How to sync Obsidian for free: 5 routes, honestly rated

The 5 free routes, side by side

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

Which route fits your devices

• Mac + iPhone only → iCloud Drive. The simplest free route there is, if every device is Apple.
• Mixed Windows / Mac / Android, privacy-minded → Syncthing. Nothing leaves your own devices.
• You already pay for Dropbox or OneDrive → Remotely Save, or just keep the vault in that cloud folder and set it to stay downloaded.
• You write code or want every change recorded → Git. Accept the mobile pain as the price of history.
• Mostly one computer, phone is read-only → any route works; pick the cloud folder you already have.

The rule that prevents a corrupted vault

Never run two sync services on the same vault at the same time. Not iCloud plus Syncthing, not Dropbox plus Obsidian Sync, not Git auto-sync plus a cloud folder. Two services racing to write the same files is how conflicts, duplicates and corruption happen — Obsidian’s own guidance warns about exactly this. Pick one route per vault, test it on a copy, and keep a separate backup that is not a sync folder at all.

When paying for Sync is the honest answer

Obsidian Sync exists because it does the boring parts well: fast, end-to-end encrypted, conflict-aware, with version history, on every platform. At $4/month billed yearly it can be cheaper than the evenings you would spend untangling a DIY setup — run your own maths in the true-cost calculator. Free routes are real and many people run them happily. Just do not let anyone promise you they are as simple as the paid one. They are not.