Obsidian vs Standard Notes

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

Standard Notes

• Private notes that the provider cannot read
• Keeping sensitive records and documents alongside notes
• People who want open source apps and the option to self-host
• Small groups: Professional can be shared with up to 5 accounts

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.

Standard Notes

• The free plan is limited to plain-text notes; Markdown, rich text, spreadsheets and folders need Productivity at $90 per year.
• The pricing page lists yearly prices only, and there is no free trial; refunds are offered within 14 days (Productivity) or 90 days (Professional).
• Encrypted file storage comes only with Professional, and files cannot be viewed or downloaded after a subscription expires.
• When a subscription lapses, notes in the paid editors become read-only until switched back to plain text.

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.

Standard Notes

End-to-end encryption

Notes, tags and other data are encrypted on the device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before syncing, so the server stores only data it cannot read.

Note types

A note is plain text on the free plan. A subscription adds Super notes for Markdown, rich text, checklists and code, plus spreadsheets and an authenticator for 2FA codes.

Sync and offline access

Notes sync across unlimited devices on the web, desktop and mobile, and an offline copy stays available without an internet connection.

Revision history and backups

Daily encrypted email backups come with every plan. Note history covers the current session on the free plan, 1 year on Productivity and is unlimited on Professional.

Encrypted file storage

Professional includes 100 GB of encrypted storage for photos, videos and documents, with no file size limit (tested up to 2 GB) and offline file access.

Web Clipper and folders

Paid plans add a Chrome and Firefox extension that clips a full page, an article or a selection into a note, and nested folders built from tags.

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.

Standard Notes

• StandardFree

  Plain-text notes with end-to-end encryption, unlimited device sync, offline access, tags and daily encrypted email backups.

• Productivity$90

  per year

  Adds the Super note type for Markdown and rich text, spreadsheets, Daily Notebooks, folders, the Web Clipper, an authenticator and 1-year revision history.

• Professional$120

  per year

  Adds 100 GB of encrypted file storage, subscription sharing with up to 5 accounts, maximum revision history and hardware security key support.

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.

Standard Notes

• Education

  30% student discount

  Students get 30% off any plan, except offline subscriptions, by emailing the support team from a student email address.

• Other savings

  Help for people who cannot afford a plan

  Standard Notes invites anyone facing economic difficulty to email support with their circumstances so a plan that works for them can be arranged.

• Other savings

  Discounted offline subscription for self-hosting

  Offline subscriptions, which unlock the paid features on a self-hosted server, are sold at what the vendor calls a steep discount from the hosted plans.