Notion is a powerful all-in-one workspace with advanced databases, collaboration, and project management features, while Obsidian is a local-first, privacy-focused note-taking app optimized for personal knowledge graphs and unstructured thinking. Notion excels for teams and complex data management; Obsidian shines for individual thinkers who prioritize offline access and data ownership.
Notion vs Obsidian — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Neither tool is objectively superior—they serve different needs. Notion dominates for teams, structured data management, and collaborative work, while Obsidian excels for individual knowledge management, privacy-conscious users, and offline-first workflows. Many power users leverage both tools together: Obsidian for personal thinking and graph development, Notion for team collaboration and final outputs.
All-in-one workspace for notes, databases, wikis, and project management
Local-first markdown note-taking app focused on bidirectional linking and knowledge graphs.
Structured comparison data for Notion vs Obsidian with 489 attributes.
Free Tier Monthly Recording/Creation Limit
Monthly Subscription Cost (Personal Plan)
Maximum Database Rows (optimal performance)
Real-time Simultaneous Collaborators (unlimited tier)
Native Data Visualization (charts, pivots)
Max Database Items Before Performance Degradation
Starting Price per User/Month (Annual Billing)
Base Monthly Cost Per User (Annual Billing)
Monthly Cost Per User (Team Plan, Annual Billing)
Maximum Concurrent Users Per Board/Workspace
Total Cost of Ownership (50 Users, Annual)
Notion vs Obsidian — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Notion vs Obsidian.
Is Obsidian better than Notion for note-taking?
For personal knowledge management with bidirectional links and data ownership, Obsidian is better. For structured team wikis and project management, Notion is better. They serve different primary use cases.
Can Obsidian be used for team collaboration?
Obsidian is primarily a personal tool. Obsidian Publish ($8/month) makes notes public; Sync lets you share across devices. Real-time collaborative editing like Notion doesn't exist in Obsidian.
Backlinks are automatic two-way connections between notes. When you link Note A to Note B, Note B shows all notes that link to it. This creates a web of connected ideas visible in Obsidian's Graph View.
Is Notion good for writing a book or research?
Many writers use Notion for organization (research databases, chapter outlines, character sheets). Obsidian's distraction-free editor and knowledge graph make it preferred for heavy research and long-form writing projects.
Notion stores your data on their servers — you can export to markdown or PDF, but it's cloud-dependent. Obsidian's files are local plain-text markdown, giving you full ownership regardless of the company's future.