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# Obsidian Is Free, Complete, and Needs No Account
- URL: https://efreedirectory.com/obsidian-free-plan-limits/
- Published: 2026-10-20T07:22:16.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-20T07:16:07.000Z
- Description: The rarest kind of free tier: the whole product, permanently, without an account. What it does not include is any way to get your notes onto a second device.
- Author: Chintan Dhokai
- Tags: tool, Productivity

**Obsidian is free with no account, no note limit, no device limit and no feature gating on the application itself. Every plugin, the graph view, canvas, themes and local encryption are included. What costs money is optional: Sync at $4 a month per user for encrypted multi-device sync, and Publish at $8 a month per site.**[1](#sources)

This is not a free tier in the usual sense. There is no paid version of Obsidian that adds features, so the free app and the paid experience are the same application.

The distinction matters because most notes tools meter the free plan. Obsidian sells services around a product it gives away.[2](#sources)

## What the free plan actually includes

|                          | Free app         | Sync add-on              | Publish add-on            |
| ------------------------ | ---------------- | ------------------------ | ------------------------- |
| Price                    | $0 forever       | $4/mo yearly, $5 monthly | $8/mo yearly, $10 monthly |
| Account required         | No               | Yes                      | Yes                       |
| Notes                    | Unlimited        | n/a                      | n/a                       |
| Plugins and themes       | All              | n/a                      | n/a                       |
| Multi-device sync        | No               | Yes                      | No                        |
| Version history          | No               | Yes                      | No                        |
| End-to-end encryption    | Local files only | AES-256                  | n/a                       |
| Publish notes to the web | No               | No                       | Yes                       |

Both add-ons are per unit rather than per tier: Sync is priced per user, Publish per site. A student discount of 40% applies to both, and there is a seven-day full refund with no questions asked.

## No account, which is unusual now

You download the app and start writing. There is no signup, no email, no verification step and no cloud account behind it.

Notes are plain Markdown files in a folder on your disk. That means they open in any text editor, survive Obsidian being discontinued, and can be backed up with whatever you already use.

The company states it collects no telemetry and does not sell user data, and because the app works without an account that claim is structurally credible rather than a policy statement.

## The sync problem is the real cost

Files live on one device. Getting them onto a second device is the thing you pay for, or the thing you solve yourself.

Obsidian Sync at $4 a month is end-to-end encrypted, keeps version history and supports shared vaults. For most people that is the honest price of the product, and it is still cheaper than most note subscriptions.

The alternative is to sync the vault folder with something you already pay for: iCloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, Syncthing or a private Git repository. All of those work because the vault is just a folder of files.

The catch is conflict handling. Two devices editing the same note offline will produce duplicate files, and only Obsidian Sync resolves that cleanly. File-sync tools mostly do not.

## Plugins are free and unregulated

The community plugin ecosystem is included at no cost, which is remarkable given its size. Dataview, Templater, Kanban, Calendar and hundreds of others install from inside the app.

Two consequences follow. Plugins are built by individuals with no review process before publication, so they can read your vault and can break between releases. And the sheer number of options is itself a cost in time.

For anyone who wants a note app that works out of the box, this is the wrong tool. Obsidian rewards configuration, and the configuration is the product.

## Commercial use

Obsidian's own FAQ says you are not required to pay for a commercial licence. A $50 per user per year licence exists and the company encourages organisations to buy it to keep development independent.

So a business can use Obsidian free and be within the terms. Buying the licence is a choice about supporting the project rather than a legal requirement.

That is a materially different arrangement from most tools in this series, where commercial use is the feature people pay for. [Recraft](https://efreedirectory.com/recraft-free-plan-limits/) is the opposite extreme, withholding commercial rights entirely on free.

## When the free plan is enough

One device, or a syncing method you already have. Personal notes, research, writing projects, a Zettelkasten, a daily journal.

Anyone with a laptop and no second device has the complete product for nothing, permanently. There is no ceiling to hit and no upgrade prompt.

Students and researchers are the obvious fit: the app is free, the discount exists if you need Sync, and the files outlive the tool.

## When it stops being enough

The first time you want the same note on your phone, or the first time a device-sync tool corrupts a file and you want version history back.

Sync at $4 a month is the smallest fix and includes version history, which is worth more than the sync on its own. Publish at $8 matters only if you want to share notes publicly.

If the requirement is collaborative notes rather than personal, [Notion](https://efreedirectory.com/notion-ai-free-plan-limits/) handles shared workspaces and is the closer comparison for that job.

## Frequently asked questions

**Is Obsidian free?**  
Yes. The application is free for personal and commercial use, with no account required and no feature limits.

**Is there a note limit on Obsidian Free?**  
No. Notes, attachments, plugins and devices are all unlimited.

**Do I need Obsidian Sync?**  
Only if you want to access notes on more than one device. Syncing the vault folder with another service also works, though conflict handling is weaker.

**How much is Obsidian Sync?**  
$4 per user per month billed annually, or $5 billed monthly. Students and nonprofits get 40% off.

**Can I use Obsidian Free for work?**  
Yes. Obsidian states a commercial licence is encouraged rather than required.

**What happens to my notes if Obsidian shuts down?**  
Nothing. They are plain Markdown files in a folder you control, readable by any text editor.

*Licensing, add-on pricing, encryption and refund terms verified against Obsidian's pricing page and help documentation on 20 October 2026.*

## Sources

1. Obsidian pricing: [obsidian.md/pricing](https://obsidian.md/pricing?ref=efreedirectory.com). Used for: The app is free for personal and work use with no account.
2. Obsidian Sync: [obsidian.md/sync](https://obsidian.md/sync?ref=efreedirectory.com).

*All sources are the vendor's own plan or documentation pages, checked on 20 October 2026\. Plan terms change without notice, so confirm current limits before you rely on them.*