Using Obsidian: Notion vs Vimwiki is not a question anymore for me.

I have been in a search for a good note taking app for a long time now. Very few things satisfy all my criteria.

• I have tried the “single huge text file” approach (also popularized by the “My productivity app for the past 12 years has been a single .txt file” post). I was very happy with this for a long time, not only because it is simple, but protects my privacy well. I just have the file locally. But, with time I got bored by the limited formatting. Also, yes I can search the file, but it works less well when taking notes on many different subjects.
• I have tried Notion and I actually am very happy with it. For my job. Then, where it comes for my personal notes, again, being somewhat privacy concerned this is no-go for me. I am happy with an ability to link many documents, with the formatting options… everything. If I were able to keep all my notes on my disk only, this would be the note taking app for me.
• But for my personal notes I was using Vimwiki — a Vim plugin that stores all notes on a disk locally (in Markdown, or other formats), supports links between the documents, supports to-do lists, etc. — very much like Notion. But, I would really like something more user-friendly than a terminal window. Easier to navigate. Easier to read simple text. And a different “context” for my notes, not something I use for coding.

Vimwiki, however, is something I was using for a long time now, because it suited the best all my needs. So, it means I have accumulated quite a bit of notes in a Markdown format on a local disk. And while I was still looking for a better solution, the migration to the new “app” presents a challenge in itself too.

Enter Obsidian.

I have recently found out about this app, and I have to say, if your criteria are somewhat similar (local storage, markdown syntax, support links between documents, to-do lists), and a modern user interface — Obsidian may be a good option.

I was able to import my Vimwiki notes directory into it and it detected all my notes, all links work fine and, well, alsmost all to-do lists do too. It really looks as a mix between the “local markdown files” and the Notion.

A cherry on the top: Obsidian has two modes: a default “Edit” mode, and a “View” mode. Sounds familiar?

It is obviously not as powerful as Notion, but if you are looking for a simple and private note taking, or for a more user-friendly alternative to Vimwiki (if you happen to know it…), I think you may give Obsidian a try.