Obsidian Reviews & Product Details

Organize my 2nd brain and leverage claude code, genuinely changed my life Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The learning curve is real. Obsidian hands you a blank canvas and expects you to build your own system, so the first weeks go into configuring plugins instead of actually writing. A lot of features that feel core (advanced queries, tables, kanban) rely on community plugins, which can break on updates and need maintenance. Sync is a paid add-on, and getting reliable mobile sync without it is fiddly. On a large vault with many plugins, startup and search noticeably slow down, and the mobile app stays a step behind the desktop. It is also single-player by design, so it is not the tool for real-time team collaboration, and there is no native AI, you have to bolt that on yourself. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I like most about Obsidian is its flexibility and the way it helps organize knowledge rather than just store notes. Its local first approach, Markdown based storage, and offline accessibility give me control over my own data. I particularly like the Graph View, backlinks, Canvas, and extensive community plugin ecosystem, which make it easy to connect ideas and build a personal knowledge base. The ability to customize the workspace according to individual needs is another major advantage. Overall, it is an excellent tool for students, developers, researchers, and anyone who wants to organize their thoughts, learning, and projects in one place. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Although Obsidian is powerful, its learning curve can be challenging for beginners. Setting up an efficient workspace, understanding Markdown, and finding the right plugins can take time. Synchronization across multiple devices could also be simpler and more accessible without requiring additional configuration or a paid subscription. The mobile experience could be more intuitive, and managing too many community plugins sometimes makes the workflow complicated. I would also like to see better built in collaboration features and a more beginner-friendly onboarding experience. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What do you like best?

The combination of local-first Markdown storage and the powerful graph view is unmatched. I love that I truly own my data—since every note is just a plain text file on my hard drive, I never have to worry about vendor lock-in. The community plugin ecosystem also allows me to transform the app into anything from a task manager to a professional publishing tool. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The initial setup can be intimidating for new users because the app starts as a "blank slate" with no templates or guided onboarding. While the plugin system is a strength, it can lead to "productivity procrastination" where you spend more time tweaking the tool than actually writing. Also, the official sync service is a paid add-on, which might be a hurdle for users coming from free cloud-based apps Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

- My favorite feature of Obsidian is its markdown-based editing. Keeps my notes lightweight and Claude processes .md files more effectively than pdf or docx, so it's important for my work

- Works offline so I can easily work on something when the internet is down, or I want to work offline. It syncs up once it's connected to the internet

- Extremely easy interface if you're just looking to get started.

- You can opt for the free-to-use route if you just connect it to a local folder. So, if you connect it to Microsoft OneDrive, you can get the sync benefits without having to pay for it Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

- I'm not a plugins guy, so the range of features is reduced. I would still prefer it over other tools due to the data control

- It can have a steeper learning curve when you go full Obsidian nerd mode.

- Files can get a bit tough to manage as the scope grows Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Creating a connectome is, although less highlighted, what makes the app’s “graph” section truly unique. The within-note links are very practical, but on their own they’re only so useful; combined with the graph, they come together into an amazing connectome. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

If you’re not on Premium, it’s hard to see changes on another device. The graph is nice, but even with the "extensions", graph section feels very plain (no specific arrow use, no coloring), like a lost potential. Primarly because extensions themselves have different problems like due to capacity they limit how many nodes can be included in the graph,, which is highly problematic for me as a medical student. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

This is my knowledge management tool. I use it to manage my notes and tasks, keep track of my projects, and also for journaling. I like it because it has a really active community that offers many different plugins. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It can become overcomplicated if you start adding too many plugins. The software then takes longer to start up, which creates some unnecessary friction. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like being able to connect different ideas and lists to each other, and to create tasks easily. The styling is also great; it’s nice to be able to format everything the way I want. I also appreciate being able to embed audio, video, and other notes instead of having to rely on links. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

There isn’t much I dislike about it, but I don’t think it handles files very well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Obsidian supports markdown and stores notes as normal files for easy portability Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I wish there was a better visual separation between collapsible headers to better indicate different sections of my notes Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like being able to display clear, well-structured Markdown files. The third-party integrations also provide a lot of flexibility. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Sometimes the UI can feel a bit messy, but that’s mostly due to the amount of functionality the application provides. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The note taking, creation of additional notes based on @ tags is very helpful. I also like some of the automations that anticipate what symbols I'm needing (such as closing a parenthesis for me). One of the more helpful apps I've used in my day to day performance Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It does get a little clunky, which could just be how I'm using it, but a little further organization would help Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.