Obsidian vs Notion
Learn more about your options and pick the best tool for your team.
Unsure whether to choose Obsidian or Notion for your team? You've come to the right place.
If you are evaluating document sharing and note-taking tools, Notion and Obsidian will likely make it to your shortlist. In this article, we will take a closer look at both tools and examine their strengths and weaknesses to help you make the right decision for your company.
Obsidian and Notion compared
While both Notion and Obsidian can be used to take notes and share documents, they are fundamentally very different tools.
Obsidian is primarily a personal knowledge base and note-taking tool, and Notion is a unified platform for collaborative documentation, project management, and knowledge sharing. Depending on what you want to achieve, one of them may be a much better fit for you than the other.
Let's dive deeper into what Notion and Obsidian have to offer and also have a look at other alternatives you may want to consider.
Obsidian
Pricing: Free, advanced features starting from $8/month
Rating on Capterra: 4.8/5
Obsidian is a note-taking and knowledge management tool that is designed to be highly customizable and extendable. It allows users to create and organize their notes using Markdown and link them together to create a visual representation of their thoughts and ideas in a knowledge graph.
Obsidian stores all of your notes locally on your computer and does not rely on a cloud server. It's also one of the few Notion alternatives with an offline mode. It provides a range of first-party plugins that allow users to extend the functionality of the app, such as adding a slash command menu and the ability to set up Kanban boards, calendars, and to-do lists.
Collaborating with others on Obsidian requires some additional setup, as the app does not currently have built-in collaboration features. One way to do this is to create a vault, upload it to a cloud file storage service such as Google Drive, and share it with your team.
Overall, Obsidian is a good alternative to Notion for users who value having complete control over their data and the ability to customize their workspace to their specific needs. It may require more time and patience to set up and customize, and may not have all of the collaboration and database features that Notion offers out of the box.
Why you might prefer Obsidian over Notion:
Obsidian allows you to store all of your notes locally while Notion is only available as a cloud-hosted solution.
Obsidian offers an offline mode, making it easier to maintain steady access to your notes.
Obsidian is faster than Notion and suffers from fewer performance issues.
Obsidian has a large number of plugins, allowing you to extend and customize the app.
What users say about Obsidian:
"Notion was getting laggy, and bloated, and didn't link and show me my notes as cleanly as Obsidian. Obsidian keeps me sane. Simple, flexible, extensible, and just works. Offline, online, phone, desktop, laptop, it doesn't matter."
Notion
Pricing: Free, advanced features starting from $8/user/month
Rating on Capterra: 4.8/5
Notion is a hybrid productivity tool that can be used for note-taking, project management, knowledge sharing, collaboration, and much more. While Obsidian focuses on plain text markdown notes, Notion supports a wide range of content types, including text, tables, images, files, and more.
The main difference between Notion and Obsidian lies in their focus and approach. Notion offers a broader range of features including databases, calendars, and collaboration tools, making it suitable for project management and team collaboration alongside personal note-taking. Obsidian, on the other hand, is more streamlined and aimed at personal knowledge management. It doesn't have the same extensive collaborative features as Notion.
Why you might prefer Notion over Google Docs:
Notion is far more versatile and covers more use cases, allowing you to replace not just Obsidian, but also tools like Asana, Confluence, Airtable, and more.
Notion offers considerably more extensive collaboration features, making it easier to use it in a team.
Some users find Notion to be more user-friendly compared to Obsidian.
Notion offers AI features, allowing you to quickly generate ideas and edit content.
What users say about Notion:
"I used to be an avid user of Obsidian, a somewhat similar note-taking and knowledge management program but recently switched most of my activity to Notion because of a few things that make it much easier to use. The biggest reason I prefer Notion is because of the built-in support for databases and calendars. Obsidian has this functionality, but it is only through the use of community-built plugins, and they don't always play nicely together. Notion's built-in database and calendar functions are much more versatile and easier to use. The other reason I prefer Notion as of late is how easy it is to share notes and pages with colleagues."
Looking for more tools similar to Notion? Check out this list of Notion alternatives.
Other alternatives
It's worth noting that your choices extend beyond just Notion and Obsidian. There exist numerous other noteworthy note-taking and collaboration solutions that can serve your needs equally well, if not better. For example, if you're drawn to the idea of consolidating multiple tools into a single solution like Notion, but prefer the speed and streamlined design of Obsidian, consider Nuclino.
Lightweight and minimal by design, focusing on the essentials and eliminating cumbersome menus and seldom-used features. Its interface is simpler and cleaner compared to both Notion and Obsidian, and makes it easy for anyone to get started with the tool.
Like in Notion, Nuclino has extensive built-in collaboration features. Every document can be collaborated on in real time, with changes automatically tracked in the version history. Comments and mentions can be used to exchange feedback, and related documents can be linked together.
Another remarkable aspect of Nuclino is its performance. Every interaction, from search to editing, is optimized for speed — no loading spinners or unnecessary waiting. Markdown commands and hotkeys enable swift content formatting without taking your hands off the keyboard. The search is just as fast, allowing you to quickly retrieve the information you need.
While Nuclino can be exclusively used for note-taking and knowledge management similar to Obsidian, it's a unified collaboration tool that is capable of much more. You can use it to manage projects, onboard new employees, take meeting minutes, collaborate on documents, and more, replacing multiple other tools and bringing all your work together in one place.
If you're a fan of Notion AI, you will also appreciate Sidekick, the AI-powered assistant built into Nuclino. Like Notion AI, Sidekick can help you generate ideas, create first drafts, improve your writing, summarize long documents, and more, streamlining your writing process.
Moreover, unlike Notion AI, Sidekick also allows you to instantly generate all kinds of unique images – 2D and 3D, abstract and photorealistic, detailed and simple.
Nuclino also offers built-in visual collaboration and allows you to add an infinite collaborative canvas to any page. You can use it to create diagrams and flowcharts, brainstorm ideas using sticky notes, build moodboards, and much more.
Learn more about how Nuclino compares to Notion: Nuclino vs Notion.
Notion vs Obsidian: So which is better?
There is no objectively "best" tool when you compare Notion and Obsidian. The choice depends solely on your needs. In essence, Notion provides a more visual and versatile platform for creating various types of content and collaborating with others, while Obsidian takes a more minimalistic approach, focusing on plain text notes and strong interlinking capabilities.
On the other hand, if you value simplicity, speed, and seamless collaboration, consider exploring other alternatives, such as Nuclino. We hope this article has made your decision a little easier.
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