Most Obsidian vs Notion comparisons are written for one person building a second brain. For a team, the answer is usually Notion: everything lives in the cloud, several people can edit the same page at once, and every page has its own access settings. Obsidian is still a strong choice for a solo user or a small, tech-savvy group that wants notes stored as files on its own devices. But teamwork in Obsidian requires a Sync subscription for every member, with no live co-editing and no read-only access.
Two different starting points
Obsidian is an app that works on a folder on your computer, called a vault. Notes are stored as plain-text Markdown files that any text editor can open. The app works offline, thousands of community plugins extend it, and the built-in Bases plugin turns notes into tables, cards, or Kanban boards based on their properties.
Notion is an online workspace. Pages and databases live on Notion's servers, and your team reaches them from a browser or the desktop and mobile apps.
That difference explains most of what follows: Obsidian starts from personal notes and adds sharing, while Notion starts from a shared workspace.
Side-by-side comparison
| What a team needs | Obsidian | Notion |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | Markdown files on each device | Notion's cloud |
| Offline | Built in | Pages you make available offline in the apps |
| Simultaneous editing | No, changes arrive when they sync | Yes |
| Permissions | Same rights for everyone in a shared vault | Per page: view, comment, edit, full access |
| AI | No built-in assistant, third-party plugins | Built in, full access from the Business plan |
| Price for 10 people | $40/month on Sync Standard (billed yearly) | $100 (Plus) or $200 (Business) per month, billed yearly |
| Leaving the tool | Your files are already Markdown | Export to Markdown, CSV, HTML, or PDF |
Storage: your files or the cloud
With Obsidian, notes are files on your drive. Nothing depends on a server, backups work like for any other folder, and Obsidian states that it cannot read your notes. For a team, though, everyone needs the same version of those files, which is what Obsidian Sync is for.
With Notion, every member sees the same version without installing anything. Offline access exists in the desktop and mobile apps: you mark a page as available offline, and on paid plans Notion also downloads recently visited and favorited pages automatically. For databases, only the first 50 rows of the first view are downloaded.
If your customers are in Europe or ask where their data is stored, note that Notion only lets you pick a storage region, including the European Union, on the Enterprise plan, according to its data residency documentation. Even then, data processed by its subprocessors, including AI model providers, falls outside that scope.
Collaboration: real time or sync
This is the criterion that settles the question for most teams.
In Notion, several people work on the same page at the same time. Avatars at the top of the page show who is there, and clicking one jumps to where that person is reading or typing.
In Obsidian, teamwork goes through shared vaults in Obsidian Sync. The official documentation sets the rules:
- every collaborator needs their own active Sync subscription;
- a shared vault supports up to 20 users;
- there is no live co-editing: you don't see other people's cursors, and their edits appear once they sync;
- when two people edit the same file, changes are merged during sync, and version history lets you roll back.
For three people who each write their own notes, that works fine. For a team updating the same procedures or customer tracker throughout the day, Notion is the better fit.
Sharing and permissions
Notion manages access page by page. You can grant full access, edit, comment, or view-only rights, and invite outside guests: up to 10 on the Free plan, unlimited on paid plans. Private teamspaces and permission groups require Business or Enterprise. Page history goes back 7 days on Free, 30 days on Plus, and 90 days on Business.
Obsidian has no fine-grained permissions. In a shared vault, every collaborator gets the same rights as the owner, except that only the owner can invite people. There is no read-only access and no folder visible to only part of the team. If not everyone should see everything, you need separate vaults, for example one for management and one for sales.
AI: built into Notion, assembled in Obsidian
Notion AI drafts, summarizes, fills in database properties, and answers questions from your workspace content. On Free and Plus, it is only a limited trial. The Notion Agent, AI Meeting Notes, and Enterprise Search across connected apps (in beta) require the Business plan. Custom Agents are billed separately after a free trial, at $10 per 1,000 Notion credits per month. Our Notion AI review goes through its features and limits in more detail.
Obsidian has no built-in AI assistant. Community plugins connect your notes to external models, but your team has to pick the plugin, configure it, and decide which AI provider receives your notes. Obsidian's plugin security page explains that community plugins can access files on your computer and connect to the internet, and that the app cannot reliably restrict those permissions. Plugins are scanned automatically, but for sensitive data Obsidian recommends an independent security audit before use.
Pricing as of October 23, 2026
Obsidian
From Obsidian's pricing page:
- App: free, including for work use. The commercial license, at $50 per user per year, is optional; Obsidian encourages organizations to buy it to support development.
- Sync Standard: $4 per month billed yearly, $5 billed monthly. 1 synced vault, 1 GB of storage, 5 MB maximum file size, one month of version history.
- Sync Plus: $8 per month billed yearly, $10 billed monthly. 10 synced vaults, 10 GB expandable to 100 GB, 200 MB maximum file size, 12 months of version history.
- Publish: $8 per site per month billed yearly, $10 billed monthly, to publish notes as a website.
Notion
From Notion's pricing page, per member per month:
| Plan | Billed yearly | Billed monthly | AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | Limited trial |
| Plus | $10 | $12 | Limited trial |
| Business | $20 | $24 | Included |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Included |
For a team of 10
- Obsidian: $40 per month on Sync Standard billed yearly, since every member needs Sync. Plan on $80 if everyone moves to Sync Plus for larger attachments, plus $500 per year if you buy commercial licenses.
- Notion: $100 per month on Plus, $200 on Business, billed yearly.
Obsidian costs less, but the time spent organizing vaults, choosing plugins, and training the team has a cost too.
Learning curve
Obsidian takes real effort to use well: Markdown syntax, links between notes, properties, plugin choices. People comfortable with software pick it up quickly; others tend to get lost.
Notion is easier to start with, thanks to its ready-made templates. Its flexibility has a downside, though: someone has to design the page structure, the databases, and the filing rules, then keep everyone following them. Without an owner, a Notion workspace drifts into disorder.
Either way, plan for one person to set up the initial structure.
Export and lock-in
This is where Obsidian shines: your notes are already Markdown files that open without the app. Leaving Obsidian requires no export at all. Some things do lose meaning elsewhere, such as links between notes or what your plugins render.
Notion lets you export a page or the whole workspace as Markdown for pages, CSV for databases, or HTML, along with uploaded files. PDF export works page by page. It is thorough, but check formatting and relations between databases after importing into another tool.
Which one fits your team
You work alone or in pairs, mostly on personal notes. Obsidian, free and local, is hard to beat. Add Sync if you switch devices often.
A small technical team writing documentation. Obsidian with a shared vault can be enough, as long as you accept no live co-editing and no per-folder permissions.
A mixed team sharing procedures, projects, and customer follow-up. Notion, at least on Plus. Move to Business if AI needs to be part of daily work or you need private teamspaces.
Data location and AI provider matter to your customers. Obsidian keeps notes on your devices, but any AI plugin sends them to a provider. Notion reserves region choice for Enterprise. Our comparison of Mistral vs ChatGPT for small businesses can help with the model question.
You want shared team notes without building everything yourself. That is the case we work on with Omeon, the tool we make. Notes and a knowledge base sit alongside tasks, contacts, video meetings with transcription and summaries, and team messaging. Each note can be shared with the whole organization or specific people, as view-only or editable. The AI assistant draws on your company's documents, and admins choose which AI providers are allowed, down to the European model Mistral only. Omeon is hosted in Europe with its database in France, from €25 per user per month excluding VAT (Essentials) or €39 (Pro). If you are coming from Notion, an import brings over your pages and databases, with continuous sync.
FAQ
Is Obsidian free for business use?
Yes. The app is free, including for work, and the $50 per user per year commercial license is optional as of October 23, 2026. To collaborate, however, each member needs Obsidian Sync, from $4 per month billed yearly.
Can several people edit the same note in Obsidian?
Not at the same time. Shared vaults in Obsidian Sync hold up to 20 people, but you don't see others' edits live: they arrive when they sync, and concurrent edits to the same file are merged.
Can I give someone read-only access in Obsidian?
No. In a shared vault, every collaborator has the same rights as the owner, except for inviting new people. To separate access, create separate vaults.
Can I move from Notion to Obsidian, or the other way around?
Yes. Notion exports pages as Markdown, Obsidian's native format; databases come out as CSV and need some rework. In the other direction, Notion imports Markdown files one at a time, or a whole folder as a ZIP. Either way, check links between pages and formatting after the move.