Obsidian is a proprietary personal knowledge base and note-taking application that operates on markdown files. The software is free for personal and commercial use; only the offered cloud services are paid. It is available as desktop versions for macOS, Windows and Linux as well as for mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android, but not as a web application.
History
Obsidian was founded by Shida Li and Erica Xu while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic. The two had been developing and operating the note-taking software Dynalist.io together since 2015.
Li and Xu, who had met while studying at the University of Waterloo, had already collaborated on several development projects.
They had the idea for Obsidian two years before the release of the beta version. Out of boredom, they began developing the software in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obsidian was initially released on 30 March 2020.
Version 1.0.0 was released in October 2022.
The Canvas core plugin (added in version 1.1) was released in December 2022. It provides a freeform, infinite 2D space where users can spatially arrange notes, images, and links to visually map ideas (akin to a whiteboard).
In February 2023, Steph Ango joined Obsidian as CEO.
Availability
Obsidian is built on the cross-platform Electron framework, allowing the application to run on Windows, Linux, and macOS.
A special version is also available for mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS.
The developers also host a forum and Discord server for the community.
Usage
Obsidian is particularly suitable as a knowledge database for personal knowledge management and as software for creating notes that work with Markdown files. It allows users to create internal links between notes and visualize those connections as an interactive graph.
Obsidian is designed to help users organize and structure their thoughts and knowledge in a flexible, non-linear way.
The software is free for personal use, with optional paid services such as cloud synchronization and online publishing. Since February 2025, it has also been free for commercial use, although the developers recommend purchasing service licenses for professional environments. Notes are stored as plain text files, which allows users to employ their own synchronization, encryption, and backup tools.
Features
Obsidian operates on a folder of text documents called a vault. Each new note creates a new text file, and all documents can be searched from within the app.
Obsidian allows internal linking between notes, with links forming an interactive graph that helps visualize relationships.
Text formatting is done via Markdown, with the ability to switch between raw text and a pre-rendered mode.
Plugins
Users can customize their Obsidian vaults by adding plugins and themes, extending functionality or integrating with other tools.
Obsidian distinguishes between:
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Core plugins — released and maintained by the Obsidian team
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Community plugins — open-source, contributed via GitHub
Examples of community plugins include a Kanban board, a calendar widget, and many others. There are more than 200 community-made themes available.
Premium services
Obsidian is free and does not charge users for any core features, but paid services are available for users with additional needs. All paid services are implemented as plugins and can be enabled or disabled per vault.
In February 2025, Obsidian simplified their commercial licensing policy to be optional. Companies that optionally purchase 25 or more commercial licenses are featured on the Obsidian Enterprise page.
Publish
Obsidian Publish is a web hosting service that allows subscribers to publish their vaults online. Published vaults typically mirror the structure and style of the Obsidian app, including the graph view.
Features include:
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Custom domain support
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Theme support
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Analytics
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Automatic update workflow (similar to static site generators, but plug-and-play)
Sync
Obsidian Sync is an end-to-end encrypted synchronization service for vaults across multiple devices. Features include:
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File syncing across all clients
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Vault settings sync
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File versioning
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Optional shared vaults for collaboration
The service is positioned as a simpler alternative to DIY sync systems, which require manual configuration.