Obsidian vs WizNote
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted notes & knowledge base options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Obsidian
Local-first knowledge base on a folder of Markdown files
VS
WizNote
Cross-platform note-taking app with a self-hosted server
| Feature | Obsidian | WizNote |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 96 · Excellent | 18 · At risk |
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Notes & Knowledge Base |
| License | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 21,797 | ★ 2,660 |
| First released | 2020 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion, OneNote | Evernote, OneNote |
What are Obsidian and WizNote?
Obsidian
Obsidian is a powerful personal knowledge base that works on a local folder of plain Markdown files. While the app is proprietary, your notes remain fully local and portable, and self-hosted sync is possible via plugins.
- Plain Markdown file storage
- Bidirectional links and graph view
- Large community plugin ecosystem
- Local-first and private
WizNote
WizNote is a cross-platform note-taking app with desktop and mobile clients. The Qt desktop client is open source; the self-hostable sync server is distributed as a closed-source Docker image with a free tier for small teams.
- Cross-platform note clients
- Self-hostable sync server
- Rich note formatting
- Attachment support
Obsidian vs WizNote: key differences
Obsidian is written in JavaScript, while WizNote is built with C. Licensing differs — Proprietary for Obsidian versus GPL-3.0 for WizNote. Obsidian is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for WizNote. WizNote is the more established project (first released 2011), while Obsidian arrived in 2020. Obsidian has the considerably larger community, at 21,797 GitHub stars versus 2,660. WizNote lists first-class Docker deployment; Obsidian does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Obsidian if…
- Notes stay portable and local
- Highly extensible
Watch out for
- Core app is closed source
- Official sync is a paid service
Choose WizNote if…
- Mature multi-platform apps
- Server can be self-hosted
Watch out for
- Documentation strongest in Chinese
- Client and server are separate projects
Frequently asked questions
Is Obsidian or WizNote better?
Obsidian is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider WizNote if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Obsidian and WizNote free and open-source?
Yes. Obsidian is licensed under Proprietary and WizNote under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Obsidian and WizNote with Docker?
Obsidian: check the project docs for container support. WizNote: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Obsidian or WizNote?
Obsidian has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for WizNote. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.