Leave Obsidian without breaking your vault.
Directories list 400 alternatives. This kit answers the harder question: will your notes survive the move, what will break, and what will it really cost? Four tools, seven living apps, no dead ends.
Last checked: 3 November 2026
One fact up front: Obsidian itself is NOT open source. It is free to use, closed-source software. Many of its plugins are open source — the app is not. Every tool in the main table below is checked against that standard honestly, including the ones that are only partly open.
The picker: one answer, not eleven
Five questions. You get one pick, the reason it fits, a runner-up, and — honestly — what you lose by leaving.
Runner-up:
Now run your vault through the checker below — a good pick can still be a bad move if your Dataview queries or canvases don't survive it.
Vault compatibility checker
Tick everything your vault actually uses. You'll get a survival score per tool and a plain list of what breaks — before you move a single file.
Alive or dead: only 7 tools make the table
Directories still recommend abandoned apps as if they were live options. This table only holds tools with an active project behind them. GitHub stars are rounded snapshots — they move daily, sources conflict, so re-check on the repo page before you rely on a number.
| Tool | Licence | Open? | Offline | Self-host | Sync | GitHub stars | Last activity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Logseq | AGPL-3.0 | Open source | Yes — local files | Not needed (local-first) | Logseq Sync, git, or folder sync | 45,460 | Pushed 1 Nov 2026 — repo |
| Joplin | AGPL-3.0 | Open source | Yes | Yes — Joplin Server | Joplin Cloud, WebDAV, Nextcloud, S3, local | 56,994 | Pushed 2 Nov 2026 — repo |
| SiYuan | AGPL-3.0 | Open source | Yes | Yes — Docker | Built-in sync, S3 / WebDAV | 47,039 | Pushed 2 Nov 2026 — repo |
| AppFlowy | AGPL-3.0 | Open source | Yes | Yes — Docker (free self-host seat limits reported; verify) | AppFlowy Cloud or self-hosted | 78,113 | Pushed 28 Oct 2026 — repo |
| AFFiNE | MIT (client) | Open-core | Yes | Yes — free up to 10 seats in one read; verify | AFFiNE Cloud or self-hosted | 74,124 | Pushed 2 Nov 2026 — repo |
| Zettlr | GPL-3.0 | Open source | Yes — local files | Not needed (local-first) | Your own: Dropbox, Syncthing, git… | 13,855 | Pushed 2 Nov 2026 — repo |
| TriliumNext | AGPL-3.0 | Open source | Yes | Yes — Docker, ~512 MB RAM min in one comparison | Built-in sync server | 38,669 | Pushed 2 Nov 2026 — repo |
↔ Scroll this table sideways — the rest of the page stays put.
Stars and last-activity dates read directly from the GitHub API on 3 November 2026 — “last activity” is the repo's most recent push, the closest public proxy for last commit. Older roundups conflict with these figures (SiYuan was cited at ~41k in one); the API read above wins, and both numbers still move — re-check on the linked repo before publishing. AFFiNE is labelled open-core on purpose: its client is MIT-licensed, but its server / enterprise parts are proprietary. Calling it simply “open source” would be wrong. Seat limits and RAM figures come from single reads — verify on the vendor page before publishing or purchasing.
⚠ Do not switch to these
- Dendron — de facto abandoned. Last commit 2025-06-01 (checked 3 Nov 2026): well over a year of silence. Directories still list it as a live alternative. It isn't one.
- Reor — its GitHub repository was archived (read-only) on 2026-03-07. An archived repo gets no fixes. Do not build a new vault on it.
- Original Trilium — in maintenance mode since 2024. The living project is the community fork, TriliumNext, which is why TriliumNext — not the original — is in the table above.
Rule used here: no meaningful commit in 12 months, an archived repo, or an announced maintenance mode → warning box, never the main table. Re-check each repo on the day you read this; projects can revive.
True-cost calculator
“Free” gets complicated fast. Compare what you'd actually pay per year: Obsidian's add-ons, a self-hosted server, or local-only at $0. Prices checked 3 November 2026 on obsidian.md/pricing — re-check there before you budget, prices change.
Most single-team guides land at $5–10/month; another 2026 guide says $10–20/month. Sources conflict — the slider covers both. One flat server cost, not per seat.
Sanity check: 1 person, Sync + 1 Publish site, billed yearly = $48 + $96 = $144/year — the headline bundle maths. Self-hosting isn't free either: add your time, backups, and updates. Local-only is $0 plus whatever your own backup costs you.
One page per question
Each guide has its own page, its own title and its own address — because “which app?” is a different question from “what does it cost?” or “is it even open source?”
Obsidian alternative: 7 living apps compared
The shortlist page. Seven actively maintained apps, who each one is for, and which dead apps to skip.
Open source Obsidian alternatives
Only genuinely open apps, licence by licence — including the one popular pick that is only open-core.
Is Obsidian open source?
The short answer is no. What is actually open, what isn't, and what to use if that matters to you.
Obsidian pricing: Sync, Publish, real total
The app is free; the add-ons are not. Every price, the $144/year worked example, and when a flat VPS beats per-seat Sync.
Obsidian vs Logseq
Files and plugins vs the free, open source outliner. Which person each one fits — said plainly.
Obsidian vs Joplin
Plain files vs encrypted, self-hostable control — and the database-format catch on the Joplin side.
How to sync Obsidian for free
iCloud, Syncthing, Remotely Save, Git or a cloud folder — which route fits your devices, and the one rule that prevents corruption.
Should you stay on Obsidian?
A site that only ever says “leave” isn't trustworthy. Sometimes the right exit is no exit.
Stay if these win
- Plugins are your workflow. 2,000+ community plugins and Dataview have no true equal in any tool above — the checker scores prove it.
- Mobile matters daily. Obsidian's phone apps are the benchmark the alternatives are still chasing.
- Your vault is huge and healthy. A large, working vault is an asset. Migration risk grows with size; “free and open” is not worth a broken graph.
- $144/year is cheaper than your time. Self-hosting bills you in evenings, not dollars.
Leave if these win
- You need real collaboration. Obsidian has no real-time co-editing — teams belong in AppFlowy or AFFiNE.
- You want open source on principle. Obsidian is closed-source. Logseq, Joplin and SiYuan are genuinely open.
- Per-seat Sync costs sting at your team size. Run the calculator: flat VPS maths wins as teams grow.
- Your vault is mostly plain Markdown. Plain notes travel well — your checker score will show it.