VaultExit — Obsidian Exit Kit · Article

Obsidian vs Capacities: typed objects vs folders and plugins

By Ali Raza • Last checked: 3 November 2026 • Authors

Main topic: Obsidian vs Capacities · Facts checked 3 November 2026 — prices change, so re-check the official page before acting on them.

Last checked: 3 November 2026

Short answer: Capacities organises knowledge as typed objects — a person, a book, a project each gets its own type with its own properties — and it is cloud-only. Obsidian organises plain Markdown files with folders, links and plugins, and works fully offline. Capacities has a free Basic tier; its paid plans were seen from $12/month in one read on 2–3 November 2026 — treat that figure as provisional and re-check on the official page on publish day. Obsidian’s app is free; Sync and Publish are the paid add-ons. Facts checked 3 November 2026.

Head to head

	Obsidian	Capacities
Core idea	Files and folders, shaped by plugins	Typed objects: people, books, projects, ideas
Where notes live	Plain Markdown files on your devices	Capacities’ cloud
Offline	Full — local-first	No — cloud-only
Structure	Folders, tags, links, properties — your design	Object types with their own properties — its design
Plugins	2,000+ community plugins, Dataview	A smaller, built-in feature set
Price	App free; Sync $4/mo yearly · $5 monthly; Publish $8/$10 per site	Free Basic; paid from $12/mo in one read — re-check on the official page

↔ Scroll this table sideways — the rest of the page stays put.

Where Capacities wins

Calm structure without setup. In Obsidian, a “book” is just a note until you design properties and queries yourself; in Capacities, a book is a type, with fields for author, status and rating, and views that gather every book automatically. For personal knowledge work — reading, people, projects, ideas — that object model feels organised from day one, with nothing to configure and no plugin upkeep. The price of that calm is the cloud: no local folder of files, and no offline mode to fall back on.

Where Obsidian wins

Ownership, offline and ceiling. Your notes are files you hold; the app works on a plane, in a cabin, anywhere. And where Capacities gives you its model, Obsidian gives you a workbench: folders if you want them, Dataview queries, Templater automation, Canvas boards. If your system is personal and evolving, Obsidian bends; Capacities asks you to think in its objects. It is also a personal tool first — for shared team work, see Obsidian alternative for teams.

Who should pick which

“Organise my knowledge for me” → Capacities, if cloud-only is acceptable.
“My files, my system, offline” → Obsidian.
Object thinking but local-first → look at Anytype in Obsidian vs Anytype — typed objects without giving up local files and encryption.

Questions people ask

Is Capacities free?

There is a free Basic tier. Paid plans were seen from $12/month in one read on 2–3 November 2026 — that figure conflicts with other reads, so re-check it on the official pricing page on publish day before quoting or paying it.

Does Capacities work offline?

No — Capacities is cloud-only, as checked 3 November 2026. If offline access matters, Obsidian (or a local-first alternative like Logseq or Joplin) is the right side of this comparison.

Can I export my notes from Capacities?

Capacities is a cloud service, so your notes live in its system rather than in a folder of files you already hold. Before committing real work, check its current export options on the official help pages — that check is exactly the step people skip and regret.

Picker quiz →Vault checker True-cost calculator Kit home