Obsidian
An extremely versatile Markdown application. Writes files in plain system format. This leaves the Second Brain in the hands of the creators of it - the files are only as secure as the system they are stored on.
Because of their plain file format, notes and folders can easily be shared on most platforms and even hosted on cloud servers like Dropbox or GitHub*(how this garden is online!)
There are countless ways to use Obsidian.
Its likely argued that, no two people use Obsidian the same. It’s infinite variations can likely apply to virtually every use case. However, it’s learning curve (though, not very steep..) will prevent every user from enjoying its full potential. It is not immediately obvious how to use this program and with so many dynamic applications, it can be so easy to get lost in possibility.
It is recommended to have at least some ideas with what you would like to use Obsidian for. Many people start ambitiously with no particular direction and soon end up realizing exactly how this app fits wonderfully into their lifestyle, or not. With many competing apps being increasingly easy to use, Obsidian seems to be among the last choices for the aspiring personal knowledge manager, though it is one of the most powerful. One has to be willing to create a workflow that suits their needs to feel fully invested into the space, by combining strategies by others posted online and understanding one’s own flow.
For instance, Obsidian was not intentionally built to be a GTD app with task management, but can be done, nonetheless.
Recommended for its brilliant use of backlinks. it also provides a beautiful graph view that displays notes in a mind-map style (like below this note).
Features:
- Most robust capability, Obsidian is the most powerful tool
- Blatant local file storage
- Plugins (Strong community support)
- Custom CSS
-
Backlinking
- Filter & Sort
- Daily Notes
- Multiple Editing Panes
- Can design every pixel of this application to work as designated
- Note Transclusion (embedding a note in another note)
- Audio Recording
- Inline Tags
- Fabled Graph-View
- / “slash” commands
- Presentation mode (view notes in a slideshow)
Pricing
(as of Saturday, February 5, 2022)
- Free Forever! - no sign up required
- $50/year Commercial License
- $9 / month Sync
- $16 / month Publish