Compare / Obsidian vs Tana

Obsidian vs Tana

Obsidian is a free, local-first Markdown knowledge base with a plugin ecosystem thousands strong; Tana is an AI-native outliner where “supertags” turn notes into structured, queryable objects. Here’s how they compare on pricing, platforms, linking, search, capture and collaboration — and how to decide between them.

What is Obsidian?

Obsidian stores your notes as plain Markdown files in a folder on your own device — a “vault” you can read with any text editor, back up however you like, and keep forever. On top of those files it layers backlinks, a graph view, a Canvas whiteboard, and Bases (native database views over your notes, added in 2025). The app is completely free, including for commercial use since early 2025.

Its defining feature is the community: roughly two thousand plugins extend it with everything from spaced repetition to Kanban boards to AI integrations. Official add-ons are paid — Sync ($4/month, end-to-end encrypted) keeps vaults identical across devices, and Publish ($8/month) turns notes into a public site. There’s no web app; Obsidian runs as desktop and mobile apps against your local files.

What is Tana?

Tana’s big idea is the supertag: slap #meeting or #person on any outline node and it gains fields, views and behavior — your notes become a queryable database without leaving the outline. Live queries collect matching nodes anywhere in your workspace, which makes Tana feel like Roam and Notion fused together.

Since 2025 Tana has pivoted hard into being an “AI workspace”: a meeting agent that transcribes calls without a bot, voice capture that structures itself, semantic search, and full MCP support so AI assistants can work with your workspace on paid plans. Pricing reflects the AI ambition — a free tier with capped AI usage, Pro at $20/month (early-bird; $30 regular), and a $80+/month Max tier for heavy AI use. It’s cloud-based with web, desktop and capture-focused mobile apps.

Obsidian vs Tana at a glance

Pricing and features as of mid-2026 — check each product’s site for current details.

Where Obsidian shines

• True data ownership: plain Markdown files on your disk, readable by any app, with no account required and no lock-in.
• The largest plugin ecosystem in the category — if you want a workflow, someone has probably built it.
• Free for personal and commercial use; you only pay for optional Sync or Publish.
• Bases and Canvas add database views and visual thinking without leaving your local vault.
• End-to-end encrypted sync (as a paid add-on) for the privacy-conscious.

Worth knowing: There’s no web app, and multi-device use effectively requires paid Sync or DIY setups. Collaboration is weak — shared vaults exist but there’s no real-time co-editing. Out of the box it’s fairly bare; the power comes from configuring plugins yourself, which is a hobby in its own right. Capturing web content, newsletters or feeds means assembling extensions and plugins rather than anything built in.

Where Tana shines

• Supertags are the most elegant structure system in the category — schema, views and queries grow naturally out of plain outlining.
• The AI feature set is the deepest here: botless meeting transcription, voice capture, agents, and semantic search.
• Full MCP support (on paid plans) makes it one of the few tools built for AI-assistant workflows.
• Real-time multiplayer workspaces work well for teams.

Worth knowing: It’s the most expensive tool in this comparison once you use it seriously — AI usage is metered, and Pro runs $20–30/month. Cloud-only and proprietary: no local files, no end-to-end encryption, and export is limited. The structure-first approach has a real learning curve; casual note-takers may find it over-engineered.

Which should you choose?

Choose Obsidian if:

• You want your notes as local files you fully control, independent of any company’s servers.
• You enjoy tinkering and want to assemble a personalized system from plugins.
• You work offline often or in environments where cloud tools are off-limits.
• You want a free tool with no note limits.

Choose Tana if:

• You want notes with fields, views and queries — a database that emerges from writing.
• Meeting transcription and voice capture are core to your workflow.
• You’ll actually use enough AI to justify the price.

A third option: Dexi

If what you actually want is one searchable place for notes, bookmarks, newsletters and RSS — with tags, @mentions and [[wiki links]] that organize themselves as you write, semantic search that finds ideas even when the words don’t match, and an MCP server so Claude and other AI assistants can work with your notes directly — take a look at Dexi. It’s free for up to 1,000 notes, with no app to install.

• Dexi vs Obsidian
• Dexi vs Tana

Frequently asked questions

Related comparisons

• Dexi vs Obsidian
• Dexi vs Tana
• Obsidian vs Roam Research
• Obsidian vs Logseq
• Obsidian vs Capacities
• Obsidian vs Anytype
• All comparisons →