Obsidian vs Notion: your files vs their cloud
Main topic: Obsidian vs Notion · Facts checked 3 November 2026 — prices change, so re-check the official page before acting on them.
Last checked: 3 November 2026
Head to head
| Obsidian | Notion | |
|---|---|---|
| Where notes live | Plain Markdown files in a folder you own | Notion’s cloud — no local folder of files |
| Offline | Full — the app is local-first | Limited offline access |
| Databases | Not built in; Bases and plugins cover part of it | The core strength: databases, relations, rollups, formulas |
| Collaboration | No real-time co-editing | Built for teams: shared workspaces, comments, permissions |
| Price | App free; Sync $4/mo yearly · $5 monthly; Publish $8/$10 per site | Free solo; Plus $10/member/mo billed yearly ($12 monthly); Business $20 yearly ($24 monthly) |
| Students | App free; 40% off Sync/Publish as seen 2–3 Nov 2026 | Free Education route for students, as seen 2–3 Nov 2026 |
↔ Scroll this table sideways — the rest of the page stays put.
Where Obsidian wins
Ownership and offline. Your notes are files: open them in any editor, back them up anywhere, read them in twenty years without anyone’s permission or servers. The app works fully offline, the plugin ecosystem (Dataview, Templater, Canvas) is deep, and there is no per-member bill — costs are per person who chooses Sync, not per seat in a workspace. The catch is the mirror image of Notion’s strength: no real databases and no live collaboration.
Where Notion wins
Systems and teams. If your notes are really a working system — projects related to tasks related to people, with rollups and formulas keeping score — Notion does that natively and Obsidian does not. Sharing is equally one-sided: a Notion workspace is built for a team to edit together, with comments and permissions. If that is your daily reality, read should you stay on Notion? before the file-ownership argument talks you out of a tool your team depends on.
What breaks moving either way
- Notion → Obsidian: pages import well, but databases do not come across as a living system. Obsidian’s Importer API method converts databases and formulas to Bases; the HTML file method does not preserve databases as Bases — full steps in how to move from Notion to Obsidian.
- Obsidian → Notion: your Markdown files become imported pages, but the plugin layer stays behind — Dataview queries, Templater templates, Canvas boards and graph-first workflows have no Notion equivalent, and your folder of files becomes content inside Notion’s cloud.
- Either way: test on a copy or an export first, and keep the old tool untouched until the new one proves itself on real work.
Questions people ask
Which is better for students, Obsidian or Notion?
Both can be free: the Obsidian app is free with no limits and its Sync/Publish add-ons carry a 40% student discount (as seen 2–3 November 2026), and Notion offers a free Education route for students (as seen 2–3 November 2026). Pick Obsidian for files you own and full offline; pick Notion if your course work is shared with classmates or built on databases. Re-check both official pages — student offers change.
Can Obsidian replace Notion for a team?
Not for live collaboration: Obsidian has no real-time co-editing, and its databases are not Notion’s. Teams whose work is shared databases and documents usually stay on Notion or pick a team-built alternative — see the “Obsidian alternative for teams” page.
Which one owns my notes?
With Obsidian, you do — plain Markdown files in your own folder. With Notion, your notes live in Notion’s cloud and you export copies when you need them. That single difference drives most of this comparison.