Atlas vs Obsidian (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, we pick Obsidian: it is second in our ranking of note-taking apps, and it grades higher too, 3.6 against 1.8.
Checked Oct 4, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Obsidian grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Atlas
AI research workspace with citations, knowledge maps and notes
Obsidian
Markdown note-taking app that keeps your files on your device
Which one is for you
Pick Atlas if
- Fits if you read many papers and want answers that point to the passage
- Works for people who build notes from a set of sources
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 5 AI messages and 10 sources
- Pricey if you need the AI: $16 a month billed yearly, double the category's dearest-tenth threshold of $10
- Watch out: no exact figure is given for paid AI usage
- Watch out: custom research skills and the highest-capability model are Pro only, at $32 a month
Pick Obsidian if
- Fits if you want your notes as plain Markdown files in a folder you control
- Works for people who are offline a lot, since everything lives on the device
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a notes app that works on day one, as you start with an empty folder
- Not for you if you need your notes in a browser, since there's no web app at all
- Tight if you want phone and laptop in sync for free: Sync is $4 a month, or you set up iCloud or Dropbox
- Not for you if you mostly write on an iPhone or iPad, where reviewers report slow opening and crashes
- Watch out: Sync at $4 is 1 vault, 1 GB and 5 MB files, Sync Plus is $8, and a published site is $8 more
How we grade them
| 1.8GPAAtlasWeak | 3.6GPAObsidianExcellent | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DPlus is $16 a month billed yearly and Pro $32, against a category middle of $5.99 and a dearest tenth that starts at $10. | AThe app is free in full, in a category whose middle plan is $6 a month. Sync is $4 a month on yearly billing ($5 monthly), which is mid-pack here, and Publish is $8 a site on top. Past 1 vault or 1 GB you need Sync Plus at $8. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan with unlimited notes and projects, but 10 sources and 5 AI messages, so the AI part runs out fast. | AThe whole app is free, with no account, no cap on notes, vaults or devices, and no license needed for work. Money buys sync and publishing only. You can sync yourself with iCloud or Dropbox, though reviewers report stuck files that way. |
| Features | CCited chat, knowledge maps, semantic maps, paper search and export. The listing's gaps: paid AI use is 'hundreds of chats' with no exact number, and the top model is on Pro only. | ALinked notes with a graph view, an infinite canvas, local Markdown files and a web clipper, plus thousands of community plugins and themes on an open API, more than Logseq or Anytype list. Sync and publishing cost extra, and there's no web app. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. You upload sources and build a library before it answers anything. | B4.5 from about 2,700 App Store ratings, which is the B band. That score is for the phone app, the weaker side of it. And you do start with an empty folder: even people who give it five stars say it took a while to get comfortable. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb and a Chrome extension only. The pricing page mentions mobile apps without naming stores. | BMac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus a web clipper for four browsers. No web app at all, which is what keeps it off an A, and the listing shows no integrations beyond the clipper and Git-style file sync. |
| Best for | questioning papers and sources with an AI | notes you own as plain files |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Atlas and Obsidian. How we grade
Price against what you get
Atlas starts at $16 a month and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Obsidian starts at $4 a month for each person and scores 3.3.
Obsidian scores higher and starts $12 a month lower. Of the other note-taking apps on the chart, 80 score higher than Atlas for less, and 4 score higher than Obsidian for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Obsidian is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Atlas also covers chat assistant, research, citations and mind mapping.
- Obsidian also covers Markdown, linked notes and whiteboard.
At a glance
| Atlas | Obsidian | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $16 per month, billed yearly ($192) | $4 per user / month, billed annually (Sync Standard add-on) |
| Free plan | Unlimited notes and projects, up to 10 sources and 5 AI messages. | The app is free without limits on desktop and mobile, with no sign-up, and a commercial license is not required for work use. Sync and Publish are optional paid add-ons. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | AgentScale AI Pte. Ltd. | Dynalist Inc. |
| Price read from | atlasworkspace.ai | obsidian.md |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 4, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Atlas
- The free plan allows 5 AI messages and 10 sources, so it works as a trial of the AI features.
- AI usage on paid plans is described as hundreds of chats a month, with no exact figure given.
- Priority support, custom research skills and the highest-capability model are limited to paid tiers.
- The pricing table lists a Chrome extension and mobile apps without naming stores, so only web and extension are listed here.
Obsidian
- There is no web app; Obsidian runs as desktop and mobile apps only.
- Obsidian Sync is a paid add-on, from $4 per user / month billed annually.
- Sync Standard covers 1 vault with 1 GB of storage and a 5 MB file size limit; larger limits need Sync Plus.
- Publishing notes to the web is billed separately from Sync, at $8 per site / month on annual billing.
Key features
Atlas
- Chat with citations
- Ask about one paper, the whole library or the wider literature, with answers traced to the page and passage.
- Knowledge map
- Breaks a paper into its argument structure, relationships and timelines, with multi-level zoom.
- Semantic map
- Plots sources in a project to show how they connect from different angles.
- Paper search
- Searches over 200 million papers from a research question and adds matches to a project.
- Notes and export
- Notes that Atlas writes and edits with you, exportable to PDF, Word, Markdown and text, with citation styles and BibTeX.
Obsidian
- Local Markdown files
- Notes are saved on your device as plain-text Markdown files, so they stay readable in other editors and available offline.
- Links and graph view
- Notes link to one another, and a graph view draws the relationships between them so related ideas are easier to find.
- Canvas
- An infinite board for laying out notes, diagrams and research side by side while brainstorming.
- Plugins and themes
- Thousands of community plugins and themes, built on an open API, change how the app looks and behaves.
- Sync (paid add-on)
- End-to-end encrypted sync across devices with version history and shared vaults that update in real time for a team.
- Publish and Web Clipper
- Publish turns notes into a hosted site, priced per site. The Web Clipper extension saves web pages from Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge.
Plans
Atlas
Free$0
Unlimited notes and projects, semantic and knowledge maps, up to 10 sources and 5 AI messages.
Plus$16
per month, billed yearly ($192)
Hundreds of AI chats a month, unlimited sources, multi-step synthesis and literature-indexed citations. Monthly-billing price is not shown on the page text read.
Pro$32
per month, billed yearly ($384)
Everything in Plus with 2x the AI usage, saved custom research skills and the highest-capability AI model for answers.
Obsidian
Obsidian app$0
The full app with local Markdown notes, links, graph, canvas, plugins and themes. No account needed.
Sync Standard$4
per user / month, billed annually ($5 billed monthly)
Encrypted sync for 1 vault with 1 GB of storage, a 5 MB maximum file size and 1 month of version history.
Sync Plus$8
per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Sync for 10 vaults with 10 GB of storage (upgradable to 100 GB), 200 MB maximum file size and 12 months of version history.
Publish$8
per site / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)
Publishes selected notes as a website with a custom domain, password protection, graph view and full-text search.
Catalyst$25
one-time payment
Optional supporter license with early access to beta versions, community badges and exclusive channels.
Commercial$50
per user / year
Optional license for organizations that want to support development. It is not required to use Obsidian at work.
Ways to pay less
Atlas
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
The pricing page marks the Yearly option with a 20% saving over monthly billing.
Obsidian
- Annual discount
20% lower price with annual billing
Sync is $4 per user / month billed annually versus $5 billed monthly, and Publish is $8 per site versus $10: a 20% saving on each.
- Education
40% off Sync and Publish for students and faculty
Students and faculty members of schools and universities can apply for 40% off Obsidian Sync and Publish from their account dashboard, using a school email.
- Nonprofit
40% off Sync and Publish for nonprofits
People who run or work at a nonprofit organization can apply for 40% off Obsidian Sync and Publish, using their organization email.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Atlas or Obsidian?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Atlas starts at $16 per month, billed yearly ($192), and Obsidian starts at $4 per user / month, billed annually (Sync Standard add-on). One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, Atlas or Obsidian?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Atlas and Obsidian have a free plan.
Which platforms do Atlas and Obsidian run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Atlas lists a web app and only Obsidian lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps. Both list a browser extension. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.