Obsidian
Desktop and mobile note-taking app that stores notes as local Markdown files.
HN commenters like Obsidian for keeping notes as plain Markdown files with little lock-in123, for heavy customization through plugins45, and for working well alongside AI agents like Claude.678 The main complaint is sync and data-integrity bugs, with note content duplicated or silently overwritten.910
Why people recommend it
Plain Markdown files · 3
Notes are ordinary Markdown files, so commenters see low lock-in and easy migration in or out.
“Obsidian makes a good product and frankly barely charges for it.”
“its file format is definitely more open than Joplin's. Which is why I switched to it.”
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“I pretty seamlessly moved from VS Code as my notes app to obsidian and could move back to a text editor if obsidian turns evil.”
AI agent integration · 3
Users point Claude Code and other agents at their vaults to organize, search and maintain notes.
“That's the killer feature of Obsidian imo.”
“I've finally been able to dive into Obsidian and build out the second brain I've always wanted.”
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“The native replication and the Git integrations work well keeping it all synchronized across multiple harnesses”
Plugins and customization · 3
Commenters call it customizable and build or adapt plugins to fit their workflows.
“Generally I’m a big fan of Obsidian because it’s very intuitive and customisable.”
“Now obsidian works for me like I want, and still every day I use it Im still in awe”
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“Obsidian was a great decision.”
Fast, focused daily driver · 3
Several use it every day and value fast navigation and a simple core that works even without plugins.
“Obsidian stands beside the terminal and Firefox as one of the pieces of software I use the most every single day.”
“I love Obsidian, because it does what it does great - taking notes, easy and fast navigation, no bullshit.”
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“Am I the only one who thinks Obsidian is perfect without plugins?”
Paid Sync · 3
Some happily pay for Obsidian Sync, calling it fast and more reliable than iCloud Drive.
“it does exactly what I need… and their sync engine is fast as hell. I pay for sync.”
“It’s the sole reason I use Obsidian over anything else - and happily pay for the sync service.”
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“they are not quite reliably as Obsidian’s paid sync service”
Web clipper · 2
The official clipper saves web pages straight into a vault.
“For terrible sites, I use https://obsidian.md/clipper”
“I use https://obsidian.md/clipper to download them straight into my vault.”
Caveats and dissent
Sync and data bugs · 2
Users report Sync duplicating sections of a file and a note's content being silently replaced by another note's.
“every few weeks the official Obsidian sync makes an absolute mess of our shopping list”
“I cannot recommend Obsidian as it is right now.”
Plugin permissions · 1
One user avoids community plugins because their permissions and sandboxing are inadequate.
“I really like Obsidian. I use it every day”
DIY setup effort · 3
Some describe it as less polished and say tuning it for tasks beyond note-taking costs a lot of time.
“it does exactly what I need… and their sync engine is fast as hell. I pay for sync.”
“I love Obsidian, because it does what it does great - taking notes, easy and fast navigation, no bullshit.”
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“I've finally been able to dive into Obsidian and build out the second brain I've always wanted.”
Multiple vaults · 1
One user finds multiple vaults nearly unusable because each opens in a new window.
“Other than that, I love so many things about the program.”
Hosted AI tools · 1
One user found it did not work well with hosted tools like claude.ai.
“for a while i used Obsidian but it was not very good with hosted tools like claude.ai”
Not a database · 1
It supports queries and tables, but users with real database needs may want a db-driven tool.
“I love using Obsidian for ~everything.”
Often compared with
3 moved from Notion to ObsidianLogseq10 comments mention both
2 moved from Logseq to ObsidianEvernote6 comments mention both
3 moved from Evernote to Obsidian
1 moved from Visual Studio Code to Obsidian
1 moved from Emacs to Obsidian
1 moved from Obsidian to Emacs
Who recommends it in their own words
From the makers not counted in the ranking
“It was a known limitation and something that we set out to revamp with the new system.”
“Obsidian is a free app made by seven people.”
Inbox Processing Workflow - GTD-style system to keep your inbox at zero, with AI classification of notes to projects, resources, or someday/maybe lists. Incomplete Tasks Review Workflow - weekly review that analyzes your tasks, identifies gaps, detects duplicates, and generates a focused "plan of attack" with your highest-priority actions. Both workflows combine classic productivity principles (GTD, weekly reviews) w
Threads where it came up
- An Introduction to Obsidian 12 mentions
- I Use Obsidian 10 mentions
- Show HN: OpenKnowledge – open-source alternative to Obsidian/Notion 8 mentions
- Obsidian Sync now has a headless client 6 mentions
- Note-Taking and Personal Knowledge Management 5 mentions
- Show HN: Files.md – open-source alternative to Obsidian 5 mentions
Also written as Obsidian Web Clipper, Obsidian Sync. Data: obsidian.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 49
“bandwagoned onto Notion and Obsidian”
“I use Obsidian, having more real estate is really important for long, detailed notes”
“I sometimes venture out to other apps (like Joplin, Obsidian, Apple Notes, Apple Reminders, etc)”
“are directly markdown based (Obsidian)”
“for personal stuff obsidian and markdown”
“like an Obsidian bot that writes logs of daily bot activity”
“For terrible sites, I use https://obsidian.md/clipper”
“Open on my desktop right now: Slack, Outlook, Zoom, Windows Terminal, Edge, Claude, Obsidian, whatever the Windows image viewer is called, Cursor, and VS Code”
“If you want it, install a an application that does markdown rendering, I use Obsidian.”
“keep an obsidian vault of things you need to remember.”
“Even Obsidian I use with vim mode (obsidian plugin).”
“Think shell scripts, Alfred workflows, Elisp functions, and Obsidian plugins.”
“What’s the benefit of tools like Obsidian vs using whatever code editor you have on hand?”
“Obsidian makes a good product and frankly barely charges for it.”
“I use Obsidian with links set to "path from current file" and disabled wikilinks.”
“I use https://obsidian.md/clipper to download them straight into my vault.”
“I use obsidian with obsidian sync to keep track of most things.”
“why in the nine circles are folks using Obsidian or markdown files or whatever to build their 'brain'?”
“I can put the transcripts in my Obsidian Vault which I already expose to the various agents I use.”
“I do not want to pay $$ per month just to sync notes between iPhone and Mac”
“Most people i know that write more then just some notes use obsidian, zettlr”
“Obsidian has a tree”
“Other robust knowledge wikis like Obsidian have very good brain maps and knowledge node explorer views”
“I’ve done a bunch of planning in Obsidian”
“does word perfect give you anything that markdown in obsidian doesn't?”
“These days it's an Obsidian vault in git”
“it does exactly what I need… and their sync engine is fast as hell. I pay for sync.”
“Everything else goes into Obsidian normally.”
“OTOH, I practically live in Obsidian.”
“I remember i switched from evernote to obsidian in a few hours”
“I now use obsidian and a digital peice of paper style.”
“I use Obsidian as my personal CRM”
“I got sick of Obsidian”
“I don't totally love Obsidian, which is what I've setup and configured now.”
“I use Obsidian but I don't follow the whole "second brain" thing, I just organize my notes by directories.”
“I use an Obsidian vault and my system.”
“I built Mark2TeX while writing my thesis in Obsidian.”
“native equivalents to Obsidian's Graph View appear”
“Obsidian is like the shared knowledge base that everyone has access to”
“Most of the stuff I use is free and excellent.”
“Generally I’m a big fan of Obsidian because it’s very intuitive and customisable.”
“I've finally been able to dive into Obsidian and build out the second brain I've always wanted.”
“The native replication and the Git integrations work well keeping it all synchronized across multiple harnesses”
“Now obsidian works for me like I want, and still every day I use it Im still in awe”
“I pretty seamlessly moved from VS Code as my notes app to obsidian and could move back to a text editor if obsidian turns evil.”
“its file format is definitely more open than Joplin's. Which is why I switched to it.”
“That's the killer feature of Obsidian imo.”
“I cannot recommend Obsidian as it is right now.”
“every few weeks the official Obsidian sync makes an absolute mess of our shopping list”