Obsidian is a free, local-first Markdown note-taking app with bidirectional linking, a plugin ecosystem, and optional paid sync and publish services.
Obsidian keeps notes as plain Markdown files on your device, linked to each other and viewable as a graph, with a Canvas for freeform diagrams and daily notes for a running log. Its open plugin API and thousands of community plugins (Dataview, Kanban, Tasks, Calendar) let it grow into a personal system rather than staying a fixed note-taking app.
The core app is free, including for commercial use, so most solo users never pay. The only recurring costs are optional: Sync at $5/month for encrypted cross-device syncing and shared vaults, and Publish at $10/month per site to turn notes into a website. There's no built-in real-time collaboration, so teams that need to co-edit live will feel the gap.
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The core app is free even for commercial use, with paid add-ons limited to Sync ($5/month) and Publish ($10/month), so most solo users pay nothing.
Neutral score: time to reach a useful first result with linking and the plugin ecosystem is not covered by the collected sources.
It delivers local Markdown note-taking with linking and a graph view as advertised, without requiring third-party tools for the core workflow.
Canvas, daily notes, task tracking, and an open plugin API with thousands of community plugins push it well beyond a basic notes app.
Notes are stored as plain local Markdown files with one year of local version history, so data stays portable and readable without the app.
