Obsidian vs QOwnNotes
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?
Obsidian
Local-first knowledge base on a folder of Markdown files
VS
QOwnNotes
Plain-text note taking with Markdown and Nextcloud sync
| Feature | Obsidian | QOwnNotes |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20,632 | ★ 5,836 |
| First released | 2020 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion, OneNote | Evernote, OneNote |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Obsidian or QOwnNotes better?
Neither is universally better. Obsidian has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Obsidian and QOwnNotes free and open-source?
Yes. Obsidian is licensed under Proprietary and QOwnNotes under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Obsidian and QOwnNotes with Docker?
Obsidian: check the project docs for container support. QOwnNotes: check the project docs for container support.