Obsidian vs Trilium Notes

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

Free plan · from $4/mo

Trilium Notes

Free, open-source hierarchical notes for a personal knowledge base

Free

Where they differ

Obsidian starts at $4 per user / month, billed annually (Sync Standard add-on). Trilium Notes is free.
Only Obsidian lists iOS and Android apps.
Only Trilium Notes lists a web app.
Obsidian is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
Trilium Notes is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
Obsidian also covers linked notes and whiteboard.
Trilium Notes also covers web clipper.

In commonFree planmacOSWindowsLinuxBrowser extensionWorks offlineNotesMarkdown

	Obsidian	Trilium Notes
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.	Entirely free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license, with no paid tiers, accounts or feature paywalls. The project accepts donations.
Free trial	None listed	None listed
Web
macOS
Windows
Linux
iOS
Android
Browser extension
Made by	Dynalist Inc.	Elian Doran and the community
Price read from	obsidian.md	triliumnotes.org
Checked	Oct 4, 2026	Oct 5, 2026

Obsidian

Trilium 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.

Trilium Notes

There is no official mobile app; phones reach a self-hosted server through the browser or an installed PWA.
There is no official hosted version, so syncing devices means running your own server or paying a third-party host such as PikaPods.
It is designed for a single user: real-time editing of the same notes by several people is not supported.
Notes are kept in an SQLite database rather than plain-text files, and are not encrypted unless marked as protected.

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.

Trilium Notes

Hierarchical notes: Notes nest inside other notes instead of folders, and a single note can appear in several places in the tree. Labels and relations add structure.
Many note types: Rich text, Markdown, code, spreadsheet, canvas, Mermaid diagram, mind map and file notes can be mixed freely in the same tree.
Collections: Display a group of notes as a calendar, table, kanban board, map, presentation or dashboard, and switch between layouts at any time.
Sync through your own server: A self-hosted server syncs notes across devices, gives access from a browser and can publish a subtree of notes as a read-only website.
Scripting and REST API: JavaScript runs in the app or on the server to add widgets and automate work, and a built-in REST API reads, creates and updates notes over HTTP.
Protected notes and revisions: Selected notes can be encrypted behind a password-protected session, and periodic background revisions let you review or undo changes.

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.

Trilium Notes

Free$0
Every feature of the desktop apps and the self-hosted server, including sync, scripting and the REST API.

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.

Trilium Notes

No public discounts listed.