Does Obsidian offer a free plan or free trial?

Obsidian offers a free plan with limitations, but no separate free trial of paid tiers.

What are all of Obsidian's pricing tiers?

Obsidian has 4 publicly-priced tiers as of September 11, 2026: • App — free. free incl. commercial use (since Feb 2026). • Sync — $5/mo ($4/mo billed annually). cross-device sync. • Publish — $10/mo ($8/mo billed annually). per site, web publishing. • Commercial license (optional) — custom-priced. $50/user/yr, now voluntary.

Has Obsidian raised or lowered prices recently?

Obsidian's pricing has been stable since Sep 20, 2026. See full history at /tools/obsidian/price-history.

How does Obsidian pricing compare to other Productivity tools?

Obsidian is on the lower end of Productivity pricing. Of the 21 Productivity tools we track with published entry prices, Obsidian is among the 1 cheapest at $5/month. The cheapest option in this category is Kagi at $5/month.

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ProductivityPublicPrices verified September 11, 2026

Obsidian

Obsidian · Productivity

Local-first knowledge management tool positioned as the alternative to Notion and Roam for people who don't want their notes trapped in a SaaS database. Distinctive for storing everything as plaintext markdown files on your own disk (no vendor lock-in) plus a massive community plugin ecosystem. Personal use is free forever; Sync ($4/mo) and Publish ($8/mo) are optional add-ons. Popular with researchers, writers, and privacy-conscious knowledge workers.

In other words, Obsidian is worth it for solo knowledge workers (researchers, writers, developers, PMs) who want offline-first, local-file, plain-Markdown note-taking with a huge plugin ecosystem — particularly if you value data ownership over collaboration. Free forever for personal use; Sync (paid) adds cross-device encrypted sync; Publish adds one-click static site publishing. Steep learning curve for graph view and plugin configuration. Limited integrations by design (local-first); community plugins fill gaps. Downside: no real-time collaboration, and mobile app is slower than native competitors.

📈 See price history Visit website

Pricing summary

Starting price

$5/mo

$4/mo billed annually

Pricing model

Freemium

Both

Key limit

Commercial license for business use

Main metered limit

Additional fees

Varies

The app is free for personal use. Optional paid extras: Sync (from $4/mo) and Publish (from $8/mo); businesses need a Commercial license ($50/user/year).

Free trial

Free plan available

No separate trial

Pricing verified for United States.View full pricing details on Obsidian's website

Machine-readable pricing: pricing.md ↓

See all tracked changes →

Alternatives to consider

Need team collaboration? Pick Notion or Confluence. Just want simple notes? Apple Notes (free), Google Keep, or Bear.

All plans

See a plain-English answer to “How much does Obsidian cost?” →

Plan	Monthly	Annual	Key limit
App	Free	Free	free incl. commercial use (since Feb 2026)
Sync	$5	$4Save 20%	cross-device sync
Publish	$10	$8Save 20%	per site, web publishing
Commercial license (optional)Entry tier	—	$4.17	$50/user/yr, now voluntary

All tier prices verified September 11, 2026 · View source →

View price history →

Price history

Price tracking is just getting started for Obsidian. Full history will build as we log changes. See what we have so far →

Common questions about Obsidian

Is Obsidian worth it?: Obsidian is worth it for solo knowledge workers (researchers, writers, developers, PMs) who want offline-first, local-file, plain-Markdown note-taking with a huge plugin ecosystem — particularly if you value data ownership over collaboration. Free forever for personal use; Sync (paid) adds cross-device encrypted sync; Publish adds one-click static site publishing.
What are the pricing tiers of Obsidian?: Obsidian has 4 plans: App (free), Sync ($5/mo), Publish ($10/mo), Commercial license (optional) (free).
Does Obsidian offer annual discounts?: Yes. Paying annually brings the entry plan from $5/month down to $4/month — about 20% cheaper.

Frequently asked questions

About Obsidian pricing.

Obsidian pricing starts at $5/month on monthly billing, or $4/month if billed annually — a 20% saving. Obsidian offers 4 paid plans in total, ranging from $5 to $10/month.