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Most buyers should pick Obsidian.
Pick Obsidian for free, local Markdown notes and linked thinking; its optional Sync starts at $4 per user monthly with annual billing ($5 monthly). Choose AppFlowy for a broader team workspace with projects, docs, wikis, meeting notes and collaboration, plus self-hosting. Its Personal plan is free but limited to 100 MB storage; Pro costs $12 per member monthly billed annually or $16 monthly. Obsidian suits personal knowledge work; AppFlowy suits teams needing shared workflows.
01Side by side
| AppFlowy | Obsidian | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free; Pro from $12/member/month billed annually | Free; Sync from $4/user/month billed annually |
| Free plan | Personal plan; 100 MB storage limit | Free personal note-taking, without limits |
| Best for | Teams managing projects, docs and wikis | Personal notes and connected thinking |
| Core strength | Projects, team workflows and collaboration | Local Markdown notes and note links |
| Learning curve | Not published | Not published |
| Integrations/data | Self-host on-premises, cloud or air-gapped | Local plain-text Markdown files |
| Team/seat costs | $12–$16 per member monthly; guests free on Pro | Commercial: $50 per user per year |
| Support | Review score: 4 | Review score: 6 |
AppFlowy Choose AppFlowy if
- Choose AppFlowy if your team needs projects, docs and wikis together.
- Choose AppFlowy if you need real-time collaboration or async comments.
- Choose AppFlowy if self-hosting or air-gapped deployment matters.
Obsidian Choose Obsidian if
- Choose Obsidian if you want free personal Markdown notes.
- Choose Obsidian if keeping notes locally and offline matters.
- Choose Obsidian if you want linked notes, graph view and Canvas.
02Pricing compared
Obsidian is free for personal note-taking, with no sign-up required. Its optional Sync plan costs $4 per user per month billed annually or $5 monthly. Publish is a separate add-on at $8 per site per month annually or $10 monthly. AppFlowy’s Personal plan is also free, but the pricing page lists a 100 MB storage cap, one workspace owner, one form, one chart and seven-day version history.
AppFlowy Pro costs $12 per member per month billed annually ($144 per year), or $16 monthly. It includes unlimited storage, members, forms and charts, plus 90-day version history. Guest editors are free, but Pro is charged per member per workspace. The choice is less about which free tier wins: Obsidian’s paid Sync is optional for local notes, while AppFlowy Pro is priced for shared team work.
03Features and depth
Obsidian is built around personal notes stored on your device as plain-text Markdown files. You can link notes, inspect their connections in Graph view, arrange ideas in Canvas, and customize the app with plugins and themes. Its Sync add-on provides end-to-end encrypted syncing, version history and shared-vault collaboration. That makes it a strong fit for connected thinking, research and personal knowledge management, but the published feature list does not position it as a project-and-team workspace.
AppFlowy covers more team workflows in one product: projects, documents, wikis, meeting notes, real-time co-editing, asynchronous comments and AI search grounded in your sources. It also supports self-hosting on your infrastructure, in the cloud or in air-gapped environments. That broader scope matters if you want shared documentation and project work alongside notes. The trade-off is cost: team members are charged per member per workspace on Pro. The published information does not specify self-hosting terms or whether every paid feature is available in each deployment.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Obsidian’s local Markdown files make the basic setup straightforward for people comfortable managing notes and folders. You can start without signing up, then add links, plugins, themes or Sync as needed. The extra flexibility also means that building a customized system can take more setup; the published product information does not detail how much configuration typical users need.
AppFlowy puts projects, docs, wikis and collaboration in one workspace, which may suit teams that want those workflows together. But its Personal plan has specific caps, and Pro billing is per member per workspace, so teams need to check both fit and cost before moving shared work. Its self-hosting options also add a deployment decision that Obsidian’s local-file approach does not require.
Questions people ask
Is Obsidian free to use?
Yes. Obsidian’s pricing page lists a free plan for personal note-taking, with no sign-up required. Sync and Publish are optional paid plans: Sync starts at $4 per user per month billed annually, while Publish starts at $8 per site per month billed annually.
Does AppFlowy have a free plan?
Yes. AppFlowy Personal costs nothing, but the listed limits include one workspace owner, one form, one chart, up to 100 MB of storage and seven-day version history. Pro removes the listed storage and member caps and adds 90-day version history.
Which is better for teams?
AppFlowy is the clearer fit for teams needing projects, docs, wikis, meeting notes and collaboration in one workspace. Pro costs $12 per member monthly with annual billing or $16 monthly. Obsidian supports shared vaults through its paid Sync plan, but its core focus is personal notes.
Can I self-host Obsidian or AppFlowy?
The published AppFlowy information says it can be self-hosted on your infrastructure, in the cloud or in air-gapped environments. The published Obsidian information describes local Markdown storage and optional Sync, but does not specify a self-hosting offering. Check each product’s terms for deployment details.