Notable vs Obsidian
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Notable
Markdown-based note-taking app for plain files
VS
Obsidian
Local-first knowledge base on a folder of Markdown files
| Feature | Notable | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Proprietary |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,496 | ★ 20,632 |
| First released | 2018 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion | Evernote, Notion, OneNote |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Notable or Obsidian better?
Neither is universally better. Notable has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Notable and Obsidian free and open-source?
Yes. Notable is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Obsidian under Proprietary. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Notable and Obsidian with Docker?
Notable: check the project docs for container support. Obsidian: check the project docs for container support.