SoloMD vs Obsidian: Editor or Second Brain?
They're not really competitors — pick by what you're doing. SoloMD for writing individual Markdown files. Obsidian if you want a personal knowledge graph with backlinks, plugins, and a vault.
Quick verdict
| SoloMD v4.5 | Obsidian 1.x | |
|---|---|---|
| Mental model | Document editor + agent surface + AI / search / history toolkit | Vault / knowledge base + plugin marketplace |
| Price | Free (MIT) | Free incl. commercial (since Feb 2025) · optional Sync $5/mo · Publish $10/mo |
| Open source | ✅ | ❌ core closed; plugins open |
| Installer size | ~15 MB | ~130 MB |
| RAM at idle | ~150 MB | ~400 MB |
| Inline Agent Panel (chat-with-vault) | ✅ v4.0 · streamed multi-turn · tool-call cards · [[wikilink]] citations · Insert / Copy to active note | 🟡 paid plugins (Smart Composer, Copilot) |
| Scheduled agent recipes | ✅ v4.0 · cron / on-save / on-commit / on-tag / manual · 11-recipe cookbook | ❌ |
| AutoGit branch sandbox + accept/reject for agent writes | ✅ v4.0 · per-run branch · write-cap (default 5) · refuses to start on dirty workspace | ❌ |
| Replayable agent trace | ✅ v4.0 · jsonl per step · replay-from-step · read_agent_trace MCP tool | ❌ |
| Multi-workspace MCP federation | ✅ v4.0 · --workspace repeatable · MCP profiles UI | ❌ |
| Ollama first-class | ✅ v4.0 · auto-detect · 3 model presets · provider: local in recipes | 🟡 plugin (Smart Connections etc.) |
| Public REST API (localhost, token auth) | ✅ v4.0 | 🟡 Local REST API plugin (community) |
| BYOK cost meter | ✅ v4.0 | 🟡 per-plugin if any |
| Local semantic search | ✅ v2.3 · core, on-device, no model download | 🟡 paid plugins (Smart Connections etc.) |
| WYSIWYG live edit mode | ✅ v2.3 | ✅ Live Preview |
| AutoGit version history | ✅ v2.2 · per-save snapshots in core | ❌ (set up Obsidian Git plugin manually) |
| MCP server bundled | ✅ v2.2 · 1.5 MB sidecar | ❌ |
| 14 AI providers, BYOK | ✅ in core · keys in OS keychain | ❌ (1–2 per AI plugin) |
| Backlinks | ✅ v2.0 · sidebar panel | ✅ core feature |
| Graph view | ❌ (intentionally skipped — see roadmap) | ✅ core feature |
| Plugins | ❌ (Custom CSS yes) | ✅ thousands |
| Wiki-style links | ✅ v2.0 · [[file]] | ✅ [[file]] |
| Works with single files | ✅ open any .md | ⚠️ prefers a vault folder |
| Multi-encoding (GBK/Big5) | ✅ | ⚠️ UTF-8 only |
| iPad / iOS / Android | ✅ App Store (iPad/iOS) + Android | ✅ App Store + Android |
| Vim mode | ✅ | ✅ core plugin |
| Slideshow / presentation | ✅ ⌘⌥P built-in | 🟡 Slides plugin |
| CLI tool | ✅ solomd | ❌ |
| Format Markdown (Prettier) | ✅ ⌘⌥L | 🟡 community plugin |
| Welcome tour | ✅ | 🟡 sample vault |
| Export PDF / DOCX / EPUB / ODT / LaTeX | ✅ Pandoc | PDF ✅ · DOCX via plugin · others ❌ |
| Sync (CRDT, built-in) | ❌ v3 roadmap | ✅ Obsidian Sync (paid) |
| Live preview | ✅ | ✅ editing view |
| Built on | Tauri 2 + Vue + CodeMirror 6 | Electron + CodeMirror |
Use SoloMD when
- You want local semantic search in core, with no extra plugin and no cloud round-trip. Obsidian has third-party plugins (Smart Connections, etc.) — most cost $5–10/mo and many call hosted embedding APIs.
- You want per-save version history without configuring the Obsidian Git plugin and a cron schedule. SoloMD's AutoGit is one toggle.
- You want an MCP server so Claude Desktop / Cursor / Codex CLI can read your notes — Obsidian doesn't ship one.
- You want 14 AI providers in one BYOK panel instead of one or two per Obsidian AI plugin.
- Your docs live in a repo or sync folder and you want to double-click a .md file and have it open quickly.
- You care about install size / RAM. SoloMD is ~4× smaller and uses ~2.5× less memory.
- You're editing files with legacy encodings (CJK / GBK / Big5 / Shift-JIS). Obsidian requires UTF-8.
- You don't want to learn a new "vault" concept — just work with plain files in plain folders.
Use Obsidian when
- You're building a Zettelkasten / PKM / second brain. Backlinks, the graph
view,
[[wikilinks]], and daily notes are its core value. - You want a deep plugin ecosystem — tasks, calendars, kanban, spaced repetition, templates.
- You want sync across devices via Obsidian Sync (paid) or iCloud / Git.
- You're fine committing to a single-folder "vault" structure.
Can I use both?
Yes, naturally. Obsidian vaults are just folders of Markdown files. SoloMD reads and writes the same files. Open your vault folder in SoloMD for quick edits; use Obsidian when you need the graph / backlinks. No conversion, no sync conflicts (if you close one before opening the other on the same file).
What SoloMD doesn't try to do
SoloMD doesn't have — and isn't trying to build — backlinks, wikilinks, a graph view, plugin marketplace, daily notes, or a vault sync. The positioning is "Notepad meets Markdown": open, write, close. If those features define your workflow, Obsidian is the right tool.
What Obsidian doesn't do well (in our opinion)
- Opening a single .md file from Finder / Explorer takes several seconds (Obsidian cold-starts the whole vault machinery).
- Non-UTF-8 files need manual conversion.
- The full editor feels heavy for quick "jot + save" use.
Migration — either direction
Your files stay the same. Key differences if you move from Obsidian to SoloMD:
[[wikilinks]]render as literal text in SoloMD (not broken links — they just aren't clickable).- Obsidian's
> [!note]callouts render as regular blockquotes in SoloMD. - Dataview queries become plain code blocks.
Pricing
SoloMD: free, MIT, no commercial licence. Obsidian: free for personal use, $50/user/year for commercial use in teams of ≥2.