Obsidian vs Tolaria
We give Obsidian and Tolaria the same GPA: 3.4 out of 4.0. They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Obsidian
Markdown note-taking app that keeps your files on your device
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAObsidianVery good | 3.4GPATolariaVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AThe app is free and Sync is $4 a month if you want it. You only pay for the extras you'll really use. | AFree and open source under AGPL-3.0-or-later, with no paid plans, no subscription and no account. The only bills are ones you bring yourself, because hosted AI models need your own API key. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe whole app, free, with no account and no limits. You're even allowed to use it at work without paying. | AThe full desktop app is free, with the Git client, the AI panel and the MCP server included. There's no paid tier to hold anything back for. |
| Features | ALinked notes, a graph view, a canvas, and thousands of plugins and themes. It can become almost anything. | AA block editor with slash commands, wikilinks and whiteboards that saves to plain Markdown. Notes are grouped by a type field, and links in the frontmatter become relationships with backlinks. The built-in Git client handles diffs, commits and conflicts. A note can open as a single-sheet spreadsheet with formulas. |
| Ease of use | CThis is the hard part. You start with an empty folder, and even fans say it took them a while to get comfortable. | CNo rating on record. The app needs no account, but the good bits take wiring up. Sync means connecting a Git remote and relying on your system's Git sign-in. Coding agents are installed separately, and hosted models want your own API key. |
| Platforms and integrations | BMac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android, plus a web clipper. No web app though, and the phone app is weaker than the desktop one. | BmacOS, Windows and Linux, though the docs call Windows and Linux support early. No mobile or web app is offered. It works with any Git remote, with Claude Code and Codex, and with Ollama, LM Studio, OpenAI and Anthropic models. |
| Best for | notes you own as plain files | Markdown notes kept in Git, with AI agents on hand |
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: Obsidian and Tolaria. How we grade
Where they differ
- Obsidian starts at $4 per user / month, billed annually (Sync Standard add-on). Tolaria is free.
- Only Obsidian lists iOS and Android apps.
- Only Obsidian lists a browser extension.
- Obsidian is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Tolaria is open source, according to its own site.
- Obsidian also covers whiteboard.
At a glance
| Obsidian | Tolaria | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $4 per user / month, billed annually (Sync Standard add-on) | Free |
| Free plan | 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 and open source under AGPL-3.0-or-later, with no paid plans, subscription or account. Coding agents and hosted AI models are set up with your own tools and API keys. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Dynalist Inc. | Luca, founder of Refactoring |
| Price read from | obsidian.md | tolaria.md |
| Checked | Oct 4, 2026 | Oct 6, 2026 |
Who each one suits
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
Tolaria
- People who want notes kept as plain Markdown files on their own disk
- Developers comfortable using Git for history and sync
- Users of CLI coding agents who want them to work on their notes
Worth knowing
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.
Tolaria
- Desktop only: no mobile or web app is offered, and the docs call Windows and Linux support early, with macOS as the primary target.
- There is no sync service of its own; syncing between devices means connecting a Git remote and relying on your system's Git authentication.
- Coding agents are installed separately and keep their own sign-in, and hosted model providers need your own API key.
- A spreadsheet note holds a single sheet; several tabs inside one note are not supported.
Key features
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.
Tolaria
- Plain Markdown vaults
- A vault is a folder of Markdown files with YAML frontmatter. Attachments, type definitions and saved views are files too, and there is no database.
- Block editor with wikilinks
- A block-based editor with slash commands, wikilink autocomplete, a raw Markdown mode, whiteboards and media previews that saves to Markdown.
- Types and relationships
- Notes are grouped by a type field rather than by folder, and frontmatter fields holding wikilinks become relationships with computed inverses and backlinks.
- Built-in Git client
- Review diffs, commit, pull, push and resolve conflicts inside the app, with history for the whole vault and for each note. Sync runs through any Git remote.
- Coding agents and direct models
- The AI panel runs local CLI agents such as Claude Code and Codex with tools to edit the vault, or chats with Ollama, LM Studio, OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini or OpenRouter models.
- Spreadsheet notes
- A note can open as a single-sheet spreadsheet with formulas, stored as CSV-like text in the same Markdown file so it stays readable and diffable in Git.
Plans
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.
Tolaria
Free$0
The full desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, including the Git client, the AI panel and the MCP server.
Ways to pay less
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.
Tolaria
No public discounts listed.
