Obsidian — Your Notes Will Never Be Locked in the Cloud, Because They're Your Local Markdown Files
In one sentence: Local Markdown files + backlinks + knowledge graph + 1000+ plugins + fully offline — your second brain.
You’ve Written Hundreds of Notes in Notion. If Notion Shuts Down Tomorrow, Where Do Your Notes Go?
This might sound paranoid, but it’s happened many times: Evernote raised prices and locked users, WizNote discontinued its personal plan, various cloud note apps redesigned and broke compatibility with old data. Every time, users go through the same cycle — export, migrate, reorganize. Migrating tens of gigabytes of notes once is agonizing.
This isn’t to say cloud notes are bad. They have their conveniences: easy syncing, smooth collaboration, ready out of the box. But you need to ask yourself: do you want your knowledge base controlled by some company’s servers, or stored on your own hard drive as plain text files?
Obsidian chose the latter. All your notes are stored in a folder on your own computer as plain text Markdown (.md) files. No proprietary format, no encrypted database, no “Export” button — because your notes were never “locked inside the app.” You can open them with Notepad.
This provides an ultimate sense of security: even if the Obsidian app stops development and updates tomorrow, your notes remain intact, plain text, readable by any editor, Markdown files.
What Can Obsidian Do?
1. Backlinks: The “Hyperlink Network” of Your Notes
Obsidian’s core feature is [[backlinks]]. In any note, type [[, and Obsidian pops up a note list. Select a note title — it automatically becomes a link. Click the link to jump to that note. At the bottom of that note, Obsidian automatically shows a “Backlinks” panel — listing all notes that link to it.
The difference from web hyperlinks: web links are one-way (A → B). Obsidian’s links are two-way (A ↔ B both know about each other).
When you have hundreds of notes, you can no longer remember every relationship between them. The point of backlinks is: when you look at a note, Obsidian proactively surfaces potentially related content you didn’t know about. Over time, this isn’t just a note library — it’s a knowledge network.
2. Knowledge Graph: Visualize What’s in Your Head
Obsidian’s “Graph View” (in the top right) displays all your notes as a network of dots and lines. Each note is a dot, each link is a line. Notes with many connections cluster together, forming “knowledge clusters.”
This graph isn’t essential for daily use — but it provides visual feedback: you can see where your knowledge is dense (areas you’ve studied deeply), where it’s sparse (areas you should expand), and where there are isolated dots (notes not connected to anything). Reviewing the graph regularly reveals blind spots in your knowledge organization.
3. Local Markdown Files: Ultimate Portability and Security
Your Obsidian vault is just a regular folder. Full of .md text files.
- Back up with Git → perfectly track every change
- Sync with Dropbox/Syncthing → keep multiple computers in sync (no need for Obsidian Sync)
- Open with any text editor → readable on any operating system
- Batch-process with Python/Shell scripts → modify format across 1000 notes in one go
This “your data belongs to you” feeling is the fundamental difference between Obsidian and Notion. When you use Notion, your data is on Notion’s servers. When you use Obsidian, your data is on your own hard drive.
4. Plugin Ecosystem: From Note Tool to “Everything Tool”
Obsidian has an extremely active community plugin ecosystem (1000+ plugins). These plugins extend Obsidian from a Markdown note tool to various use cases:
- Dataview: Turn notes into a queryable database. Use SQL-like queries to “list all notes tagged #todo that are not done”
- Excalidraw: Draw architecture diagrams, flowcharts, sketches in your notes
- Kanban: Turn notes into a kanban board view (like Trello)
- Tasks: Create to-do items in any note, display all tasks centrally with queries
- Calendar: Sidebar monthly calendar view, browse daily notes by date
- Git: Built-in Git panel, one-click commit and push your note vault
5. Canvas: Infinite Canvas
Obsidian’s Canvas feature (built-in, not a plugin) lets you place note cards, images, web embeds, and hand-drawn sketches on an infinitely sized canvas — then connect them with lines. Perfect for brainstorming, project planning, and story outlining.
Professional Media and User Reviews
| Media | Review |
|---|---|
| How-To Geek | ”Obsidian is the best note-taking app for people who want to own their data and build a personal knowledge base” |
| The Verge | ”Obsidian’s plugin ecosystem and local-first philosophy make it the most flexible knowledge management tool available” |
| TechCrunch | ”Obsidian proves that local-first software can compete with cloud-native apps — by being better, not just different” |
What Real Users Say
“5 years of Evernote → 2 years of Notion → now in my 3rd year of Obsidian. Each migration was because of data lock-in. The previous exports were never perfect and needed manual fixes. Obsidian’s local MD files give me peace of mind — no more worrying about data migration costs.” — Knowledge Management Enthusiast, Zhihu
“I’m a coder. Obsidian + private Git repo = my ultimate note solution. All learning notes, bug records, and config reminders are in one Git repo. Every time I reinstall my system, just git clone and everything’s back. Local search is way faster than any cloud note app.” — Software Developer, V2EX
“I write novels. I use Obsidian to manage character relationships, chapter outlines, and world-building. Character notes are linked with [[backlinks]] — the protagonist’s note shows all their interactions with other characters. I can also use Canvas to draw relationship maps.” — Creative Writer, Xiaohongshu
“PhD student. I use Obsidian for literature notes while reading papers — one note per paper. Using Dataview to query ‘all papers about X topic’ automatically generates a literature review table. This method is quickly gaining popularity in academia.” — PhD Student, Bilibili
Competitor Comparison
| Dimension | Obsidian | Notion | Logseq | Roam Research |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Storage | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Local MD | ⭐ Cloud (proprietary) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Local MD/Org | ⭐⭐ Cloud (proprietary) |
| Backlinks | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Complete | ⭐⭐⭐ Supports | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Complete | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Complete |
| Knowledge Graph | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Built-in | ❌ None | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Built-in | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Built-in |
| Plugin Ecosystem | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1000+ | ⭐ Limited (API) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Hundreds | ⭐ Limited |
| Offline | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fully offline | ⭐ Weak (pre-cache) | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fully offline | ⭐ Weak |
| Data Export | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Already text | ⭐⭐⭐ Export function | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Already text | ⭐⭐⭐ Export function |
| Sync | Free (self)/Paid Obsidian Sync | Free | Free (self)/Paid | ⭐⭐ Cloud only |
| Collaboration | ❌ Not supported | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Best | ❌ Not supported | ❌ Not supported |
| Database/Tables | ⭐⭐⭐ Via plugins | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Native | ⭐⭐⭐ Built-in | ⭐⭐ Limited |
| Learning Curve | ⭐⭐ Easy start | ⭐⭐⭐ Moderate | ⭐⭐⭐ Moderate | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Steeper |
| Cross-Platform | ✅ All platforms | ✅ All platforms | ✅ All platforms | ✅ Web |
| Price | Free (personal) | Free/Premium | Free | $15/month |
Recommendations:
- Need local-first + data control + knowledge network → Obsidian (best for personal knowledge management)
- Need team collaboration + database tables + beautiful pages → Notion (strongest for team wiki and project management)
- Need outliner-style notes + open source → Logseq (outliner-based, fully open source)
- Need purest backlink experience → Roam Research (pioneer, but paid and no offline)
Download & Installation Guide
Official Download (Recommended)
Obsidian’s only official website is obsidian.md:
| Channel | Download Link | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Official | obsidian.md | Windows/macOS/Linux/iOS/Android |
Safety reminder: Obsidian’s official site is
obsidian.md(note the .md domain, not .com). The software is completely free for personal use (all features). Commercial use requires a license ($50/year/person). Obsidian is not open source, but its data format is open plain text Markdown. Plugins are installed via Obsidian’s community marketplace (enable in settings). Installer is ~70MB.
3-Minute Quick Start
- Open obsidian.md and download the Windows version
- After installation, select an empty folder as your vault
- Left sidebar file list → “New Note” → Enter title and content
- Type
[[anywhere → Type another note’s title → Enter to create a backlink - Press Ctrl+E to toggle edit/preview mode
- Click the “Graph View” icon in the top right → View your knowledge network
Recommended Settings and Initial Workflow
- Settings → Core Plugins: Enable “Daily Notes”, “Templates”, “Command Palette”
- Settings → Community Plugins: First-time users need to disable “Safe Mode” to install third-party plugins
- Recommended first plugins: Dataview (database queries), Calendar (calendar view), Excalidraw (drawing)
- Sync options: Free option = place vault folder inside Dropbox/iCloud sync folder. Paid option = Obsidian Sync ($4/month, end-to-end encrypted, real-time sync)
FAQ
Q: Does the free version have limits? Do individual users need to pay? Personal users are completely free with all features open. Commercial users (using on company computers) need to purchase a license ($50/year/person). Optional paid services: Obsidian Sync ($4/month) and Obsidian Publish ($8/month, publish notes as web pages) are not mandatory — you can use other cloud drives or Git for syncing instead.
Q: How to choose between Obsidian and Notion? Data ownership is the key dividing line. Notion = your notes on Notion’s servers, you can use them as long as Notion exists. Obsidian = your notes on your hard drive, you can read them with Notepad even if Obsidian shuts down. Notion’s killer features are databases (table/kanban/calendar/gallery views) and team collaboration. Obsidian’s killer features are local Markdown files + backlinks + knowledge graph. Using both is common — Notion for project management, Obsidian for deep knowledge accumulation.
Q: How does syncing work on mobile? Obsidian has free iOS and Android apps. Sync methods are the same as desktop — place your vault folder in iCloud (iOS) or a folder sync solution (Android), or purchase Obsidian Sync for direct syncing.
Obsidian is an external hard drive for your brain. It doesn’t think for you, doesn’t categorize for you, doesn’t suggest “you might also want to note this.” It simply hands you a thread when you want to connect two ideas. You link more and more thoughts together, until one day you open the graph — and realize it has, without you noticing, grown into a forest of knowledge built by you alone.