Organizing our thoughts, ideas, and other relevant information can feel like herding cats sometimes. While there are a bunch of capable digital note-taking solutions out there, Obsidian easily stands out for a number of reasons. It’s more than just a note-taking tool and offers a myriad of features to transform your usual text files into a robust network of linked thoughts on your laptop. In this post, we will explore how Obsidian works, its features, some of its shortcomings, competitors, and more.

What is Obsidian?

Don’t dismiss Obsidian as yet another Evernote or OneNote knockoff. While the basics are the same, Obsidian is much more than bullet points, check boxes, and text files. It’s a markdown-powered universe that uses backlinks, graph views that map connections, and a rich plugin store to develop an effective PKM (Personal Knowledge Management) system.

Unlike other apps, Obsidian doesn’t force you into any ecosystem or a specific organizational style. It offers a blank slate that you can customize to fit your unique workflow. You can take it for a spin, experiment, and discover what works best for you.

Obsidian doesn’t require a lengthy sign-up form or your credit card details to get started. In fact, all the Obsidian core features are free for personal use (more on that later). You can simply download the app on your device, create a vault (basically a local folder on your desktop), and start drafting notes in no time.

Obsidian's cross-platform availability

Let’s start with the basics. Obsidian is available on all desktop and mobile platforms. It is built on Electron and has desktop clients for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Even Obsidian’s mobile and tablet apps aren’t just trimmed-down versions of the desktop app. All features are supported, including plugins and an easy-to-use toolbar at the bottom.

Obsidian's elegant features

Obsidian may seem basic at first glance. It doesn’t wow you with a fancy Home view, beautiful page backgrounds, Kanban boards, or AI features. However, there is definitely more than meets the eye. Let’s glance over some of the top features that turn Obsidian into a digital sanctuary where your creativity thrives.

Robust notes organization

Obsidian supports a traditional organization method where you can create multiple folders, sub-folders, and notes within a vault. You can also insert tags using hashtags (#) and quickly access them using the search menu at the top. There is an option to bookmark your important notes, too.

The biggest USP of Obsidian is the support for backlinks. You can type [[page title]] and link related pages in your current note. Once you connect such notes, head to the graph view to check the relationship between them. This is how the mind works to connect thoughts, and Obsidian mirrors the same by associating your notes through backlinks.

Other productivity features include support for multi-tabs and split tabs. This comes very much in handy when you need to deal with several notes on a large desktop.

Markdown support

Obsidian uses Markdown language for formatting. It doesn’t lock you into specific text files that you can only open with Obsidian. These Markdown files are compatible with many software solutions out there. Obsidian even made it easier with the slash (/) command for anyone who isn’t familiar with Markdown.

You can simply type ‘/’ and insert headings, bullet lists, checkboxes, and more.

A dedicated theme store

Obsidian has nailed the customization. You can change the base color scheme, accent color, and even tweak the entire app look by using community-built themes. Whether you prefer a light theme or a dark shade, you won’t have a hard time finding a relevant theme from the Settings > Appearance > Themes menu.

Hundreds of plugins

The plugins library is where Obsidian truly shines. The company has divided core features into plugins, which you can enable or disable from Settings. Backlinks, Graph View, Daily Notes, Bookmarks, etc., are some of the core plugins that are enabled by default.

You can also explore community plugins and unlock more features like tasks, Kanban boards, outlines, advanced tables, icons, slides, and more for your Obsidian setup. The possibilities are endless here.

Canvas

Canvas is another useful add-on for Obsidian users. As the name suggests, it’s an infinite whiteboard to map out and connect your thoughts and plans. You can use color-coded cards, media, and notes and explore the relationships between them via arrows. Here is where your ideas collide, spark, and ignite.

Obsidian's pricing

A feature-packed free plan is one of the prime reasons for Obsidian’s sky-rocketing popularity. Unlike other productivity solutions, all the Obsidian features, themes, and plugins are available for free. It doesn’t even require creating an account or any kind of sign-up process.

That said, if you want to sync your Obsidian notes across all your devices, purchase the Sync add-on for $5 per month. The Publish add-on lets you publish notes to the web, and it’s priced at $10 per month. There is another $25 Catalyst option as a one-time payment, but it’s really only meant for supporting developers and getting early access to beta versions; it doesn’t unlock any new features for your account.

Obsidian's potential drawbacks

Like other software solutions, Obsidian isn’t perfect. There is still room for improvement. Here are some of the Obsidian disadvantages.

• Getting started with Obsidian requires a learning curve
• Markdown-based text editing may not appeal to everyone
• It lacks a web clipper
• It lacks advanced databases
• No real-time collaboration

Alternatives to Obsidian

If one of the above-mentioned cons is a deal-breaker for you, fret not. There is no shortage of Obsidian alternatives out there. Let’s quickly glance over our top recommendations.

• Roam Research: It’s another solid note-taking tool for networked thoughts. It follows the same concept as Obsidian, to help you organize and link ideas effectively.
• Bear notes: Bear notes is a robust Markdown-based notes app for Apple users. It recently received a major overhaul and feature boost with version 2.0.
• ClickUp: ClickUp is your all-in-one productivity tool to get the job done. It supports time tracking, whiteboards, project management, dashboards, forms, and much more.
• Reflect: Reflect offers end-to-end encrypted notes to keep prying eyes away. The feature list includes calendar integration, backlinks, publishing, instant capture via extension, and more.
• Evernote: Don’t dismiss Evernote as a normal note-taking app. It’s packed with a neat Home view, calendar integration with Gmail and Outlook support, reminders, a block editor, AI integration, and more.

Transform your productivity

Microsoft OneNote is another solid note-taking app where you can jot-down ideas, thoughts, and arrange them under relevant notebooks and sections. Check our separate comparison post if you want to learn more about the differences between Obsidian and OneNote.

All things considered, whether you are a casual note taker, student, professional, or productivity nerd, you simply can’t go wrong with Obsidian. What are you waiting for? Create your personal vault, start writing and linking notes, explore community plugins and themes, and create an ideal Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) system today.