. I spent a lot of time looking and I deleted notes without meaning to. --- ### Veramente un secondo cervello - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 6 months - Reviewed: January 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. obsidian mi permette di tenere un diario giornaliero delle mie attività, grazie alla funzionalità di creazione automatica e di templating. inoltre conservo vari appunti come indirizzi ip e nomi utente, al sicuro da possibili hacker. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros apprezzo molto la sua interfaccia semplice e intuitiva, nonché la sua capacità di creare collegamenti tra note, di utilizzare il formato Markdown per la formattazione del testo e la funzione di ricerca avanzata #### Cons peccato che ci sia la sincronizzazione delle note a pagamento, però il software è molto valido quindi credo che prima o poi pagherò per le feature pro --- ### Tool for document management - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Abir M. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer & Network Security - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 6 months - Reviewed: April 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros The visualization makes the links looks really easier to understand, therefore it's better to explain the project to a new team member. #### Cons I can't access it through a web browser, I need to connect from my device each time wanna use it, --- ### Organizing information - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Viktor S. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used weekly for free trial - Reviewed: August 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros - All your data is stored locally- Markdown- using CSS- user community creating various plugins #### Cons - i do not know . --- ### Great software, just great! And totally free! - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Ray V. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Information Technology and Services - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: August 2026 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I love it, really, it is so flexible and easy to use. The linking of notes also is a breeze. See the pros! #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros This is THE notetaking software for me! Completely FREE! No adds, no hidden features! Totally free as it is and it is very complete. It uses the worldwide standard of Markdown format and more important: Your notes are YOURS!!! Yes that means that you have to organise your own synchronisation and that is where you can pay money to Obsidian for syncing with your phone for instance. You can, but must not. There are several ways to do it for free in your own way! There is a Discord for Obsidian so help is always nearby! It comes rather complete.. and besides that it accepts Javascript code.. So the possibilities are endless! I used Evernote, Onenote, TiddlyWiki, xTiles and also Notion but Obsidian beats them all hands down. #### Cons Is there something not to like? Well if it is the learning curve then maybe that. But once you get the hang of it you are very soon on your way. Did I mention the 100's of plugins?? Also free? And the carefully crafted online documentation? Yes the interface may look a bit archaic, but with CSS and themes that is not a large obstacle. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian Because of the freedom Obsidian gives you. And also the control and maybe the most important thing: It is FREE!! --- ### Perfect for organizing multilingual teaching materials. - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Blerta K. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2026 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. After six months using Obsidian for lesson planning and student progress tracking, I can't imagine switching back to Word documents scattered everywhere. Yes, it takes time to set up your system, but once you do, finding that specific grammar explanation or student's learning history takes seconds. Worth every minute of the initial confusion. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros As a language instructor, I finally found software that handles my chaotic mix of Norwegian, Swedish and Albanian notes. The bidirectional linking helps me connect grammar concepts across languages, when I explain Norwegian verb conjugations, I can instantly reference similar Swedish patterns. The markdown format means I don't lose formatting when copying between devices. Plus it's completely free for personal use, which matters when you're working at a small language center. #### Cons The learning curve frustrated me initially, took me three weeks to understand how folders and tags work together. Sharing lesson plans with colleagues requires extra steps since they need Obsidian too. No built-in spell check for Norwegian/Swedish makes proofreading tedious. --- ### The one note taking solution - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: 🧑‍💻 Owain W. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Information Technology and Services - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 2 years - Reviewed: February 2026 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Really love it and use it on my phone and laptop for taking notes, writing blogs and generally organising my life! #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Obsidian can be used 100% with zero cost. No paywalls or limitations which is a real plus. So many great software solutions limit what is possible after 30days. There are addons you can pay for but they aren't required. There are also hundreds of great community created plugins available to add even more functionality to the software #### Cons It can be difficult to first get started and understanding how your notes should be organised and there isn't any right or wrong way, so many options are available online. It can feel daunting to start but it's worth it. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian I didnt like that my notes werent easy to transfer or store. Obsidian stores everything in markdown and on disk which is perfect. --- ### Lap Top writing and knowledge management that is finally the way a strategist literally thinks. - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: James M. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Marketing and Advertising - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2026 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Obsidian was my thinking room that I was unaware of at Bright Ads. All my research, planning and documentation is now in a connected system, as opposed to files that are not in a connected system. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros The connections of the ideas of the campaign, client notes and research threads, as they are actually connected in my brain made my notes more useful when I was sleeping than when I was awake. #### Cons Sharing notes with other teammates is not as convenient as it needs to be. In the case of a team of market players working together, such a restriction manifests itself at the most inappropriate time in the context of live campaigns. --- ### My AI-Enhanced Zettelkasten: Two Years with Obsidian - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: HYUNJUN K. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Semiconductors - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: June 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I have used Obsidian daily for roughly two years, curating thousands of notes for knowledge management and academic research. The local vault model eliminates latency and data-leak anxiety, yet with Obsidian Sync I can pick up exactly where I left off on any device. Graph View plus inline backlinks surface hidden relationships, letting my thinking expand “link by link.” Adding Smart Composer supercharged my workflow—the AI can tighten prose, generate outlines, or distill dense papers in seconds. Through the community MCP plugin I chat with Claude over my entire vault, refining arguments and drafting sections of journal articles without leaving the editor. Overall, Obsidian has become the hub of my scholarly and professional life; every idea now starts—and often finishes—here. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Local-first architecture keeps every note on my device, so it is lightning-fast and far less exposed to security threats Zettelkasten-style bidirectional links let me grow an interconnected “second brain,” turning scattered ideas into a coherent knowledge graph Smart Composer plugin harnesses AI to summarize, refactor, and even spark unexpected insights inside any note Seamless Claude-powered MCP workflow allows natural-language querying across my vault, accelerating literature reviews and manuscript drafting Plain-text Markdown + a vibrant plugin ecosystem make it easy to move from quick jotting to polished academic writing in one tool #### Cons Steep learning curve: newcomers need time to grasp optimal folder structure, linking conventions, and plugin management --- ### Excellent note taking app for MacOS - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: 10000+ employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 2 years - Reviewed: April 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Obsidian is a clean markdown note taking application. While not as fully featured compared to long time note taking apps like OneNote, Obsidian capabilities are more than enough for everyday usage. However the lack of sync in even the standard licensed version holds it back. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 2/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Obsidian has a clean interface and everything is organized in markdown files. This make it very easy to move around if you need to. Markdown is widely used in the development community and easy to learn. The UI is context aware and dynamically updates based on the formatting used. There are dark and light modes available and the app runs well on MacOS. #### Cons Even though I got a license for professional use, the biggest feature missing is sync across multiple devices. This is yet another paid feature which should be included in the standard licensing versus another monthly fee. Ultimately this is what blocks wider usage and adoption of Obsidian. While Markdown works well, there are certain constraints when it comes to formatting (no "/" characters in titles). It would be nice if there were some GenAI features such as summarization. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian i need more features and functionality for business use. --- ### Inclusive Organization and Workplace Application - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Maggie S. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Legal Services - Company size: 201-500 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: July 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Obsidian provided me a workplace where all of my PDFs, word documents, website links, videos, images, and other files could be referenced without being opened in separate tabs. It allows me to also share an entire database locally without the trouble of sharing permissions as seen on other platforms. #### Cons Learning the commands to reference or input files has a curve, but once you have it down it never fails to work! #### Reasons for choosing Obsidian OneDrive can share files, but often is very difficult to do so over many files at once. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian Google Drive did not allow us to work in a completely confidential environment. --- ### The Notes App I've Been Looking For - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Cyle F. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Media Production - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for less than 6 months - Reviewed: March 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Obsidian has radically transformed the way I organize personal and professional information. I'd been looking for an app that works this way for over a decade. While many of the features I was looking for I could have found if I'd discovered Markdown sooner, none of the other Markdown apps are as easy to use, as simple to customize, or as flexible across all my devices. The vast amount of well-designed community plugins really help set this app apart from the rest. If there's a feature you need, someone's almost certainly made a plugin for it. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Obsidian gives you control over all your notes. You can save your markdown files wherever you'd like, and depending on the devices you're using, you can create your own file syncing solution without paying for Obsidian's subscription (You'll need to pay for sync if you use iOS devices). If you decide to switch to another Markdown app, you can just move your files. I can access synced notes in my Google Drive from my desktop and my (Android) phone. Any vaults that don't need sync or that I'd prefer to keep offline can be stored in any folder on my computer that I choose. #### Cons Having to pay for sync if I want to access my notes on iOS is less than ideal, but I can't be upset about that since Obsidian makes DIY sync possible, and the only reason it doesn't work on iOS is because of how Apple designed that OS. That's not Obsidian's fault, and the optional subscription price is very reasonable anyway. Additionally, I’m just an individual using Obsidian for myself. I don’t need to collaborate with other users. Making this app work with multiple users might be more difficult. #### Reasons for choosing Obsidian Obsidian had all the features I wanted for the best price (free!) #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian Obsidian can do everything Checkvist can and more. Checkvist is great if you want something simple that you can access from any device, and you don't care about offline storage. If you need more control, Obsidian is the way to go. --- ### Perfect second brain - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Fabio V. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Information Technology and Services - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for less than 12 months - Reviewed: May 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Obsidian is the perfect second brain – a powerful tool for organizing thoughts and information. I use it to capture and review notes, and thanks to the Kanban plugin, I can effectively plan and manage my software development projects. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Obsidian is easy to install and seamlessly syncs data across Apple devices, including Mac, iPad, and iPhone. With a vast library of plugins, it’s highly customizable to suit your workflow. Using templates can significantly improve efficiency and usability. #### Cons 1.The free version does not support real-time collaboration. 2.You need to learn Markdown to use it effectively. 3.Files are stored locally, which is great for privacy, but requires manual backups. #### Reasons for switching to Obsidian After using Notion for a while, I switched to Obsidian – and it changed the way I think, write, and manage my knowledge. ## More reviews [Next reviews](https://www.softwareadvice.com/help-desk/obsidian-profile/reviews/?page=2) --- Obsidian Reviews, Pros and Cons - 2026 Software Advice