Best Note Taking Apps · head-to-head

Craft vs Obsidian

A sourced, side-by-side comparison for note taking apps. Craft has the lower entry price. Every figure links to the vendor's own page and the date we captured it.

Craft has the lower entry price — Craft starts at $0/mo, Obsidian at $0/mo. Free tier: Craft Yes, Obsidian Yes. HIPAA: Craft No, Obsidian —.

As of 2026-06-13 · figures link to their source below

Side by side

Craft

$0/mo entry
Entry price$0/mo (Starter (Free))
Free tierYes
HIPAA (BAA)No
SOC 2Yes
GDPRYes
Best forApple-ecosystem power users (Mac, iPhone, iPad)

Obsidian

$0/mo entry
Entry price$0/mo (Free)
Free tierYes
HIPAA (BAA)
SOC 2
GDPR
Best forPrivacy-focused knowledge workers

Sources — Craft: support.craft.do (verified 2026-06-13) · Obsidian: obsidian.md (verified 2026-06-13)

Key features

Craft: Unified docs, tasks, calendar, and whiteboards in one app; AI writing assistant (Write with AI); MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other AI clients; 200+ community templates; Document publish and web sharing; Daily notes; Deep Apple platform integration (Mac App of the Year); Data encryption at rest and in transit; Continuous vulnerability scanning and third-party penetration tests

Obsidian: Local-first Markdown files stored on device (no vendor lock-in); Bidirectional linking and graph view; Large community plugin ecosystem (1,000+ plugins); AES-256 end-to-end encrypted Sync; Web publishing via Obsidian Publish (custom domains, full-text search, graph); No account required for core app; Open format (plain .md files); Regular third-party security audits (Cure53, Trail of Bits); Canvas (infinite whiteboard); Daily notes and templates

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