# Obsidian Alternatives 2027: 10 Paid, Free & Open-Source

Source: https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/obsidian/
Prices checked: 2026-11-11 (Zekai Price Ledger)

The best Obsidian alternatives in 2027 are Notion (best overall, $10/member/mo), Anytype (best free plan: 100 MB remote storage) and Logseq (best open source, AGPL-3.0). Obsidian itself starts at $4/mo billed yearly (Sync). Zekai checked these prices on vendor pages on 11 Nov 2026; 7 more are compared below, including 3 with a free plan and 4 open source.

| Tool | Type | Starting price | Free plan limit | Licence | Best for | Price checked | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Obsidian (the tool being replaced) | — | $4/mo billed yearly (Sync) | Free without limits, no sign-up | — | — | 2026-11-11 | [pricing](https://obsidian.md/pricing) |
| Notion | Free plan + paid | $10/member/mo | Unlimited pages solo; limited blocks for 2+ members | — | Team wikis and databases in the cloud | 2026-11-11 | [site](https://www.notion.com) [pricing](https://www.notion.com/pricing) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/notion/) |
| Anytype | Free plan + paid | $4/mo | 100 MB remote storage, 10 shared channels | — | Encrypted object-based notes with sync | 2026-11-11 | [site](https://anytype.io) [pricing](https://anytype.io/pricing) |
| Craft | Free plan + paid | $6.4/mo | 1,500 blocks, 1 GB storage, 1 personal space | — | Polished Apple-style docs and daily notes | 2026-11-11 | [site](https://www.craft.do) [pricing](https://www.craft.do/pricing) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/craft/) |
| Evernote | Free | Free plan; paid price not published | 50 notes, 1GB storage, 1 device | — | Web-clipped notes and attachments in the cloud | 2026-11-11 | [site](https://evernote.com) [pricing](https://evernote.com/compare-plans) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/evernote/) |
| Reflect | Free | Free plan; paid price not published | Free on Mac; paid subscription on iPhone and iPad | — | Daily notes and backlinks on Apple devices | 2026-11-11 | [site](https://reflect.app) [pricing](https://reflect.app/) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/reflect/) |
| Logseq | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 | Outliner notes with daily journals |  | [code](https://github.com/logseq/logseq) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/logseq/) |
| Joplin | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0-or-later | Notebook-style notes with many sync targets |  | [code](https://github.com/laurent22/joplin) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/joplin/) |
| AppFlowy | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 | Open-source Notion-style docs and boards |  | [code](https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/appflowy/) |
| SiYuan | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | AGPL-3.0 | Block-level linking with SQL queries |  | [code](https://github.com/siyuan-note/siyuan) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/ai-tools/siyuan/) |
| AFFiNE | Open source | Free (self-hosted) | No limit (self-hosted) | MIT | Docs, whiteboard and databases in one app |  | [code](https://github.com/toeverything/AFFiNE) [Zekai page](https://zekaiwork.com/free-open-source/affine/) |

## How each alternative compares with Obsidian

- **Notion** (Free plan + paid, $10/member/mo, checked 2026-11-11): Notion stores pages in its own cloud workspace with databases and shared team access, whereas Obsidian keeps plain Markdown files on your device; Notion AI is a credit-based add-on. Switch if you need shared databases, permissions and live team editing more than private local files. Stay with Obsidian if you want notes as plain Markdown files you own, without a per-member subscription.
- **Anytype** (Free plan + paid, $4/mo, checked 2026-11-11): Anytype models notes as typed objects with relations and syncs peer to peer; its free tier includes 100 MB of remote storage and 10 shared channels. Switch if you want typed objects and relations instead of folders of Markdown files, with built-in sync. Stay with Obsidian if you prefer a large plugin ecosystem and files that open in any text editor.
- **Craft** (Free plan + paid, $6.4/mo, checked 2026-11-11): Craft's Starter plan caps content at 1,500 blocks and 1 GB with one personal space, and its Plus plan lifts both caps and adds a larger AI model. Switch if you want a designed document editor with daily notes and shared spaces, accepting a block limit on free. Stay with Obsidian if you want no content caps on the free app and plugins that extend it.
- **Evernote** (Free, Free plan; paid price not published): Evernote's comparison table lists the Free plan at 50 notes, 1GB of storage and sync on one device; paid plans are Starter, Advanced, Flexible and Unlimited. Switch if you mostly clip web pages and files into one cloud inbox and do not need plugins. Stay with Obsidian if you want unlimited notes with no device-sync limit on the free app.
- **Reflect** (Free, Free plan; paid price not published): Reflect's site now describes an open-source app with daily notes, backlinks and local Markdown files, syncing through iCloud Drive or Git, with AI via your own API key. Switch if you work only on Apple devices and want daily-note backlinks with iCloud or Git sync. Stay with Obsidian if you need Windows, Linux or Android clients and a large community plugin library.
- **Logseq** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): Logseq is an outliner where every note is a bullet block with a daily journal as the home page; the project lists a DB version with an iOS alpha app. Switch if you think in nested bullets and daily journals and want an AGPL-licensed app. Stay with Obsidian if you prefer page-based Markdown notes and a larger, longer-established plugin directory.
- **Joplin** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): Joplin organises notes into notebooks with to-dos, and syncs through Nextcloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, WebDAV or Joplin Cloud rather than a single paid first-party sync service. Switch if you want free sync to Nextcloud or WebDAV and notebook folders instead of a vault. Stay with Obsidian if you want backlinks, a graph view and community plugins that reshape the interface.
- **AppFlowy** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): AppFlowy mixes documents, databases and kanban boards in a Notion-like workspace that is offline-first, with an optional self-hosted cloud for team sync. Switch if you want a Notion-style workspace with boards and databases that you can self-host. Stay with Obsidian if you want notes as plain Markdown files on disk that other tools can read.
- **SiYuan** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): SiYuan links individual blocks rather than whole pages and lets you query them with SQL embeds, using its own data format instead of plain Markdown files. Switch if you want block references and SQL queries over your notes with a self-hostable server. Stay with Obsidian if you want your vault to stay as ordinary Markdown files in a folder.
- **AFFiNE** (Open source, Free (self-hosted)): AFFiNE combines docs, an infinite whiteboard and databases; its free cloud tier lists 10 GB storage and 3 members, with unlimited local workspaces. Switch if you want docs and a whiteboard in one open-source workspace with a 10 GB free cloud tier. Stay with Obsidian if you want a mature plugin ecosystem built around local Markdown files.

## Open-source options in detail

- **Logseq** (https://github.com/logseq/logseq): Licence: AGPL-3.0; Last release: 2026-10-07
- **Joplin** (https://github.com/laurent22/joplin): Licence: AGPL-3.0-or-later; Last release: 2026-10-28
- **AppFlowy** (https://github.com/AppFlowy-IO/AppFlowy): Licence: AGPL-3.0; Last release: 2026-10-26
- **SiYuan** (https://github.com/siyuan-note/siyuan): Licence: AGPL-3.0; Last release: 2026-09-17
- **AFFiNE** (https://github.com/toeverything/AFFiNE): Licence: MIT

## Questions

### What is the best alternative to Obsidian in 2027?
Notion is the best overall Obsidian alternative on this page ($10/member/mo). For no cost, Anytype has a free plan (100 MB remote storage, 10 shared channels). To self-host, Logseq is open source (AGPL-3.0).

### Is there a free version of Obsidian?
Yes. Obsidian has a free plan: Free without limits, no sign-up. Paid plans start at $4/mo billed yearly (Sync), checked on 11 Nov 2026.

### Is there a 100% free alternative to Obsidian?
Yes. Logseq, Joplin, AppFlowy, SiYuan, AFFiNE are open source and free to self-host. Notion, Anytype, Craft, Evernote, Reflect have a free plan with limits, shown in the table.

### How much do Obsidian alternatives cost for a team of 5?
If each of 5 people buys the entry paid plan, at the prices Zekai checked on 11 Nov 2026, the monthly cost is Anytype $20/mo, Craft $32/mo, Notion $50/mo, against Obsidian $20/mo for Obsidian. Team and business plans can cost more per seat. The Zekai Cost Finder on this page recalculates for any team size.

### Which is better, Notion or Obsidian?
Notion stores pages in its own cloud workspace with databases and shared team access, whereas Obsidian keeps plain Markdown files on your device; Notion AI is a credit-based add-on. Choose Notion if you need shared databases, permissions and live team editing more than private local files. Stay with Obsidian if you want notes as plain Markdown files you own, without a per-member subscription.

### Why are people leaving Obsidian?
The documented reasons are: Cross-device sync is a paid add-on: Obsidian Sync is $4 per month billed annually or $5 billed monthly, per user (11 Nov 2026); Publishing notes as a website costs extra: Obsidian Publish is listed at $8 per site per month billed annually or $10 monthly (11 Nov 2026). Each is sourced in the section above.

### What is better than Obsidian?
It depends on what you need. Notion suits shared team databases, Logseq suits outliner and journal workflows, and Joplin suits free sync through Nextcloud or WebDAV. None replaces Obsidian's local Markdown plus plugin model exactly.

### What is the best open-source alternative to Obsidian?
Logseq is the closest open-source match for linked, local-first notes. Joplin and SiYuan are other options, each using its own storage format rather than plain Markdown vaults.

## Related on Zekai

- [Notion alternatives](https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/notion/)
- [Evernote alternatives](https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/evernote/)
- [AI for Personal Productivity & Executive Assistants](https://zekaiwork.com/professions/ai-personal-productivity-executive-assistants/)

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Live table, team cost finder and price alerts: https://zekaiwork.com/alternatives/obsidian/