Comparison

Evernote vs Obsidian

On the evidence we track, Obsidian leads this comparison with a composite score of 71/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Evernote49
★Obsidian71
Score
vioscaleAI score
Evernote49 / 100medium · 70%
Obsidian71 / 100medium · 53%
Pricing
Free tier
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓
Model
Evernotefreemium
Obsidianfreemium
Price level
Evernotelow
Obsidianlow
Transparent
Evernote✗
Obsidian✓
Integrations
Count
Evernote7
Obsidian20
Security
Disclosure policy
Evernote✓
Obsidian–
Iso27001
Evernote✓
Obsidian–
Reliability
Status page
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓
Content
Faq
Evernote7 items
Obsidian6 items

Capabilities

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

Collaboration
Real-time co-editing
Evernote✓
Obsidian✗
Content
Structured database / table blocks
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓
Bidirectional links / backlinks
Evernote-
Obsidian✓
Markdown-native
Evernote-
Obsidian✓
Version history
Evernote-
Obsidian✓
Storage
Local-first / offline files
Evernote-
Obsidian✓
AI
AI writing / Q&A over content
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓
Publishing
Publish pages to the web
Evernote-
Obsidian✓
Access
Permissions granularity
Evernote-
ObsidianWorkspace
Knowledge
Answer verification / expiry
Evernote-
Obsidian✗
Deployment
Hosting
EvernoteCloud only
ObsidianCloud + self-hosted
Enterprise
SSO / SCIM
Evernote-
Obsidian✗
Extensibility
Public API
Evernote-
Obsidian✓
Pricing
Free tier
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓

What each one is

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

Evernote

An integrated note-taking and productivity platform that lets you capture information from anywhere, organize it across notebooks, collaborate with others in real time, and manage tasks and calendar events—all synchronized across your devices.

Independently observed

Obsidian

Leader

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.

Evernote

from £5.40/moSubscriptionFree tier7-day trial

From £5.40/month. Free tier available.

  • FreeFree
    • Create up to 50 notes
    • 1 notebook
    • 1 device
    • 1GB monthly uploads
    • Tasks
    • +4 more
  • Starter£5.40/month or £64.90/year
    • Up to 1000 notes
    • 20 notebooks
    • 1000 attachments
    • 3 devices
    • Advanced search
    • +5 more
  • Advanced£12.90/month or £154.90/year
    • Unlimited notes
    • Unlimited notebooks
    • Unlimited attachments
    • Unlimited devices
    • Advanced search
    • +5 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Everything in Advanced
    • Company ownership of all business data
    • Dedicated Customer Success Manager
    • Advanced account and content administration
    • Enhanced security and compliance
    • +3 more
as of verify ↗

Obsidian

Leader
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
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓
iOS
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓
Android
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓
macOS
Evernote✗
Obsidian✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Evernote✓
Obsidian✓
Self-hosted
Evernote✗
Obsidian✓
Hybrid
Evernote✗
Obsidian✓

Integrations

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

Evernote

7 total
  • Google Calendar
  • Outlook Calendar
  • Slack
  • Google Drive
  • Gmail
  • Microsoft Outlook
  • Microsoft Teams
Independently observed

Obsidian

Leader
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?

Evernote 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.