Inkdrop vs Obsidian

Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.

Inkdrop

Markdown note app for developers with encrypted sync

Free trial · from $8.31/mo

Obsidian

Markdown note-taking app that keeps your files on your device

Free plan · from $4/mo

Where they differ

Inkdrop starts at $8.31 per month, billed annually ($99.80 per year). Obsidian starts at $4 per user / month, billed annually (Sync Standard add-on).
Obsidian has a free plan. Inkdrop does not, though it has a free trial.
Inkdrop also covers web clipper.
Obsidian also covers linked notes and whiteboard.

In commonmacOSWindowsLinuxiOSAndroidBrowser extensionWorks offlineEnd-to-end encryptedNotesMarkdown

	Inkdrop	Obsidian
Pricing	Free trial	Free plan
Starts at	$8.31 per month, billed annually ($99.80 per year)	$4 per user / month, billed annually (Sync Standard add-on)
Free plan	None	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	30-day free trial; charging starts once the trial has ended	None listed
macOS
Windows
Linux
iOS
Android
Browser extension
Made by	Takuya Matsuyama	Dynalist Inc.
Price read from	inkdrop.app	obsidian.md
Checked	Oct 6, 2026	Oct 4, 2026

Inkdrop

Obsidian

Inkdrop

There is no free plan; when the 30-day trial ends without payment the account is deactivated and local notes become read-only.
Cancelling means deleting the account, which permanently removes the notes and images stored on Inkdrop's server.
The built-in AI features need your own API key for Anthropic or an OpenAI-compatible provider.
The editor is plain-text Markdown with no rich-text mode, and only images can be attached to notes.

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.

Inkdrop

Markdown editor: Plain-text Markdown editing with slash commands, a floating format toolbar, code-block autocompletion and link pasting that fetches the page title.
Rendering for technical notes: The preview renders syntax-highlighted code blocks, Mermaid diagrams and KaTeX math for inline and block equations.
Notebooks, statuses and tags: Notebooks nest inside one another, and each note can carry tags and a status of active, on hold, completed or dropped that the note list filters by.
End-to-end encrypted sync: Sync between devices is end-to-end encrypted and notes stay available offline. A self-run CouchDB-compatible server can be used instead of Inkdrop's.
MCP server and AI assistant: An MCP server lets agents such as Claude Code search and read notes. The inline assistant and next edit suggestions run on an API key you supply.
Keyboard control and plugins: A command palette, per-context keymaps and a Vim plugin cover keyboard use, and plugins are written against a TypeScript API.

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.

Inkdrop

Basic$8.31
per month, billed annually ($99.80); $9.98 billed monthly
The only plan, with everything included: cloud sync, an unlimited number of notes and 30 GB of storage.

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.

Inkdrop

Annual discount
About 17% less with annual billing
Annual billing is $99.80 a year, shown as $8.31 a month, against $9.98 a month on monthly billing, which totals $119.76 over a year.

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.