One line each: Obsidian is for a researcher who wants a decade of notes in files they can open without the app. Craft is for a consultant writing client proposals who wants documents that look designed without a template.
Head to head
| Obsidian | Craft | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android | macOS, iOS, Windows, Web |
| Best for | A researcher who wants a decade of notes in files they can open without the app. | A consultant writing client proposals who wants documents that look designed without a template. |
| Weakness | The plugin ecosystem is also the risk, since a heavy setup can become fragile, and there is no real-time collaboration. | It started Apple-first, so the Windows and web versions lag behind, real-time collaboration is weaker than Notion's, and moving a large workspace out later is fiddly. |
The verdict
Obsidian is freemium; Craft is freemium. Beyond the price, the overlap is smaller than the landing pages imply — they solve different problems, and the comparison exists because people search for them in the same breath.
Where Obsidian falls down: The plugin ecosystem is also the risk, since a heavy setup can become fragile, and there is no real-time collaboration.
Where Craft falls down: It started Apple-first, so the Windows and web versions lag behind, real-time collaboration is weaker than Notion's, and moving a large workspace out later is fiddly.
If you genuinely need both, you are the rare case where running two tools is cheaper than picking one badly.
Frequently asked
Is Obsidian or Craft better?
Neither in general. Obsidian fits a researcher who wants a decade of notes in files they can open without the app. Craft fits a consultant writing client proposals who wants documents that look designed without a template. The weakness row in the table above is where they actually separate.
Is Craft cheaper than Obsidian?
Obsidian is freemium, Craft is freemium. The sticker price is rarely the bill — check the pricing section of each review.
Can I use both Obsidian and Craft?
Plenty of teams do, usually with one as the system of record and the other for a specific workflow. It doubles the migration cost later, so pick a side before year two.