Welcome to the NZRT Wiki Podcast. Today we’re looking at Obsidian Overview.

So, what is Obsidian? At its core, Obsidian is a local-first markdown knowledge base. What that means in plain terms is that your notes live as plain text files right on your own disk. No cloud account required, no proprietary format, and no lock-in. If you ever decide to stop using Obsidian, your files are still there, readable by any text editor on any computer. That’s a pretty important distinction from a lot of the popular note-taking tools out there today.

Let’s talk about the philosophy behind Obsidian, because it shapes everything about how it works. There are five core principles worth knowing. First, it’s local-first — your files sit on your disk as plain markdown files, always accessible. Second, it uses plain text. There’s no database running in the background, no binary format that locks your data away. Your notes are designed to survive any app changes, now or in the future. Third, Obsidian is built around the idea of interconnected notes. You create links between your notes using what are called wikilinks, and over time that builds a web of knowledge. There’s even a graph view that visually shows you how all your notes connect to each other, which is genuinely useful once your vault grows. Fourth, Obsidian is highly extensible. There’s a rich plugin ecosystem that lets you add functionality without bloating the core application. And fifth, it works fully offline. Syncing across devices is optional and completely separate from the core app.

Now, it’s just as useful to know what Obsidian is not, so you can set expectations correctly. It’s not a cloud note app like Notion or Evernote — there’s no built-in sync required. It’s not a task manager, though plugins can add that capability if you want it. It’s not a word processor — you’re working in markdown throughout. And it’s not a database, although there’s a popular plugin called Dataview that adds query capabilities if you need them.

Let’s cover editions and pricing, because this is something people often ask about. There are five tiers to be aware of. The Personal edition is completely free and gives you the full app, unlimited notes, and all core features. If you want early access to what they call Insider builds — basically beta versions of the app — there’s a one-time payment of around twenty-five dollars for what’s called the Catalyst tier, which also comes with a supporter badge. Beyond that, there are two optional paid services. Obsidian Sync costs ten dollars a month and gives you end-to-end encrypted sync across your devices using Obsidian’s own servers. Obsidian Publish costs twenty dollars a month and lets you publish your vault as a public website. And finally, there’s a Commercial licence at fifty dollars per user per year, which is required if you’re using Obsidian for business purposes — specifically, if your organisation has more than two employees or brings in more than one million dollars in revenue.

One thing worth highlighting about those paid services: Sync and Publish are entirely optional. If you don’t want to pay for Obsidian Sync, you can absolutely replace it with tools you might already have — Nextcloud, iCloud, Dropbox, or even Git. The app doesn’t care how you sync your files, because they’re just plain files on your disk.

In terms of platform support, Obsidian runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android. So you’re covered across all major platforms. One practical tip here: if you’re syncing across devices, make sure you include the dot-obsidian folder in your sync. That folder holds your settings, plugins, and themes, so including it means your setup travels with you across devices without having to reconfigure everything.

Finally, on versioning — Obsidian uses a rolling release model, meaning it updates continuously rather than in big numbered versions. If you ever need to check what version you’re on, you can find it under Settings and then About. And if you’re a Catalyst supporter, you can opt into Insider builds from that same settings area to get early access to new features.

So to wrap it all up — Obsidian is a powerful, privacy-respecting, offline-first tool for building a personal knowledge base. Its strength is in its simplicity and longevity: plain text files, no lock-in, and a plugin ecosystem that lets it grow with your needs. Whether you use the free Personal edition forever or layer on Sync and Publish later, the foundation stays the same — your notes, your files, your control.

That’s it for this episode of the NZRT Wiki Podcast. Thanks for listening.