How much does Obsidian cost?

Paid plans start at $5/mo, going up to $10/mo for larger teams. There's also an Enterprise tier with custom pricing. You can get started on the free plan before committing.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. The "Free" plan is free forever, not just a trial. It's enough to evaluate the product before upgrading.

Can I try it before paying?

There's no trial per se, but the free plan lets you use the product indefinitely with some limits.

Is there a discount for annual billing?

Yes — you save up to 20% if you pay annually instead of month-to-month. They also mention: "40% discount on Obsidian Sync and Publish for students, faculty, and nonprofit employees."

Obsidian Pricing (2026)

This isn't tiered SaaS pricing at all — it's an unbundled add-on model where the core app is permanently free and unlimited, and you only pay for specific infrastructure services layered on top. Sync ($5/mo) and Publish ($10/mo) are subscriptions tied to that specific feature, while Catalyst is a one-time $25 donation-style unlock and Commercial is a flat $50/user/year license for business use.

From $5/mo 4 plans hybrid Free plan Best Obsidian alternatives →

Sync: $5/mo
Publish: $10/mo
Catalyst: Contact Sales
Commercial: Contact Sales

Verified Aug 23, 2026 Official pricing page

Screenshot of Obsidian's pricing page showing its plans and prices — Their pricing page, captured Aug 23, 2026

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Sync

$5/mo $4/mo annual

Sync notes across devices
End-to-end encryption
Version history
Collaborate on shared vaults
Priority support

Publish

$10/mo $8/mo annual

Publish notes to the web
No technical knowledge required
Customizable theme
Graph and full text search
Priority support

Catalyst

Contact Sales

Early access to beta versions
Community badges
Exclusive channels

Commercial

Contact Sales

Support development
Become a featured organization

Does Obsidian have a free plan?

Yes: the Free plan is free forever, not a time-limited trial. When you outgrow it, paid plans start at $5/mo.

AI Pricing Analysis

Pricing Model

Tier Strategy

There's no upgrade ladder in the traditional sense — a solo note-taker might never pay a cent, someone wanting device sync grabs Sync, and someone wanting a public-facing wiki adds Publish independently of that. The real trigger for Commercial isn't feature envy, it's legal: the moment a for-profit company with more than one employee uses Obsidian at work, they're required to pay, regardless of whether they touch Sync or Publish.

Competitive Positioning

Obsidian undercuts nearly every note-taking competitor (Notion, Evernote, Roam) by giving away the full-featured app with zero note limits, then charging a la carte for the boring infrastructure pieces most tools bundle into a subscription. They're clearly optimizing to win power users and privacy-conscious folks who want local-first storage, not enterprises looking for an all-in-one platform.

Growth Lever

The paywall only guards convenience features — cross-device sync and public web hosting — never the actual note-taking, linking, or plugin functionality that makes Obsidian sticky. Expansion revenue comes from individuals opting into Sync as their vault grows across devices and from companies eventually getting caught by (or complying with) the Commercial license requirement rather than any usage cap or feature gate.

Want the strategist's read on the live page? Read the AI teardown of Obsidian's pricing page →

Obsidian Pricing FAQ

How much does Obsidian cost?: Paid plans start at $5/mo, going up to $10/mo for larger teams. There's also an Enterprise tier with custom pricing. You can get started on the free plan before committing.
Is there a free plan?: Yes. The "Free" plan is free forever, not just a trial. It's enough to evaluate the product before upgrading.
Can I try it before paying?: There's no trial per se, but the free plan lets you use the product indefinitely with some limits.
How does the pricing work?: This isn't tiered SaaS pricing at all — it's an unbundled add-on model where the core app is permanently free and unlimited, and you only pay for specific infrastructure services layered on top. Sync ($5/mo) and Publish ($10/mo) are subscriptions tied to that specific feature, while Catalyst is a one-time $25 donation-style unlock and Commercial is a flat $50/user/year license for business use.
Is there a discount for annual billing?: Yes — you save up to 20% if you pay annually instead of month-to-month. They also mention: "40% discount on Obsidian Sync and Publish for students, faculty, and nonprofit employees."
Which plan makes sense for me?: There's no upgrade ladder in the traditional sense — a solo note-taker might never pay a cent, someone wanting device sync grabs Sync, and someone wanting a public-facing wiki adds Publish independently of that. The real trigger for Commercial isn't feature envy, it's legal: the moment a for-profit company with more than one employee uses Obsidian at work, they're required to pay, regardless of whether they touch Sync or Publish.

More Productivity pricing

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Comparing Obsidian to something specific? Try Obsidian vs Akiflow, Obsidian vs Any.do, or Obsidian vs Capacities. Or see the best Obsidian alternatives, ranked.

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