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Obsidian (software)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Obsidian (disambiguation).

Obsidian
Original authors
  • Shida Li
  • Erica Xu
DeveloperDynalist Inc.[1]
Initial releaseMarch 30, 2020; 5 years ago (2020-03-30)
Stable release
1.9.12[2] Edit this on Wikidata / 26 August 2025; 39 days ago (26 August 2025)
Written inElectron, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
PlatformWindows, macOS, Android, Linux, iOS
Type
LicenseFreemium[3]
Websiteobsidian.md

Obsidian is a proprietary personal knowledge base and note-taking application that operates on markdown files.[4][5][6] The software is free for personal and commercial use; only the offered cloud services are paid.[7] It is available as desktop versions for macOS, Windows and Linux as well as for mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android,[8] but not as a web application.

History

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Obsidian was founded by Shida Li and Erica Xu while quarantining during the COVID-19 pandemic.[9] The two had been developing and operating the note-taking software Dynalist.io together since 2015.[10]

Li and Xu, who had met while studying at the University of Waterloo, had already collaborated on several development projects.[11]

The two had the idea for Obsidian 2 years before the release of the beta version. Out of boredom, they began developing the software in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

Obsidian was initially released on 30 March 2020.[12]

Version 1.0.0 was released in October 2022.[13][14]

The Canvas core plugin (added version 1.1) was released in December 2022.[15][16] It provides a freeform, infinite 2D space where users can spatially arrange notes, images, and links to visually map ideas (akin to a whiteboard).[17]

In February 2023, Steph Ango joined Obsidian as CEO.[18]

Availability

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Obsidian is built on the cross-platform Electron framework, allowing for the application to run on desktop operating systems like Windows, Linux, and macOS.

A special version is also available for mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS.[19]

A forum and Discord server are hosted by the developers.[20][11]

Usage

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Obsidian is particularly suitable as a knowledge database for personal knowledge management[21] and as software for creating notes that works with Markdown files. It allows users to make internal links for notes and then to visualize the connections as an interactive graph.[22][23][19][11][5]

Obsidian is designed to help users organize and structure their thoughts and knowledge in a flexible, non-linear way.[24]

The software is free for personal use, with optional paid services such as cloud synchronization and online publishing. Since February 2025, it has also been free for commercial use, although the developers recommend purchasing service licenses for professional environments.[25] Notes are stored as plain text files, which allows users to employ their own synchronization, encryption, and backup tools.

Features

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Obsidian operates on a folder of text documents named a "vault";[26] each new note in Obsidian generates a new text document, and all documents can be searched from within the app.[19][5]

Obsidian allows internal linking between notes, with links forming an interactive graph that visualizes the relationships between notes.[19][11][5]

Text formatting in Obsidian is achieved through markdown, with the ability to switch between raw text and a pre-rendered mode.[19]

Plugins

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Users may customize their Obsidian vaults by adding plugins and themes, which enable users to extend the software's functionality with additional features or integration with other tools.[19]

Obsidian differentiates between core plugins, which are released and maintained by the Obsidian team, and community plugins, which are open-sourced through GitHub and are contributed by users.[27]

Examples of community plugins include a Kanban-style task board and a calendar widget.[5] There are over 200 community made themes to use with the app.

Premium services

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While Obsidian is free and does not charge users to access any core features,[3][28] the developers have launched paid services into the application for additional needs.[4][19] All services are shipped as plugins and can be disabled per-vault.

In February 2025, Obsidian updated their commercial licensing policy to be optional. Their reasoning being simplicity: "The Commercial license terms were confusing and added unnecessary complexity to our pricing". Companies who optionally choose to purchase 25 or more commercial licenses are featured on the Obsidian Enterprise page.[28]

Publish

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Obsidian Publish is a web hosting service that allows subscribers to publish their Obsidian vaults onto the internet. Vaults that are published with the service are typically formatted similarly to the application, with a graph view provided for links between pages. The service provides support for using custom domains, themes and analytics solutions. Much like Sync, it is a plug and play alternative to static site generators that require being configured to be both automatically generated with each new version and uploaded to the web.[29]

Sync

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Obsidian Sync is a file synchronization service designed to synchronize vaults across multiple clients running Obsidian. Files and vault settings are end-to-end encrypted while being synced between devices, and allow for file versioning to be enabled. Additionally, vaults can be shared to other users who can access and/or edit any files on the vault, allowing for collaborative editing.[30] The service is positioned as an alternative to do-it-yourself solutions both inside and outside of the application, which typically require some amount of manual configuration.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Terms of Service - Obsidian". obsidian.md. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Obsidian 1.9.12 Desktop (Public)". Retrieved 27 August 2025.
  3. ^ a b "Pricing". Obsidian. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  4. ^ a b Eastman, David (24 April 2022). "Obsidian and the Case for Using More Markdown". The New Stack. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e Myrick, Andrew (15 September 2021). "Obsidian is the best note-taking app that you've never heard of". Android Central. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  6. ^ Shah, Parth (29 July 2024). "5 reasons why you should learn Markdown for taking notes in Obsidian". XDA. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  7. ^ "License Overview – Obsidian". Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  8. ^ "Download – Obsidian". Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  9. ^ a b Le Cunff, Anne-Laure (6 August 2021). "Exploring the power of note-making with the co-founder of Obsidian". Ness Labs. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Changelog – Dynalist". Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  11. ^ a b c d Ionescu, Stefan (4 August 2022). "Obsidian". TechRadar. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  12. ^ "Obsidian Release v0.0.1". Obsidian. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  13. ^ Rudra, Sourav. "Notion-like Markdown Note-Taking App 'Obsidian' is Out of Beta". It's FOSS News. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Obsidian Release v1.0.0". Obsidian. 13 October 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Obsidian Release v1.1". Obsidian. 20 December 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  16. ^ "Obsidian Canvas – Visualize your ideas". Retrieved 2 December 2023.
  17. ^ "Complete tutorial to canvas in Obsidian - techtooler.com". 27 November 2023. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
  18. ^ "I'm joining Obsidian full-time as CEO". Obsidian. 6 February 2023. Retrieved 31 May 2024.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g Pot, Justin. "Obsidian Review". PCMag. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  20. ^ Newman, Jared (13 October 2023). "The cult of Obsidian: Why people are obsessed with the note-taking app". fastcompany.com.
  21. ^ Pyne, Yvette; Stewart, Stuart (March 2022). "Meta-work: how we research is as important as what we research". British Journal of General Practice. 72 (716): 130–131. doi:10.3399/bjgp22X718757. PMC 8884432. PMID 35210247. However, in the context of personal knowledge systems, the last year has seen an explosion of 'Personal Knowledge Graph (PKG)' tools such as 'Roam Research', 'Obsidian', and 'Notion'
  22. ^ Pyne, Yvette; Stewart, Stuart (March 2022). "Meta-work: how we research is as important as what we research". British Journal of General Practice. 72 (716): 130–131. doi:10.3399/bjgp22X718757. PMC 8884432. PMID 35210247. Today, we are familiar with interlinked pockets of information in the form of hyperlinks on webpages such as Wikipedia. However, in the context of personal knowledge systems, the last year has seen an explosion of 'Personal Knowledge Graph' (PKG) tools such as 'Roam Research', 'Obsidian', and 'Notion', which digitise and personalise this powerful concept.
  23. ^ Hastings, Robin (September 2022). "Linked data tools to help users create webs of personal knowledge". Computers in Libraries. 42 (7): 19–22. The two main recent entries in the linked data PKM field are Roam and Obsidian
  24. ^ Pot, Justin. "How to Use Obsidian for Writing and Productivity". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  25. ^ "Obsidian is now free for work". Obsidian. 20 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  26. ^ Krasnoff, Barbara (16 November 2023). "The best note-taking apps for collecting your thoughts and data". The Verge. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  27. ^ "Plugins". Obsidian. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  28. ^ a b "Obsidian is now free for work". Obsidian. 20 February 2025. Retrieved 26 February 2025.
  29. ^ "Obsidian Publish". obsidian.md. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
  30. ^ "Obsidian Sync". obsidian.md. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
  31. ^ Bohlooli, Amir M. (28 February 2023). "How to Sync Your Obsidian Vault Across Multiple Devices for Free". MUO. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
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