## 1. What is [Obsidian.md](https://obsidian.md)? Obsidian is a note-taking app that uses [internal linking](https://help.obsidian.md/Linking+notes+and+files/Internal+links) and [Markdown formatting](https://help.obsidian.md/obsidian-flavored-markdown) to help you connect ideas and build a personal knowledge graph. It stores files [locally](https://help.obsidian.md/data-storage) for security and offers extensive customization through plugins and themes. It's free for personal use, with optional paid services for syncing and publishing. ## 2. Core and Community Plugins ### Core Plugins Obsidian comes with numerous [built-in plugins](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Core+plugins) that can be enabled or disabled: - **[Audio recorder](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Audio+recorder)** - Record audio notes and save them as attachments - **[Backlinks](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Backlinks)** - Show links from other files to the current file - **[Bookmarks](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Bookmarks)** - Save shortcuts to files, searches, headings, and graphs - **[Canvas](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Canvas)** - Arrange and connect notes on an infinite canvas - **[Command palette](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Command+palette)** - Use Cmd/Ctrl+P and begin typing to invoke a command - **[Daily notes](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Daily+notes)** - Create or open today's daily note - [Organize Daily Notes](Organize%20Daily%20Notes.md) - **[File recovery](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/File+recovery)** - Restore recent snapshots to recover from accidental data loss - **[Files](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Files)** - Browse the files and folders in your vault - **[Format converter](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Format+converter)** - Convert Markdown from other apps to Obsidian format - **[Graph view](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Graph+view)** - Visualize the relationships between your notes - **[Note composer](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Note+composer)** - Merge two notes or split one into two - **[Outgoing links](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Outgoing+links)** - Show outgoing links and detect unlinked mentions - **[Outline](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Outline)** - Show the table of contents for the current note - **[Publish](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Publish)** - Host your notes online as a website, wiki or documentation - **[Quick switcher](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Quick+switcher)** - Jump to other files with your keyboard - **[Random note](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Random+note)** - Open a random note to rediscover or review - **[Search](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Search)** - Search for a keyword in all the notes - **[Slash commands](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Slash+commands)** - Trigger commands in the editor by using the forward slash key - **[Slides](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Slides)** - Create a presentation by using "---" to separate slides - **[Sync](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Sync)** - Synchronize your files through Obsidian Sync - **[Tags view](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Tags+view)** - Show a list of all tags and their number of occurrences - **[Templates](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Templates)** - Insert template content from a folder of template files - **[Unique note creator](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Unique+note+creator)** - Create notes with unique timestamp prefixes - **[Web viewer](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Web+viewer)** - Open external links to web pages inside Obsidian - **[Word count](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Word+count)** - Show word count in the status bar - **[Workspaces](https://help.obsidian.md/Plugins/Workspaces)** - Save and load workspace layouts ### Community Plugins Extend Obsidian's functionality with thousands of [community-created plugins](https://obsidian.md/community): - **[Calendar](https://github.com/liamcain/obsidian-calendar-plugin)** - Calendar view of your daily notes (by Liam Cain) - **[Copilot](https://www.obsidiancopilot.com/en)** - An AI Copilot in Obsidian (by Logan Yang) - **[Dataview](https://github.com/blacksmithgu/obsidian-dataview)** - Complex data views for the data-obsessed (by Michael Brenan) - **[Excalidraw](https://github.com/zsviczian/obsidian-excalidraw-plugin)** - Edit and view Excalidraw drawings (by Zsolt Viczian) - **[Kanban](https://github.com/mgmeyers/obsidian-kanban)** - Create markdown-backed Kanban boards in Obsidian (by mgmeyers) - **[Tasks](https://github.com/obsidian-tasks-group/obsidian-tasks)** - Track tasks across your vault with due dates, recurring tasks, and filtering (by Clare Macrae and Ilyas Landikov) - **[Templater](https://github.com/SilentVoid13/Templater)** - Create and use templates with advanced features (by SilentVoid) - **[Text to Speech](https://github.com/joethei/obsidian-tts)** - Hear your notes (by Johannes Theiner) ## 3. Obsidian Sync and Publish ### [Obsidian Sync](https://obsidian.md/sync) A premium service that securely synchronizes your notes across devices: - End-to-end encryption for maximum privacy - [Version history](https://help.obsidian.md/Obsidian+Sync/Version+history) to recover previous versions - [Selective sync](https://help.obsidian.md/Obsidian+Sync/Select+folders+to+sync) for specific folders - Works across all platforms (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android) **Pricing Plans (2025):** - **Standard Plan:** $5/month (monthly) or $4/month (annual) - 1 vault, 1GB storage, 1-month version history - **Plus Plan:** $10/month (monthly) or $8/month (annual) - up to 10 vaults, 10GB storage (upgradable to 100GB), 12-month version history ### [Obsidian Publish](https://obsidian.md/publish) Share your notes with the world as a beautiful website: - [Customizable appearance](https://help.obsidian.md/Obsidian+Publish/Customize+your+site) and navigation - [Password protection](https://help.obsidian.md/Obsidian+Publish/Publish+and+unpublish+notes#Password+protection) options - [Custom domain](https://help.obsidian.md/Obsidian+Publish/Set+up+a+custom+domain) support - Full control over which notes to publish - Preserves your note connections and graph - **Pricing:** $10/month (monthly) or $8/month (annual) per site ## 4. Alternative Tools to Obsidian - **[Notion](https://www.notion.so)** - All-in-one workspace with databases, kanban boards, and wikis; cloud-based with block editor - **[Roam Research](https://roamresearch.com)** - Focused on bidirectional linking and daily notes; subscription-based with cloud storage - **[Logseq](https://logseq.com)** - Open-source, privacy-focused with local-first storage; combines outlining with bidirectional linking - **[Evernote](https://evernote.com)** - Established note-taking app with web clipping and OCR; primarily cloud-based - **[OneNote](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onenote)** - Microsoft's note-taking solution with free-form canvas; integrates with Office ecosystem - **[Craft](https://www.craft.do)** - Beautiful, modern document editor with linking capabilities; primarily for Apple ecosystem - **[Remnote](https://www.remnote.com)** - Combines note-taking with spaced repetition for learning; good for students - **[Athens Research](https://github.com/athensresearch/athens)** - Open-source knowledge graph with outlining interface; inspired by Roam - **[Dendron](https://www.dendron.so)** - Hierarchical note-taking for developers; VS Code-based with powerful schemas - **[Bear](https://bear.app)** - Elegant markdown editor with tagging system; Apple ecosystem only