Obsidian vs You.com — Pricing, Plans, and Verified Costs (2026)
Obsidian starts at $5/mo. You.com starts at $20/mo. Obsidian is $15/mo cheaper on the entry tier than You.com.
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.
AI search engine and productivity assistant. Pricing: Free (basic AI search), Pro $20/mo (advanced AI models + higher usage), Team $30/user/mo (shared workspaces), Enterprise custom. Positioned as a Perplexity competitor with more emphasis on developer-friendly AI tools (Genius mode, code generation). Founded by Richard Socher.
All plans compared
| Tier role | Plan | Obsidian monthly | Obsidian annual | You.com monthly | You.com annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free / starter | App / Free | Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Entry paid | Sync / Pro | $5 | $4 | $20 | $15 |
| Pro / power | Publish / Max | $10 | $8 | $200 | $200 |
Tier names differ across vendors. Rows are aligned by tier role, not name. Full tier structures on each tool's page.
What each is best for
Obsidian is worth it if… 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.
You.com is worth it if… com is worth it for individuals and small teams that want an AI search assistant with developer-friendly features (code, math, research modes) that Perplexity handles less specifically. Pro at $20/mo is priced identically to Perplexity Pro.
Bottom line: Choose based on how you want to pay — Obsidian is freemium, You.com is per seat.
Choose Obsidian over You.com if…
Choose Obsidian if…
- You want fixed-price predictability (freemium, from $5/mo).
- You match the profile Obsidian is built 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.
- You need a general-purpose productivity option rather than a vertical-specific one.
Choose You.com if…
- You want fixed-price predictability (per seat, from $20/mo).
- You match the profile You.com is built for: You.
- You need a general-purpose productivity option rather than a vertical-specific one.
At a glance
| Obsidian | You.com | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Entry price | $5/mo | $20/mo |
| Enterprise available | No | No |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Per Seat |
| Last verified | September 11, 2026 | September 20, 2026 |
| Full pricing | View full pricing | View full pricing |
Pricing last verified September 20, 2026. Tracked daily.