Joplin vs Obsidian
Complete comparison guide to help you choose the right productivity tool for your needs.
The Winner
Joplin
Has a slight advantage based on user ratings and overall value. Both tools are excellent - Obsidian may still be better for specific use cases.
Quick Comparison
Feature Breakdown
Feature Comparison
Joplin 
Obsidian Joplin
- Truly free and open-source
- End-to-end encryption
- Offline-first design
- Self-hosting options
- Basic collaboration
- Utilitarian interface
- Search limitations
Obsidian
- Complete data ownership
- Free forever for core features
- Massive plugin ecosystem
- Powerful knowledge linking
- Steep learning curve
- Markdown knowledge required
- Limited built-in collaboration
Joplin Overview
Best for: Privacy-focused users, developers, and open-source advocates needing offline-first note-taking with encryption. Not ideal for: Teams needing real-time collaboration. The free tier is fully featured-paid plans ($2.99-$7.99/mo) add cloud sync convenience.
Best For:
- Privacy-focused note-takers
- Developers and technical users comfortable with Markdown
- Open-source advocates who want data ownership
- Users needing offline-first access to notes
- Students and educators (50% discount available)
- Personal knowledge management (PKM) systems
- Multi-platform users (Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android)
- Users wanting to self-host their notes
Obsidian Overview
Obsidian is a free, local-first note-taking app with powerful bidirectional linking and graph visualization. Best for individuals who value data ownership and want to build a personal knowledge management system without subscriptions.
Best For:
- Privacy-focused knowledge workers
- Knowledge workers building personal knowledge management systems
- Writers and researchers needing interconnected notes
- Users comfortable with markdown and technical customization
- Those seeking offline-first note-taking without subscriptions
- Students and academics on budget (free forever)
Our Verdict
Joplin has a slight edge based on user ratings and overall value. Both tools are excellent - Obsidian may still be better for Privacy-focused knowledge workers.
Try Joplin Free