When are you better off staying with Obsidian?
Obsidian is still the best choice if you’re building a complex knowledge structure with backlinks, dataview queries, and canvas boards. The combination of local storage and infinite customizability through plugins is found nowhere else. Developers and researchers who want to script and automate their notes can’t go anywhere else.
For those who truly enjoy building a personal knowledge system, Obsidian remains unbeatable. If you enjoy tweaking templates, experimenting with community plugins, and creating your own workflow, then the learning curve is not an obstacle but a feature. The community is massive and there is literally a plugin for everything.
When is an alternative better?
The cost of Obsidian Sync is hard to justify. For 8 dollars per month you sync simple markdown files between your devices, while Notion and other tools do that for free. You can of course set up your own sync via Dropbox or iCloud, but then you’re tweaking again instead of working.
The mobile experience is the weak point. With more than a handful of plugins the app starts up slowly, and on your phone you just want to quickly make a note. Plugin fatigue is real: you install a plugin, it conflicts with another one, you have to adjust settings, and before you know it you’re spending more time maintaining your note-taking system than actually making notes.
For teams, Obsidian just isn’t built. There’s no real-time collaboration, no comments, no permissions. You can create a shared vault via Sync, but that’s not the same as real team collaboration like you have in Notion or Capacities.
The conclusion
For most people, Capacities is the best Obsidian replacement. You get similar linking features, but with native sync, faster mobile app and less hassle. Looking for something simpler without the overhead? Notion just works everywhere and the free version is more than enough for personal use. Privacy important and want to keep local storage? Logseq gives you outliner-based notes with the same markdown files, but open source.
The choice depends on what your priority is. Want to collaborate with a team? Notion. Want the power of Obsidian without the hassle? Capacities. Want free and open source? Logseq. Obsidian remains the king for power users who value control over convenience.
