Note-taking tools are everywhere, but few give you true control over your data. Obsidian has stood out by letting you store, organize, and visualize your notes without depending on a cloud provider. Its rise in popularity has made it a go-to choice for building personal knowledge bases that grow with you.
We’re reviewing it not as just another productivity app but as a long-term thinking companion. From academic research to creative writing, Obsidian’s flexibility makes it equally appealing to organized planners and creative minds who thrive on connections between ideas.
Basic Overview
Launched in 2020, Obsidian quickly built a loyal following among knowledge management enthusiasts. It stores notes locally as Markdown files inside “vaults,” supports powerful bidirectional linking, and offers graph-based visualization. The user base spans casual note-takers, productivity nerds, and professionals who depend on it for serious work. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
What It Promises from Its Official Website
The official site calls Obsidian “your second brain,” designed to capture, link, and organize knowledge in a way that grows with you. It promises a local-first approach to privacy, a graph view to visualize relationships, and full customization via themes and plugins.
In our testing, we tried to find out if these claims are accurate. Let's explore our testing results.
Our Testing
We ran Obsidian on all platforms it offers, creating vaults filled with project outlines, research notes, and daily logs. Markdown formatting was clean, search was lightning-fast, and even large vaults stayed responsive. Plugins like Dataview and Kanban added serious workflow power. Sync worked securely across devices with end-to-end encryption, though mobile editing still felt slower for heavy writing.
Below, we describe each feature that impressed us and the features that we felt need improvement.
Features That Truly Impressed Us
Local Markdown Vaults – Your Notes, Your Rules
Keeps all your data in plain-text Markdown files that you fully own. You can store them locally, back them up, or sync with any service you like. This ensures you’re never locked into a proprietary format. Even years later, your files will remain accessible without special software. It’s a perfect balance of flexibility and future-proofing.
Bidirectional Linking & Backlinks – The Brain Behind the Notes
Every time you link to another note, Obsidian automatically shows you which notes link back. This creates a living network of knowledge that grows as you write. You don’t just store information—you connect it. The result is a “second brain” that reveals hidden relationships between ideas. Perfect for research, personal knowledge bases, and creative writing.
Graph View – See the Bigger Picture
Turns your notes into a beautiful visual map where every idea is a node. You can zoom in to focus on a specific topic or zoom out to see how everything connects. It’s not just pretty—it’s powerful for spotting gaps in your knowledge. This view transforms messy notes into an interconnected web of insights. A must-have for visual thinkers.
Plugin Ecosystem – Make It Whatever You Want
Obsidian supports thousands of plugins, from daily journals to Kanban boards. You can transform it into a task manager, habit tracker, or academic research assistant. The variety is mind-blowing and grows daily thanks to the active community. Each plugin integrates seamlessly without bloating the core app. Flexibility here is unmatched.
Cross-Platform & Offline-First – Work Anywhere, Anytime
Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS with no internet required. Your vault is always accessible, whether you’re on a plane or in a coffee shop with bad Wi-Fi. Sync options are available, but not mandatory. This ensures productivity is never held hostage by connectivity issues. True offline-first design is rare, but Obsidian nails it.
Advanced Search & Filters – Find Anything Instantly
Even in massive vaults with thousands of notes, you can find exactly what you need in seconds. Search supports advanced filters, regex, and tags for pinpoint accuracy. This makes research faster and more intuitive. No more scrolling endlessly through folders trying to remember where you put something. It’s lightning-fast and incredibly precise.
Customizable Themes & CSS – Make It Yours
With built-in theme support and full CSS control, you can make Obsidian look exactly how you want. Whether you prefer a minimal black-and-white setup or a colorful, modern UI, the choice is yours. Theming also extends to plugins for a unified look. This level of personalization makes working in Obsidian a joy.
Daily Notes & Templates – Start Writing Instantly
Daily notes encourage consistent journaling or tracking tasks. Combined with templates, you can generate pre-formatted pages in a single click. This is perfect for meeting notes, study logs, or content creation workflows. It removes friction from starting a new note. A simple feature that makes a big difference.
Features That Could Use Some Love
Steep Learning Curve – Not Beginner-Friendly Enough
Obsidian’s flexibility is also its biggest hurdle for newcomers. Without a guided onboarding, the interface and features can feel overwhelming. Beginners might struggle to understand vaults, links, and plugins at first. A built-in tutorial mode could smooth the entry. Right now, it rewards patience more than instant mastery.
Limited Real-Time Collaboration – Solo-Centric Design
Unlike Google Docs, you can’t have multiple people editing a note at the same time. While Obsidian excels at personal knowledge management, this makes it less suited for fast-paced teamwork. You can share vaults, but changes happen asynchronously. For collaborative writing or live brainstorming, it’s not the ideal choice.
Mobile Editing Performance – Slower for Heavy Notes
While functional, the mobile app can feel sluggish when handling long, complex documents. Formatting-heavy notes sometimes lag during editing. It’s fine for quick updates or light writing, but power users may find it frustrating. Performance optimizations on mobile would make Obsidian far more balanced across devices.
Closed-Source Core – Limited Transparency
While many plugins are open-source, the main Obsidian app is not. This can be a deal-breaker for users who prioritize full transparency. The closed core also means the community can’t directly improve certain features. For an otherwise community-driven tool, this feels like a mismatch.
Risk of Over-Customization – Too Many Toys to Play With
With so many plugins and themes, it’s easy to go overboard. Over-customization can slow performance and distract from actually writing notes. New users often spend more time tweaking settings than building their vault. Discipline is key to avoiding feature overload.
What Its Users Say
Across Reddit and Quora, users overwhelmingly praise Obsidian for flexibility, privacy, and speed. Many replaced Evernote or Notion with it, citing Markdown’s portability and the game-changing graph view. Long-term users highlight plugins like Dataview, Longform, and AI tools that boost productivity.
However, discussions like this one show concerns about its closed-source nature and sustainability. Others note that its customization freedom can become a rabbit hole, leading some to spend more time perfecting their system than actually writing. Still, the overall sentiment is that Obsidian delivers on its promises for those who commit to it.
Comparison with Similar Tools
When put side-by-side with big names like Evernote, OneNote, Joplin, and Notion, Obsidian holds its own in unique ways. Its biggest win is freedom — the free plan gives you full access to almost all features, and storage is limited only by your own hard drive.
Unlike Evernote’s 60MB monthly cap or OneNote’s 5GB cloud limit, Obsidian lets you keep as much as your device can handle. This makes it a dream for people who hate arbitrary quotas or want total control over their data location.
But there’s a trade-off. Obsidian skips built-in cloud storage on the free tier, meaning your notes stay local unless you set up syncing yourself. Evernote, OneNote, and Notion all handle that for you without extra cost.
Once you start paying for Obsidian’s own sync service, the total price can end up higher than Evernote or even Microsoft’s 1TB OneNote bundle that comes with Microsoft 365.
In short, Obsidian excels at offline freedom and unlimited local storage, but lags behind in affordable, built-in syncing compared to its rivals.
Our Final Thought
If you want a note-taking tool that’s flexible, private, and designed for long-term use, Obsidian is one of the strongest choices available. It’s not the fastest app to learn, but once you build your workflow, it becomes an indispensable part of your thinking process.
At Fileion, we see Obsidian as more than software—it’s an evolving system that rewards curiosity and discipline. Give it time, start simple, and you might find it quietly becoming your most valuable digital tool.
