Notion vs Obsidian vs Roam: Note-Taking Apps Compared

Note-taking tools have split into two philosophical camps. One prioritizes connected, networked thinking where ideas link to each other organically. The other focuses on structured workspaces that organize information in databases, pages, and hierarchies. Notion represents the structured workspace approach. Obsidian and Roam Research represent the networked thinking approach, though they implement it very differently.

These tools attract different users for different reasons. Notion appeals to teams and individuals who want an all-in-one workspace. Obsidian appeals to people who want local-first, plain-text notes with powerful linking. Roam appeals to researchers and thinkers who work with ideas that connect across contexts. Understanding what you actually need from a note-taking tool is the first step to making the right choice.

Feature Comparison

Pricing

Obsidian is the cheapest option — the core application is entirely free. You only pay for optional services: Sync ($5/month) for cross-device syncing and Publish ($10/month) for hosting notes as a website. Many users rely on free sync solutions like iCloud, Dropbox, or Git instead of Obsidian Sync.

Notion's free tier is generous for personal use, with no block limits. The Plus plan at $12/month adds file upload limits, version history, and advanced features. Team pricing at $10/user/month is competitive for a collaborative workspace.

Roam Research has no free tier, which is a barrier for exploration. At $15/month for individuals, it is the most expensive option. The value proposition depends entirely on how much you benefit from Roam's unique approach to networked thinking.

Data Ownership and Privacy

This is where Obsidian stands apart. Your notes are plain Markdown files stored on your local filesystem. You own them completely. You can open them in any text editor, sync them with any service, version them with Git, and migrate them to any other Markdown-compatible tool. There is no vendor lock-in. If Obsidian disappeared tomorrow, your notes would be unaffected.

Notion stores your data on their servers. You can export to Markdown or CSV, but the export is imperfect — database relations, embeds, and complex page structures do not translate cleanly. Migrating away from Notion requires significant effort for large workspaces.

Roam stores data in their cloud. Export options include Markdown and JSON. The JSON export preserves more structure than Markdown but ties you to Roam's data model. Migrating from Roam to another tool is possible but loses some of the graph relationships that make Roam valuable.

Note-Taking and Writing Experience

Notion's editor is block-based. Every paragraph, heading, image, embed, or database is a block that can be moved, duplicated, or converted. The writing experience is smooth for structured documents — meeting notes, project documentation, wikis. The rich formatting options (callouts, toggles, columns, synced blocks) make it versatile for different content types. However, the block-based system can feel rigid for free-form writing.

Obsidian uses a Markdown editor with a live preview mode. Writing feels like writing in a text editor — fast, distraction-free, and focused on the content. The editing experience is lightweight compared to Notion's. What Obsidian adds is frictionless linking: typing [[ opens a quick switcher to link to any note. Over time, these links create a web of connected ideas that you can explore through the graph view.

Roam's daily notes paradigm changes how you approach note-taking. Instead of creating organized pages, you write in today's daily note and tag or reference relevant topics. Over time, these references build an organic network of ideas. Block-level references let you embed a specific paragraph from one page into another, creating a non-hierarchical web of knowledge. This approach is powerful for research and thinking but requires a mental shift from traditional note-taking.

Organization Philosophy

Notion uses a top-down organizational model. You create workspaces, pages, and sub-pages in a tree structure. Databases with views (table, board, calendar, gallery) organize structured data. This hierarchical approach is intuitive and mirrors how most people think about organizing information.

Obsidian supports both hierarchical organization (folders) and networked organization (links and tags). You can structure your vault however you prefer — strict folder hierarchies, flat structures with links, or anything in between. The MOC (Maps of Content) pattern is popular: index notes that link to related content, providing navigable structure without rigid hierarchy.

Roam is bottom-up by design. You write first and organize later through links, tags, and page references. There are no folders. Organization emerges from the connections between blocks and pages. This approach is liberating for some users and disorienting for others. It works well for research, journaling, and exploratory thinking where the final structure is not known in advance.

Collaboration

Notion is the clear winner for team collaboration. Real-time editing, comments, mentions, permissions, and shared workspaces make it a viable team knowledge base. Many companies use Notion as their internal wiki, project documentation hub, and meeting notes repository.

Obsidian is primarily a personal tool. While you can share vaults via sync services, there is no real-time collaboration. Obsidian Publish allows sharing notes as a website, but it is a publishing tool, not a collaboration tool. Teams that use Obsidian typically maintain individual vaults.

Roam supports multi-user graphs where team members can work in the same knowledge base. The experience is functional but not as polished as Notion's team features. Roam's collaboration works best for small research teams or groups that think in the same networked style.

Plugin and Extension Ecosystem

Obsidian has the richest plugin ecosystem with over 1,000 community plugins. These range from productivity tools (Kanban boards, spaced repetition, task management) to visualization (mind maps, timeline views) to integration (Readwise, Zotero, calendar sync). The plugin API is powerful, and the community is active. You can customize Obsidian into almost anything.

Notion's customization is more limited. Integrations connect to external tools (Slack, Google Drive, GitHub), and the API enables custom workflows. But Notion does not support plugins that modify its interface or add new block types. What you see is what you get, which is both a limitation and a simplification.

Roam's extension ecosystem is smaller but includes powerful tools like SmartBlocks (automated templates) and community-built CSS themes. The extensions that exist tend to be deep rather than broad, serving the specific needs of Roam's power-user community.