Obsidian Pricing 2026

Yes, the core Obsidian application is completely free for personal and commercial use with no limitations. As of 2026, the commercial license requirement was removed. The only costs are optional paid services: Obsidian Sync ($4-5/month) and Obsidian Publish ($8-10/month).

No, Obsidian Sync is optional. You can sync for free using iCloud, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, or Git. These methods require some technical setup but work well. Obsidian Sync offers convenience, end-to-end encryption, and version history for $4-5/month.

Obsidian doesn't have built-in real-time collaboration like Google Docs. It's designed for individual use. You can share vaults via Git or cloud storage, but multiple people can't edit the same note simultaneously without merge conflicts.

Obsidian is local-first with Markdown files you own, focused on personal knowledge management with graph-based linking. Notion is cloud-based with a database-centric approach, better for team collaboration. Obsidian is free and private; Notion has better collaboration but requires paid plans for teams.

No, Obsidian stores all notes locally on your device as plain Markdown files. You have complete control and ownership. Only if you choose to use Obsidian Sync ($4-5/month) will encrypted copies be stored on Obsidian's servers for syncing across devices.

Yes, and it's easy. Since Obsidian uses plain Markdown files stored locally, your data is already in an open, portable format. You can move your entire vault to another app at any time without export tools or conversion processes.

Yes, Obsidian is completely free for personal use. All core features, including community plugins and themes, are available without payment. You only pay for optional services: Sync ($4/month annually or $5/month) for cloud synchronization and Publish ($8/month annually or $10/month) for publishing your notes as a website.

Yes, Obsidian works with any file sync service since it stores notes as plain markdown files. Users commonly sync via iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, Dropbox, or git. The paid Sync service ($4/month annually) offers end-to-end encryption, version history, and is optimized for Obsidian, but free alternatives work well for many users.

As of February 2026, Obsidian is now free for commercial use. Previously, companies with revenue over $1 million/year required a Commercial license at $50/year per user, but this requirement has been removed.

Using both services costs $10/month when paid annually ($4/month for Sync + $8/month for Publish = $144/year total), or $15/month when paid monthly ($5/month Sync + $10/month Publish).

Yes, students can get a 40% discount on Obsidian's paid services. You can check eligibility and apply for the discount on the Obsidian pricing page.

Obsidian Sync at $48/year is more expensive than general cloud storage (iCloud 50GB costs less, Google One 100GB is cheaper), but includes features specific to Obsidian like end-to-end encryption, version history, and seamless integration. Many users opt for free sync via iCloud, OneDrive, or git instead.

Community opinion is divided. At $10/month ($8/month annually), Obsidian Publish is priced above free alternatives like Notion, Blogger, and Wordpress.com, and above paid options like Wix (~$4/month). Its advantage is frictionless, one-click publishing directly from your vault. In 2022, some users reported missing SEO metadata, rendering bugs, and theme incompatibilities; the service has continued to develop since.

The cheapest method is the free Personal (Free) plan combined with a third-party sync solution — iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, or git are all free or included with existing subscriptions. If you want Obsidian's native encrypted sync with version history, the Sync plan costs $4/month on annual billing ($48/year).