Obsidian vs Scrintal

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

Scrintal

• Students and researchers mapping reading notes visually
• Writers who lay out a thesis or article on a canvas before drafting
• Small groups brainstorming on shared boards

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.

Scrintal

• There is no free plan and no direct trial; a 14-day trial is available only through an existing user's invite link.
• The single plan is billed annually at $108; the pricing data lists no monthly option.
• Refunds are limited to the first 7 days of a new subscription, once per user, and are not given after a trial.
• Desktop apps are offered for macOS and Windows; the site lists no mobile app.

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.

Scrintal

Infinite canvas boards

Boards hold notes, PDFs, videos and images side by side, so reading, watching and note-taking happen on one surface. Templates cover study and research.

Blocks that become docs

A note starts as a block on the canvas and can be turned into a full rich-text document with a click. Docs live in one library and are reused across boards.

Arrows and bi-directional links

Ideas are connected visually with arrows on a board, or through bi-directional links between docs.

AI Assistant

The site lists a built-in AI Assistant for repetitive, time-consuming work. Gobu, a separate product from the same company, is an AI research assistant.

Real-time collaboration

Subscribers share docs and boards with other Scrintal users by email address and work on them together in real time.

Markdown and PDF import and export

Existing Markdown files can be imported, and the whole archive can be downloaded as Markdown files.

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.

Scrintal

• Scrintal Pro$9

  per month, billed annually ($108 per year)

  Unlimited docs and boards, unlimited file uploads, real-time collaboration, priority support and community calls with the team.

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.

Scrintal

• Education

  30% student discount

  Scrintal's support docs offer students 30% off, applied automatically at checkout when subscribing with a university email address.