We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
It's a split decision.
Choose Craft if you want documents, tasks, calendars, and whiteboards in one workspace; choose Obsidian if free, private, local Markdown notes matter more. Craft Starter caps you at 1,500 blocks, 1 GB, and one Personal Space, while Obsidian’s personal app is free without limits. Craft Plus costs €8 monthly or €6.40 monthly billed yearly; Obsidian Sync is optional at $5 monthly or $4 billed yearly. They solve different jobs, so neither wins outright.
01Side by side
| Craft | Obsidian | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting paid price | Plus: €6.40/month annually; €8 monthly | Sync: $4/user/month annually; $5 monthly |
| Free plan | 1,500 blocks, 1 GB, one Personal Space | Unlimited personal notes; no sign-up required |
| Best for | Writing, planning, and sharing in one workspace | Personal knowledge management and connected thinking |
| Core strength | Docs, tasks, calendars, and whiteboards together | Linked local Markdown notes with graph view |
| Learning curve | Review ease-of-use score: 8 | Review ease-of-use score: 7 |
| Data and extensibility | Spaces, folders, tags, collections, and sharing | Local Markdown files, plugins, themes, open API |
| Team/seat costs | Team: $5/member/month; minimum three members | Sync: $4–$5/user/month; shared-vault collaboration |
| Support | Review support score: 5 | Review support score: 6 |
Craft Choose Craft if
- Choose Craft if you want docs, tasks, calendars, and whiteboards together.
- Choose Craft if shared spaces matter more than a three-member minimum.
- Choose Craft if you want to publish and share documents directly.
Obsidian Choose Obsidian if
- Choose Obsidian if you want free local Markdown notes.
- Choose Obsidian if offline access and linked notes matter.
- Choose Obsidian if you want optional sync rather than a full workspace.
02Pricing compared
Obsidian is cheaper if you only need personal notes: its pricing page lists the app as free without limits or sign-up. Sync is optional and costs $5 per user monthly, or $4 per month billed annually. Publishing notes with Obsidian Publish costs $10 per site monthly, or $8 billed annually.
Craft’s Starter plan is free, but caps you at 1,500 blocks, 1 GB of storage, and one Personal Space. The pricing details list Plus at €8 per month or €6.40 per month billed yearly for unlimited content and storage. Family is €12 monthly. Team costs $5 per member monthly, with a three-member minimum; no annual Team price is listed. These currencies and billing units make a straight price comparison imperfect. Choose based on the workflow you need, not just the entry price.
03Features and depth
Craft is built to bring several kinds of work into one workspace. Its feature set includes documents and notes, tasks embedded in documents, calendar items and reminders, whiteboards, and organization through spaces, folders, tags, or collections. You can also publish and share documents. That makes Craft the more direct fit if you want planning and writing together, rather than assembling a note system around separate tools.
Obsidian centers on local plain-text Markdown files, linked notes, and connected thinking. Its graph view visualizes relationships between notes; Canvas gives you an open space for arranging ideas, research, or diagrams. Plugins, themes, and an open API let you customize the workspace. Notes remain on your device and work offline, while Sync is a separate paid option for syncing across devices, with end-to-end encryption. Obsidian can publish notes through its separate Publish subscription. In short, Craft has more built-in planning features; Obsidian offers more control over a local, customizable note system.
04Ease of use and learning curve
Craft’s documents, tasks, calendar, and sharing features sit in one workspace, so it is the more straightforward choice if you want a ready-made place to write and plan. The trade-off is that the free Starter plan has defined storage, block, and space limits, and Team requires at least three members.
Obsidian’s free app has no limits for personal note-taking, but its approach is less of an all-in-one planner: notes are local Markdown files, and syncing or publishing requires separate subscriptions. Links, graph view, Canvas, plugins, and themes offer flexibility, but there are more choices to configure. Pick Craft for a more structured workspace; pick Obsidian if local files and customization matter more than built-in calendars and tasks.
Questions people ask
Is Craft or Obsidian cheaper?
Obsidian is free for personal note-taking without limits. Craft also has a free Starter plan, but it caps users at 1,500 blocks, 1 GB of storage, and one Personal Space. Craft Plus costs €8 monthly or €6.40 per month billed yearly; Obsidian Sync is optional and costs $5 monthly or $4 billed yearly.
Can I use Obsidian without paying?
Yes. Obsidian’s pricing details list its personal app as free without limits and without sign-up. Sync and Publish are separate paid services, so you only need to pay if you want those services. Craft also has a free Starter plan, with limits on blocks, storage, and Personal Spaces.
Does Craft include tasks and a calendar?
Craft’s listed features include tasks embedded in documents, calendar items, and reminders in the workspace. Obsidian’s published feature list focuses on Markdown notes, links, graph view, Canvas, plugins, and optional Sync; it does not list built-in calendar or task features.
Which app is better for private, offline notes?
Obsidian is the clearer fit for that priority: it stores notes on your device as plain-text Markdown files, which remain accessible offline. Craft is presented as a workspace for documents, planning, and sharing. The published Craft details do not specify local Markdown storage or offline access.