Heptabase vs Obsidian

Heptabase

• Students and researchers learning complex topics from PDFs and videos
• Visual thinkers who like to arrange notes on a canvas
• Readers who sync highlights from Readwise or sources from Zotero

Obsidian

• People who want their notes as plain Markdown files they control
• Building a linked personal knowledge base that works offline
• Users who like to customize an app with plugins and themes

Heptabase

• There is no free plan to sign up for; a subscription is required after the 7-day trial.
• Pro includes 100 AI credits a month and only Gemini models; GPT, Claude and AI Tutor need Premium.
• Heptabase says it does not currently offer educational, nonprofit or NGO discounts.
• People invited as free collaborators can edit shared whiteboards and cards but get no journal, tasks or AI features.

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.

Heptabase

Whiteboards and cards

Each note is a card, and cards are laid out on whiteboards to work through a topic visually.

Block editor with bi-directional links

Cards are written in a block-based editor with slash commands and can link to each other in both directions.

PDF highlights and source Q&A

Highlight PDFs in several colors and ask AI to explain PDFs, YouTube videos, notes and journal entries. Unlimited PDF uploads and OCR parsing need Premium.

AI agent and AI Tutor

An AI agent helps take notes and organize knowledge, drawing on monthly AI credits. AI Tutor, which runs structured learning sessions, is part of Premium.

Daily journal

A journal entry for each day sits alongside a calendar and to-dos.

Offline access and collaboration

Notes and files stay available without an internet connection, and friends or teammates can be invited to collaborate in real time for free.

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.

Heptabase

• Pro$8.99

  per month, billed yearly ($11.99 billed monthly)

  Unlimited notes, whiteboards, tags and collaborator invites, 100 AI credits a month and an AI agent limited to Gemini models.

• Premium$17.99

  per month, billed yearly ($23.99 billed monthly)

  Everything in Pro, plus unlimited PDF uploads and OCR parsing, GPT and Claude models, AI Tutor and 1,800 AI credits a month.

• Premium+$53.99

  per month, billed yearly ($71.99 billed monthly)

  Everything in Premium, with 8,100 AI credits a month and a 33% discount on AI credits.

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.

Heptabase

• Annual discount

  Save 25% with yearly billing

  Heptabase's pricing page marks yearly billing as 25% cheaper: Pro is $107.88 a year instead of $11.99 a month, and Premium is $215.88 instead of $23.99 a month.

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.