{"id":200639,"date":"2024-09-17T16:15:08","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T23:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/?p=200639"},"modified":"2025-05-21T06:12:35","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T13:12:35","slug":"obsidian-vs-onenote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clickup.com\/blog\/obsidian-vs-onenote\/","title":{"rendered":"Obsidian vs. OneNote: What\u2019s Better for Note-Taking?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here\u2019s the short of it: both Obsidian and Microsoft OneNote are pretty decent for note-taking, especially if you\u2019re taking notes for work. But they\u2019ve got significant drawbacks, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obsidian lets you interlink notes and visualize links as a graph. But it also requires you to remember loads of syntax for simple formatting tasks, and it makes collaboration quite a headache.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Microsoft OneNote, cross-device syncing is super easy, and you get the advanced Microsoft Copilot to assist you. But the interface can feel clunky, and you can\u2019t publish notes for public view. You don\u2019t get Obsidian\u2019s visualized note linking, either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s the gist of the Obsidian vs. OneNote comparison. But we\u2019ve delved deep into both tools to save you research hours (so don\u2019t forget to attach a gift card to your \u201cthank you\u201d email).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obsidian vs. Microsoft OneNote at a glance<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Microsoft OneNote, despite a somewhat clunky interface, still feels easier to use than Obsidian, which requires syntax to format notes and complex workflows to sync notes across devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, organizing notes feels so much better with Obsidian, which lets you interlink notes and visualize these links as an interactive knowledge graph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/td>Obsidian<\/td>OneNote<\/td><\/tr>
Ease of use<\/strong><\/td>Markdown text formatting can feel complex to use<\/td>Simple text-based note taking<\/td><\/tr>
AI capabilities<\/strong><\/td>No native AI assistant<\/td>Microsoft Copilot built-in<\/td><\/tr>
Integrations<\/strong><\/td>Wide range of plugins<\/td>Limited integrations<\/td><\/tr>
Collaboration<\/strong><\/td>No native collaboration features since notes are hosted offline<\/td>Cloud-hosted notes that support native collaboration<\/td><\/tr>
Organization<\/strong><\/td>Notes can be interlinked and can also be sorted into folders and subfolders<\/td>Linear note organization can feel limiting<\/td><\/tr>
Customization<\/strong><\/td>Highly customizable<\/td>Limited customization<\/td><\/tr>
Publication<\/strong><\/td>Lets you publish content for public view on an Obsidian domain<\/td>Not available<\/td><\/tr>
Pricing<\/strong><\/td>Free to use, but some basic features are paid add-ons<\/td>Free to use with a Microsoft 365 subscription<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Neither tool offers workflow automation<\/a> or note archiving, which is a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s Obsidian?<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Note-taking
Note-taking on Obsidian<\/a>\u2019s mobile and desktop apps<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Obsidian is a note-taking tool that stores notes locally on your device, which means easy offline access. It\u2019s one of the best \u201csecond brain\u201d apps<\/a> you can get your hands on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s particularly neat about Obsidian is the ability to create links between notes, and then visualize these links as a graph. You can even sort your notes in folders and subfolders, as you would on a cloud drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like Notion, Obsidian\u2019s \u201cPublish\u201d feature lets you add notes for public view so you can run your blog on it. The tool also gives you many plugins to extend functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bonus read<\/em><\/strong>: <\/em><\/strong>Obsidian vs Notion<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Obsidian\u2019s top features<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Obsidian has loads of useful features that make note-taking more organized and intuitive. What stands out are its \u201cknowledge graphs,\u201d and we don\u2019t know of too many tools that let you visualize notes like this. More on this in a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Links<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This is a simple but effective feature that lets you interlink two or more notes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

All you need to do is add two square brackets before the text you want to hyperlink and select a note to link to. This is similar to what you can do with a tool like Evernote. However, Obsidian is less complicated than Evernote<\/a> in this respect.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Obsidian
via Obsidian<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Note interlinking and building content wikis can be particularly handy for fast-tracking and maintaining the complete context of your work. For example, say you\u2019re a sales rep with a bunch of scattered call notes. You can create a master note for all previous calls with a specific prospect and then add links to related call notes to keep them organized in the same place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graph view<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Remember all the notes you interlinked? You can view how each of these notes links with each other as a graph on Obsidian.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Obsidian
via Obsidian<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

The idea of this graph view note mapping approach<\/a> is to bring more context to every note you take. For example, if you\u2019re doing research for a college project, you can easily connect the dots between your research notes and form a cohesive thesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canvas<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Obsidian\u2019s \u201cCanvas\u201d feature lets you add content in multiple formats right next to your text notes. You can add PDFs, images, GIFs, videos, and even audio files alongside your notes and get greater context for whatever you\u2019re jotting down.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Obsidian
via Obsidian<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Publish<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Obsidian\u2019s \u201cPublish\u201d feature is essentially your public blog, hosted by Obsidian. It\u2019s a paid add-on for your Obsidian subscription.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Obsidian
via Obsidian<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Obsidian Publish works a lot like Substack or GitHub, where you can publish long-form content under a custom URL. You can even set up multiple sites that are available online to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obsidian pros<\/h3>\n\n\n\n