Notion and Obsidian, one of its free alternatives, side by side.
All-in-one workspace for notes, wikis, databases and projects, sold per member with a free plan for individuals.
Best for personal notes stored as local Markdown files
| Fact | Notion | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| License | License: Free tier | License: Freeware |
| Maintenance | Status: Verified | Status: Verified |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | No | Yes |
| Web | Yes | No |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hostable | No | No |
| Works offline | Yes | Yes |
| No account needed | No | Yes |
| Parity with Notion | The reference | 33% |
License classes: Free tier and Freeware. Status rules: Active means a commit in the last 90 days. See the methodology.
How Obsidian covers what people use Notion for.
| Feature | Obsidian |
|---|---|
| Databases | |
| Databases with table, board and calendar views | PartialNote 1The Bases core plugin shows notes as filtered tables and cards; it is not a full database |
| Writing | |
| Nested pages and a block editor | PartialNote 2Markdown notes in folders with links; no nested block pages |
| Collaboration | |
| Real-time collaboration and sharing | NoNote 3Shared vaults need the paid Obsidian Sync add-on |
| Sharing | |
| Publish pages to the web | NoNote 4Obsidian Publish is a paid add-on |
| Apps | |
| Mobile apps and offline access | YesNote 5iOS and Android apps keep notes as local files |
| AI | |
| Built-in AI assistant | NoNote 6No built-in AI; community plugins connect to outside services |
| Parity score | 33% |
| Format | Notion | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| .md | Opens and savesFull fidelity | Opens and savesNote 1Notes are plain Markdown filesFull fidelity |
| .html | Opens and savesFull fidelity | Opens onlyNote 2Importer plug-in converts HTML to Markdown; notes are not stored as HTMLPartial fidelity |
| .csv | Opens and savesFull fidelity | Opens onlyNote 3Importer plug-in turns CSV rows into notes; no CSV exportPartial fidelity |