Obsidian vs Zim
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — 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
Zim
A desktop wiki and personal knowledge base
| Feature | Obsidian | Zim |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Notes & Knowledge Base | Wikis & Documentation |
| License | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20,632 | ★ 2,194 |
| First released | 2020 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Evernote, Notion, OneNote | OneNote, Notion |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Obsidian or Zim 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 Zim free and open-source?
Yes. Obsidian is licensed under Proprietary and Zim under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Obsidian and Zim with Docker?
Obsidian: check the project docs for container support. Zim: check the project docs for container support.