Obsidian
Obsidian is a local-first, privacy-focused Markdown knowledge management application that serves individual knowledge workers, researchers, and distributed teams with bidirectional linking, graph visualization, Canvas, and a 4,000+ community plugin ecosystem, monetizing via optional Sync and Publish subscriptions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersOakville, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Obsidian does
Obsidian, operated by Dynalist Inc. and founded in 2020 by University of Waterloo alumni Erica Xu and Shida Li, is a local-first knowledge management application that stores user notes as plain-text Markdown files on the user's device. The desktop app is built on Electron with the CodeMirror 6 editor engine and is paired with mobile clients for iOS and Android, a CLI, a Web Clipper browser extension, and an open Plugin API documented at docs.obsidian.md. Core capabilities include bidirectional linking, an interactive Graph View, an infinite Canvas (with the open JSON Canvas format), and the Bases plugin for dynamic table, card, and list views. The product is free for personal, commercial, non-profit, educational, and government use, with no account required, and revenue is generated exclusively through optional subscription add-ons — Obsidian Sync ($4-$8/month, end-to-end AES-256 encrypted), Obsidian Publish (website publishing), Catalyst and Commercial supporter licenses, and a branded merchandise store.
Obsidian firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Obsidian
- Legal name
- Dynalist Inc.
- Website
- https://obsidian.md
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Obsidian is a local-first, privacy-focused Markdown knowledge management application that serves individual knowledge workers, researchers, and distributed teams with bidirectional linking, graph visualization, Canvas, and a 4,000+ community plugin ecosystem, monetizing via optional Sync and Publish subscriptions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Obsidian industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Knowledge Management Software
- NAICS
- Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (5192)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- General Web Portals & Start Pages (BPAMAAAA)
Keywords
Where Obsidian is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oakville
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Obsidian business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Obsidian Sync (subscription): The primary paid add-on service. Provides secure synchronization across devices with end-to-end encryption, version history (1 month for Standard, 12 months for Plus), and collaborative shared vaults. Billed monthly or annually. Standard plan ($4/month annual or $5/month monthly): 1 vault, 1 GB storage, 5 MB max file size. Plus plan ($8/month annual or $10/month monthly): 10 vaults, 10 GB storage (expandable to 100 GB for $16/month annual), 200 MB max file size. Optional server region selection for faster sync.
- Obsidian Publish (subscription): Paid add-on service for publishing notes as an online wiki, knowledge base, documentation site, or digital garden. Features include seamless editing from the app, customization (themes, custom domains, password protection), SEO optimization, and mobile-friendly output.
- Catalyst License (optional): Special license for individuals offering early access to insider/beta builds. Sold as annual licenses at various price tiers (approximately $25-$50 range). Helps fund development and provides supporters with exclusive early access perks.
- Commercial License (optional): Optional license for organizations to support Obsidian development. As of February 2025, no longer required for commercial use — organizations may purchase to be featured as supporters on the Enterprise page. Sold as annual licenses.
- Obsidian Softwear Merchandise: Branded merchandise store selling t-shirts, hoodies, hats, enamel pins, patches, stickers, and bumper stickers. Items are produced in limited series and shipped worldwide via Cotton Bureau.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Annual | Free for all use cases — personal, commercial, non-profit, educational, government |
| Subscription | Annual | Obsidian Sync Standard — entry-level sync with 1 vault and 1 GB storage |
| Subscription | Annual | Obsidian Sync Plus — expanded sync with 10 vaults and 10 GB storage |
| Subscription | Monthly | Obsidian Publish — publish notes as a website |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels8 records
Obsidian product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Obsidian is a local-first, Markdown-based knowledge management application that lets individuals and teams capture, link, and visualize notes stored as plain-text files on their own devices. It offers bidirectional linking, a Graph View, an infinite Canvas for visual thinking, and an ecosystem of 4,000+ community plugins and themes, with optional paid add-on services for end-to-end encrypted cross-device sync (Obsidian Sync) and publishing notes as websites (Obsidian Publish).
Product overview
Obsidian is a privacy-focused, local-first knowledge management application built around plain-text Markdown files. The core product offers linking between notes, graph visualization, and an infinite Canvas for visual organization. Add-on services include Obsidian Sync (end-to-end encrypted cloud sync with Standard and Plus tiers) and Obsidian Publish (website publishing). Key features include Obsidian CLI for terminal control, Mobile apps for iOS/Android, Web Clipper browser extension for capturing web content, and Importer for migrating from other note apps. The ecosystem is expanded through Obsidian Community, a directory hosting over 4,000 community plugins with automated security reviews. Recent additions include Bases (dynamic table/card views) and JSON Canvas (open canvas format). Catalyst and Commercial licenses are optional ways to support development, while Obsidian Enterprise showcases supporting organizations. The company operates on a 100% user-supported model with no venture capital.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Obsidian Core Markdown-based note-taking and knowledge management desktop and mobile application for individuals and teams. Stores notes locally as plain-text files with bidirectional links, graph visualization, Canvas, plugins, themes, and command palette. Free for personal, commercial, non-profit, educational, and government use.
- Obsidian Sync Subscription cloud synchronization service with end-to-end AES-256 encryption, version history, shared vaults, and selective sync. Standard plan ($4/month annual, $5/month monthly): 1 vault, 1 GB storage, 5 MB file size, 1-month history. Plus plan ($8/month annual, $10/month monthly): 10 vaults, 10 GB storage (expandable to 100 GB), 200 MB file size, 12-month history.
- Obsidian Publish Subscription service for publishing Obsidian notes as online wikis, knowledge bases, documentation sites, or digital gardens. Features include in-app editing, custom domains, password protection, themes, and SEO optimization.
- Obsidian Canvas Infinite visual canvas for brainstorming, diagramming, researching, and laying out ideas. Supports embedded notes, images, PDFs, videos, audio, and interactive web pages with cards and connections. Files stored in the open JSON Canvas format.
- Obsidian Web Clipper Browser extension for capturing web pages and content as durable Markdown files into an Obsidian vault. Available for Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Brave, Arc, Orion, and other browsers; open source under MIT license.
- Obsidian CLI Command-line interface enabling developers and automation users to read, search, write files, execute JavaScript, and use developer tools against their Obsidian vault. Headless Sync mode enables server/automation use.
- Obsidian Mobile iOS and Android mobile applications providing full feature parity with the desktop app, including tabs, command palette, plugins, themes, graph view, and optional in-app Sync and Publish subscriptions.
- Obsidian Importer Open-source plugin for converting notes from Apple Notes, Notion, Evernote, Google Keep, Microsoft OneNote, Bear, Roam Research, HTML files, and other formats into portable Markdown files. Decodes Apple Notes' undocumented SQLite/Protocol Buffer format.
- Obsidian Community Plugin and theme directory plus developer dashboard hosting 4,000+ community plugins and themes with 120 million+ total downloads. Includes automated security/code quality reviews, safety scorecards, and submission management.
- Bases
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 4,000 community plugins and themes created since 2020 API launch, with 120 million+ total plugin downloads as of May 2026
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Obsidian
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Obsidian technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration17 records
AI capability10 records
Feature9 records
Obsidian partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators7 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Obsidian competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Bear: Bear is a Markdown-based note-taking app for Apple platforms with tagging, nesting, and themes. It targets a similar individual writer/researcher persona as Obsidian and is often the preferred alternative for Apple-only users who do not need Obsidian's plugin ecosystem.
- Logseq: Logseq is an open-source, local-first outliner with bidirectional linking and graph features built on plain-text files. It is the closest functional analogue to Obsidian in the PKM space, targeting privacy-conscious individual knowledge workers with markdown/block storage.
- Tana: Tana is a graph-based knowledge management tool with supertags and outliner-style structure, targeting the same power-user PKM segment as Obsidian. It is comparable on knowledge graph fundamentals and emerging AI-assisted capture features.
- Anytype: Anytype is a local-first, end-to-end encrypted, open-source alternative to Notion that emphasizes data ownership and P2P sync. It overlaps with Obsidian on privacy-first positioning and offline-first architecture, though it offers a more structured block database model.
- Roam Research: Roam pioneered the bidirectional linking and graph-based note-taking paradigm that Obsidian built on. Both target researchers, writers, and PKM enthusiasts with network-style knowledge bases, though Roam is cloud-first and subscription-only whereas Obsidian is local-first.
Broad incumbents
- Apple Notes: Apple Notes is the default pre-installed note app across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, offering free iCloud sync, Markdown support, and deep OS integration. It is the most common 'good enough' alternative that Obsidian competes against on Apple platforms.
- Notion: Notion is the dominant cloud-based workspace and database tool that competes with Obsidian for individual and team knowledge work. It is a broader platform spanning docs, databases, and project management rather than a focused PKM app, but it is the most common alternative users evaluate Obsidian against.
- Microsoft OneNote: Microsoft OneNote is the bundled note-taking application inside Microsoft 365, offering free-form notebooks, cross-platform sync, and enterprise distribution. It is a broad incumbent alternative for users who prioritize integration with Microsoft productivity tools.
- Evernote: Evernote is a long-established cloud note-taking service that competed directly with the original Obsidian use case of personal note organization. It is a broad incumbent with cross-platform capture and web clipping, though it has lost mindshare to Obsidian and Notion in the PKM community.
Emerging players
- NotebookLM: NotebookLM is Google's AI-native research and note-taking tool that ingests source documents and generates summaries, audio overviews, and conversational retrieval. It is an emerging AI-first approach to knowledge work that competes with Obsidian's use case by shifting value from manual organization to AI-mediated retrieval.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Obsidian social profiles
Digital presenceObsidian compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance6 records
Obsidian financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Obsidian leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Obsidian funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Obsidian M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Obsidian
What does Obsidian do?
Obsidian is a local-first, Markdown-based knowledge management application that lets individuals and teams capture, link, and visualize notes stored as plain-text files on their own devices. It offers bidirectional linking, a Graph View, an infinite Canvas for visual thinking, and an ecosystem of 4,000+ community plugins and themes, with optional paid add-on services for end-to-end encrypted cross-device sync (Obsidian Sync) and publishing notes as websites (Obsidian Publish).
Is Obsidian a public or private company?
Obsidian is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Obsidian founded?
Obsidian was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Obsidian based?
Obsidian is headquartered in Oakville, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Obsidian make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Obsidian Sync (subscription) is the primary driver. The others are obsidian Publish (subscription), catalyst License (optional), commercial License (optional) and obsidian Softwear Merchandise.
Who are Obsidian's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Bear, Logseq, Tana, Anytype and Roam Research. Broad incumbents are Apple Notes, Notion, Microsoft OneNote and Evernote. NotebookLM is listed as an emerging player.
Does Obsidian have an API?
Yes. Obsidian provides a Plugin API that enables developers to build extensions that add new functionality to the application. The API supports creating plugins and themes, with comprehensive developer documentation available. The Obsidian Community site hosts a developer dashboard for submitting, managing, and tracking plugin submissions. Developer documentation is at docs.obsidian.md.
What industry is Obsidian in?
Obsidian's product category is Knowledge Management Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAMAAAA, General Web Portals & Start Pages. Its NAICS code is 5192 and its SIC code is 7371.