Comparison

AppFlowy vs Obsidian

No clear leader: Obsidian (70.5) and AppFlowy (65.9) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
AppFlowy66
Obsidian71
Score
vioscaleAI score
AppFlowy66 / 100low · 43%
Obsidian71 / 100medium · 53%
Pricing
Free tier
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓
Model
AppFlowyfreemium
Obsidianfreemium
Price level
AppFlowylow
Obsidianlow
Starting price
AppFlowy$12
Obsidian–
Transparent
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓
Integrations
Count
AppFlowy–
Obsidian20
Reliability
Status page
AppFlowy–
Obsidian✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
AppFlowy0
Obsidian–
Github stars
AppFlowy77,328
Obsidian–
Release
Cadence days
AppFlowy5
Obsidian–
History
AppFlowy20 items
Obsidian–
License
Spdx
AppFlowyAGPL-3.0
Obsidian–
Language
Primary
AppFlowyDart
Obsidian–
Content
Faq
AppFlowy7 items
Obsidian6 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for knowledge management. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capabilities
Deployment model
AppFlowy-
Obsidian-
Block based rich text editor
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian-
BI directional backlinking network
AppFlowy-
Obsidian✓
Relational database tables inline
AppFlowy-
Obsidian-
AI global search and synthesis
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian-
Document verification freshness alerts
AppFlowy-
Obsidian-
Real time multiplayer collaboration
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian-
Slack ms teams bot integration
AppFlowy-
Obsidian-
Jira linear issue tracker sync
AppFlowy-
Obsidian-
Figma miro embed support
AppFlowy-
Obsidian-
SOC2 type ii
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian-
ISO 27001
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian-
Pricing model
AppFlowyOpen source free
Obsidian-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

AppFlowy

A platform for team projects and knowledge management enabling real-time collaboration with AI-powered features. Emphasizes data control through self-hosting or cloud options.

Independently observed

Obsidian

Obsidian is a note-taking and knowledge management tool that stores data locally on your device by default, with optional end-to-end encrypted cloud synchronization. You can organize notes through bidirectional linking, customize the interface with plugins and themes, and publish content to the web.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

AppFlowy

from $12/seat/mofreemiumFree tier

Free Personal plan, or Pro from $12/user/month billed annually

  • PersonalFree
    • 1 workspace owner
    • Unlimited guest editors
    • Timeline with dependencies
    • Dashboards
    • Custom team spaces
    • +4 more
  • Pro$12/user/month billed annually (25% discount vs. $16/month billed monthly)
    • Unlimited members (per-seat billing)
    • Unlimited guest editors
    • Timeline with dependencies
    • Dashboards
    • Custom team spaces
    • +8 more
as of verify ↗

Obsidian

from $4/moHybridFree tier

Free app with optional Sync ($4-5/user/mo), Publish ($8-10/site/mo), Catalyst ($25 one-time), or Commercial ($50/user/year) licenses. 40% discount for students, faculty, and nonprofits.

  • FreeFree
    • Local note storage
    • Plugins and themes
    • Bidirectional linking
    • Graph visualization
    • Offline access
  • Sync$4/user/mo (annual) or $5/user/mo (monthly)
    • Sync across devices
    • End-to-end encryption
    • Version history
    • Collaborative vaults
    • Priority support
  • Publish$8/site/mo (annual) or $10/site/mo (monthly)
    • Publish to web
    • Customizable theme
    • Full-text search
    • Graph view
    • No coding required
    • +1 more
  • Catalyst$25 one-time
    • Early access to beta versions
    • Community badges
    • Exclusive channels
  • Commercial$50/user/year
    • Support development
    • Featured organization badge
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓
iOS
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓
Android
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓
macOS
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓
Windows
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✗
Linux
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓
Self-hosted
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓
On-premise
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✗
Hybrid
AppFlowy✓
Obsidian✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

AppFlowy

Not documented yet.

Obsidian

22 total
  • Apple Notes
  • Notion
  • Evernote
  • Roam Research
  • Google Keep
  • OneNote
  • Airtable
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Firefox
  • Edge
  • Brave
  • Arc
  • Orion
  • Vivaldi
  • Stripe
  • WeChat
  • Alipay
  • PayPal
  • Discord
  • YouTube
  • Twitter
Independently observed
Still deciding?

AppFlowy or Obsidian: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.