Dev tools · alternatives · 2026
24 alternatives to Open-source obsidian.md sync server
https://github.com/acheong08/obsidian-sync Hello HN, I'm a recent high school graduate and can't afford $8 per month for the official sync service, so I tried my hand at replicating the server. It's still missing a few features, such as file recovery and history, but the basic sync is working. To the creators of Obsidian.md: I'm probably violating the TOS, and I'm sorry. I'll take down the repository if asked. It's not ready for production and is highly inefficient; Not competition, so I hope you'll be lenient.
This is an open-source sync server for Obsidian.md, a note-taking application. Created by a high school graduate as an alternative to the official $8/month sync service, it replicates basic synchronization… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Prices are shown for the 1 we have checked on their own sites, 1 of them free or with a free tier. Open-source obsidian.md sync server launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.
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🌱 Private, quiet space for thinking. Simple app for .md files. - zakirullin/files.md
May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 2
A few months ago I noticed that I was quickly approaching my 10GB sync limit for my daily driver vault. I considered deprecating some of the heavier files and images, but I was worried how it would affect the integrity of my vault. Instead, I took the opportunity to think to myself -- what would the perfect vault look like? I began to write down some of the key philosophies and strategies I use in my driver vault which led to indispensable plugins, which led to more indispensable philosophies and on and on it went. I've chronicled these results into a fully working vault template that…
2022 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 3
Here's something I realized: the most AI-native knowledge base isn't a SaaS product with an API. It's a folder of markdown files on your disk. Obsidian stores everything as plain .md files. That means Claude Code (or any AI tool) can grep, read, write, and traverse your entire knowledge base with zero setup. No API keys. No OAuth. No middleware. Just local file I/O. The only missing piece was sync. I wanted my vault on iPhone (iCloud), on Mac (local), and on GitHub (backup + version history) — without paying $4/mo for Obsidian Sync. cc-md is ~400 lines of bash. iCloud handles Apple…
Feb 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 4YA
Hey HN, I'm a heavy Obsidian user. I recently got tired of the two usual sync tradeoffs: 1. File-based sync (iCloud/Dropbox/Syncthing) that leaves you waiting for changes to propagate, or hands you a "conflicted copy." 2. Self-hosted setups (like CouchDB) that need touching VMs and dockerized databases to sync markdown. So I built YAOS: a local-first, real-time sync engine for Obsidian. Self-hosting OSS should have better UX. You can deploy the backend to your own Cloudflare account in one click. It fits comfortably in Cloudflare's free tier (costing $0/month for normal…
Mar 2026 · its alternatives →
- 5
Obsidian Mobile brings the power of our desktop app to your mobile devices.
2021 · obsidian.md · its alternatives →
- 6
Greetings, I started using Obsidian and the brilliant Obsidian Tasks plugin to manage Tasks in my notes however it didn't quite work for me as I would lose track of Tasks when away from my laptop, and there are no reminders for Tasks so it's not easy to stay on top of things. I wrote my first macOS App to solve the problem; Reminder Sync for Obsidian. It periodically scans your Obsidian Vault for Tasks and creates Reminders for them in Reminders.app! Once your Tasks are created as Reminders they are synced through iCloud so they are also visible on iOS; this solves the main problem I had…
2024 · turquoisehexagon.co.uk · its alternatives →
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A Starter Kit to Manage Your Whole Life
2023 · start.linkingyourthinking.com · its alternatives →
- 8OO
Hi HN, After 9 years of running my own OpenStreetMap tile server infra for MapHub (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11389989), I've open-sourced it and launched OpenFreeMap. You can either self-host or use our public instance. Everything is open-source, including the full production setup — there’s no 'open-core' model here. Check out the repo (https://github.com/hyperknot/openfreemap). The map data comes from OpenStreetMap. I also provide weekly full planet downloads both in Btrfs and MBTiles formats. I aim to cover the running costs of the public…
2024 · openfreemap.org · its alternatives →
- 9OS
2020 · steveliu.co · its alternatives →
- 10
Calderafree▲195Your Obsidian vault as a living profile and linked garden
9d ago · caldera.social · its alternatives →
- 11
Hi HN, Nick here. We’re launching OpenKnowledge (https://openknowledge.ai/), a “what you see is what you get” markdown editor that has direct integrations with Claude, Codex, and other agents. Available as MacOS app or Web UI+CLI. Fully free/local and OSS. We built this because we wanted a Notion-like experience for writing and sharing markdown files across our team. Obsidian is the best alternative we tried, but found it doesn’t have a true WYSWIG UI and it didn’t integrate well with Claude/Codex outside of community plugins. So we built OpenKnowledge. It takes…
Jun 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Hi HN, I have been messing around with WebRTC for a few years now but when it comes to the TURN server I never quite got to my gold standard of free, self-hosted and open source. I decided to give it a go using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure's free tier, meaning that my total spend got down to domain name hosting. I know plenty of people have been burnt by Oracle in the past, but I have had servers running on the free tier for 5 years now without so much as a hiccup. Regardless, the concepts will be the same using any cloud based server. This is the first time I've written up an end-to-end…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
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Hi HN, I built this simple command-line tool to solve a specific pain point in Obsidian plugin development. As a new plugin developer, I didn't like the idea of manually copying files from my development directory to the Obsidian vault every time I made changes. Obsidian Plugin Sync automates this process with a single command. It: - Detects plugin ID from manifest.json - Optionally builds your plugin before syncing - Copies the necessary files to your Obsidian vault - Provides a watch mode for continuous syncing during development The tool has zero dependencies beyond Python for basic…
2025 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 14OS
My Public Second Brain (https://brain.sspaeti.com) is built with the help of a wonderful tool called Quartz (https://brain.sspaeti.com/quartz-publish-obsidian-vault/). Obsidian (https://brain.sspaeti.com/obsidian/) has become my favorite for note-takers, given its flexible and linked structure that closely mirrors our natural way of thinking. With Quartz, I was able to seamlessly publish my Obsidian notes to a public vault, providing the groundwork for my Public Second Brain. The journey of making this possible involved some scripting as…
2023 · its alternatives →
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- 16SG
Hi HN! We built a SaaS platform to do what we've always wanted and have a Google Docs-like experience without leaving Obsidian. In the process we found a way to enable web access and get non-markdown file sync, too. There's a one-week free trial if you're interested in trying it out, and I'm happy to answer questions about CRDTs, Elixir, or the other backing tech, too.
2025 · screen.garden · its alternatives →
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Opensidian▲42Opensidian is an open-source, vault-compatible markdown notes app for Linux. Wikilinks, backlinks, graph view and Obsidian community themes. Rust + Tauri v2, no Electron.
8d ago · opensidian.org · its alternatives →
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N2O Sync▲2True bidirectional content sync for Notion and Obsidian
Jul 2026 · n2osync.com · its alternatives →
- 19
Cross-meeting memory for your Obsidian notes
Jun 2026 · ibrh96.gumroad.com · its alternatives →
- 20IM
2014 · jack.minardi.org · its alternatives →
- 21PO
Hello Hacker News, This message is relevant to those of you who use [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md/) for personal knowledge management. py-obsidianmd is a python library that enables you to change your notes’ metadata in batch. You can also easily move your metadata between the frontmatter and inline notation (dataview style). Checkout: - the presentation video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRPBAKiu37Y - github repository: https://github.com/selimrbd/py-obsidianmd - example usage:…
2022 · its alternatives →
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Hi HN. I tested literally dozens of note-taking apps over the years — free, paid, everything. They all sucked except UpNote. Great UX, clean, fast, just works. But your data lives in Google Firebase. Dealbreaker. So I tried Obsidian. Local files, markdown, own your data — great philosophy. But the app itself? Even with everything disabled, as a plain markdown editor it was painful. I actually stopped taking notes entirely. So I built what I wanted: inspired by UpNote's clean design but taken further; less clutter, more polished, with Obsidian's local-first ideology. Your notes are standard…
Aug 2026 · helixnotes.com · its alternatives →
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Self-hosted Obsidian sync for iOS via Syncthing
Apr 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →
- 24FA
Obsidian to website in minutes
2015 · fictionhub.io · its alternatives →
Also compare
- Files.md – Open-source alternative to Obsidian alternatives
- A highly opinionated, fully functional Obsidian vault alternatives
- Cc-md – Zero-cost Obsidian sync across iPhone, Mac, and GitHub alternatives
- YAOS – A 1-click deploy, real-time sync engine for Obsidian alternatives
- Obsidian for Mobile – Plain-text knowledge base on the go alternatives
- macOS Reminder Sync for Obsidian Tasks alternatives
Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →