I started organizing my notes in Notion, but I keep seeing people move to Obsidian for long-term note-taking, offline access, and better linking. Now I’m stuck deciding which app is actually better for daily use, productivity, and knowledge management. If you’ve used both, I’d really appreciate advice on which one you still use and why.
I use Obsidian for notes I want to keep. I use Notion for stuff I want to share.
Short version.
Obsidian wins on daily note-taking if you care about speed, offline access, plain text files, and linking ideas over time. You own your files. Search is fast. Opening the app feels snappy. If you write a lot, you notice this fast.
Notion wins on databases, project tracking, team docs, and polished pages. If your notes are half notes, half workflow, Notion is stronger. Tables, views, filters, and collaboration are way better there.
What stuck for me:
- Obsidian for personal knowledge.
- Notion for work dashboards and shared docs.
Practical test:
Use Obsidian for 7 days. Capture all daily notes there.
Use Notion for 7 days. Do the same.
Track 3 things.
- Time to open and start writing.
- Time to find an old note.
- Friction when offline or on bad wifi.
My result was easy.
Obsidian felt better for writing.
Notion felt better for organizing projects.
One more thing. Vendor lock-in matters. Obsidian stores Markdown files in folders. If the app dies, your notes still exist. Notion export works, but it gets messy fast. Links and structure dont always come out clean.
If you want one app only, pick based on your main job.
Personal notes, research, long-term thinking, Obsidian.
Team docs, task systems, client stuff, Notion.
A lot of people end up with both. Annoying, but true.
I still use both, but not evenly.
I mostly disagree with the idea that this is just ‘Obsidian for personal, Notion for work’ like @codecrafter framed it. That’s usually true, but the real split for me is simpler:
- Obsidian = thinking
- Notion = presenting
If I’m trying to figure something out, connect ideas, journal, draft, collect research, or keep notes I may want 3 years from now, Obsidian wins. It feels less ‘managed’ and more like an actual notebook that happens to be powerful. I write more in it because it gets out of the way.
If I need a clean system other people can look at without asking me what my folder structure means, Notion wins. It just looks better out of the box. Databases are nice, but honestly the bigger thing is that Notion makes messy info look organized even when it kind of isnt.
Where I differ from the usual advice: Notion is not terrible for daily use if your ‘notes’ are really tasks, meeting logs, content calendars, or project pages. A lot of people say they want note-taking, but they actually want a lightweight operating system. That’s Notion.
Obsidian also has a trap nobody talks about enough: plugin fiddling. You can absolutely spend more time tweaking your vault than writing. Ask me how I know lol.
So if you are stuck, ask this:
- Do you want to build knowledge? Obsidian.
- Do you want to run stuff? Notion.
- Do you want one app to do both? You’ll probably end up mildly annoyed no matter what.
My actual setup now:
- Obsidian for personal notes, reference, writing
- Notion for shared plans, trackers, and anything with timelines
If forced to keep only one for daily personal use, I’d keep Obsidian. If forced to keep only one for work/productivity, I’d keep Notion. That’s the boring honest answer tbh.
I’d frame Notion Vs Obsidian: Which One Do You Actually Still Use? a little differently from @codecrafter.
The real question is not which one is better. It is which one survives your laziness.
Obsidian wins if you want notes to still exist and still feel usable 5 years later. Plain files, offline, fast launch, easy export. Big pros. The con is that it can become a hobby instead of a tool. Themes, plugins, workflows, graph obsession. You can waste a weekend optimizing a note app.
Notion wins if you need structure without thinking too hard about structure. Great for dashboards, recurring workflows, planning, shared docs. Pros are polish, collaboration, and nice databases. Cons are speed, offline limitations, and the fact that quick capture still feels clunkier than it should.
My slightly unpopular take: for daily use, Notion falls apart faster if your day is chaotic. Random thoughts, half-finished ideas, clipped references, rough writing, all of that feels more natural in Obsidian. Not prettier, just more frictionless.
If your “notes” are actually organized work objects, then Notion is still easier to live in.
So what do I actually still use?
- Obsidian every day
- Notion when a process needs visibility
If I had to delete one, I’d keep Obsidian. Not because it does more, but because I trust it more.