Obsidian Review 2026: Local Notes, Sync and Publish Explained

Obsidian is a note-taking and knowledge management app. It keeps notes as Markdown files on your own device and lets you link them into a personal web of ideas. It is not a crypto or DeFi project, despite the shared name with some tokens and cards.

The core app is built around data ownership, offline access and customization. Users add features through community plugins and themes. Two optional services extend it: Sync for encrypted multi-device access and Publish for putting notes online as a wiki, documentation site or digital garden.

Reviewers praise the control, backlinks, graph view and plugin ecosystem. They also point to a steep learning curve, setup effort and limited built-in team collaboration. Licence, team and audit details are not covered in the material reviewed.

Obsidian is an app that reads and writes a folder of plain text Markdown files on your device. Because the files are open and local, the notes work offline and are not tied to a proprietary cloud by default.

You connect notes with links. The app then shows backlinks and draws a graph of the relationships, so you can browse ideas by connection rather than by folder. Plugins and themes extend the app, and Canvas offers a free-form space for diagrams and brainstorming.

Two optional paid services sit on top. Sync copies your notes between devices with end-to-end encryption and version history. Publish hosts selected notes as a website, built from the same notes you write in the app, with theming, custom domains and password protection.

The only prices stated in the material reviewed are for Obsidian Publish: $8 per site per month billed annually, or $10 per site per month billed monthly. That covers hosting up to 4GB, priority email support, a customizable theme and domain, and SEO and mobile performance. A refund is offered within 7 days.

One review site describes the core app as free. Sync pricing, enterprise pricing and any commercial-use terms are not detailed here; they are listed on the Obsidian pricing page.

Obsidian's local-first design means your notes sit on your own device unless you choose Sync or Publish. The company says notes are private and unreadable by others, and that Sync uses end-to-end encryption. Publish sites are public by default unless you add password protection, so check what you publish.

Community plugins are made by third parties and can run code in your vault, so install only those you trust. The project does not publish a third-party audit in the material reviewed, though it lists a security page and a system status page. As this is a software service and not a financial product, there is no custody of funds involved.

Obsidian suits writers, researchers, students and developers who want a private, linked knowledge base they control. Publish fits anyone who wants to share a wiki or documentation site straight from their notes. It is a weaker fit for teams that need fast shared workspaces, or for people who want a tool that works well with no configuration.