Jotura vs Obsidian.
Same foundation: plain markdown files on your disk, yours forever. Different bet on everything above it. Here is an honest comparison, including where Obsidian wins.
Your Obsidian vault just opens.
An Obsidian vault is a folder of markdown files. So is a Jotura vault. Point Jotura at your existing vault and keep writing: no import, no conversion, no lock-in in either direction. Jotura guarantees round-trip fidelity, so a note opened and saved without edits stays byte-identical.
What each app gives you.
Both are excellent local-first markdown editors. The table is about everything else.
| Feature | Jotura | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Plain markdown files on your disk | ||
| Free app, works fully offline | ||
| End-to-end encrypted sync | £4/mo or £40/yr | $4-8/mo (Sync add-on) |
| Share notes with other people, encrypted | yes, folders or single notes | no (Sync is own devices only) |
| Version history | 3 years, with attribution | 1-12 months, by Sync plan |
| AI agent memory and CLI | first-party | community plugins |
| Tables, tasks, daily notes, semantic search | built in | community plugins |
| Search inside PDFs and Word documents | built in | |
| Plugin and theme ecosystem | no plugins | thousands of plugins |
| Graph view and canvas | ||
| iPhone app | not yet (Android today) | |
| Publish notes as a public site | $8/mo (Publish add-on) |
Obsidian pricing and history limits as published by Obsidian, August 2026.
Four things Jotura does that Obsidian does not.
Your AI tools get a real memory.
Jotura ships a first-party CLI that gives Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, and Copilot a shared, durable memory: decisions, conventions, and follow-ups they recall at the start of every session. Every memory is a plain note you can read, edit, or delete. Obsidian has no first-party agent story; third-party plugins edit your files raw, with no conflict protection.
Share encrypted notes with people.
Share a folder or a single note with the people you choose. Everyone edits, changes merge on their own, and it all stays end-to-end encrypted. Obsidian Sync only syncs your own devices; there is no shared editing at all.
Three years of version history.
Every synced note keeps its full history for three years, with who changed what and one-click restore. Obsidian Sync keeps one month on Standard and twelve months on Plus.
Batteries included, nothing to curate.
A real table editor, vault-wide tasks, daily notes, on-device semantic search, and document ingestion are all first-party and maintained. The Obsidian equivalents are community plugins you find, configure, update, and trust with full vault access.
Where Obsidian wins.
If these are your workflow, stay on Obsidian. We mean that.
- Plugins and themes. Thousands of community plugins: graph view, canvas, Excalidraw, Dataview, Templater. Extensibility is Obsidian's moat, and Jotura does not compete with it.
- iPhone. Obsidian runs on iOS today. Jotura is Android-only on mobile for now.
- Community. Years of guides, videos, and shared vault setups. Jotura is younger.
- Publishing. Obsidian Publish turns notes into a public website. Jotura has no equivalent.
Common questions.
Can Jotura open my existing Obsidian vault?
Yes. An Obsidian vault is a folder of plain markdown files, and that is exactly what Jotura reads. Point Jotura at the folder and start writing. There is no import step, and Jotura never rewrites your files: opening and saving a note without edits leaves it byte-identical.
Is Jotura cheaper than Obsidian?
Both apps are free, and paid sync is similar: Jotura is £4 a month or £40 a year, Obsidian Sync is $4 to $8 a month. The difference is what sync includes. Jotura Sync comes with encrypted sharing with other people and three years of version history at one price.
Does Jotura have plugins?
No. Jotura's bet is a complete, fast, private core rather than an ecosystem: tables, tasks, daily notes, semantic search, and document search ship built in. If your workflow depends on specific Obsidian community plugins like Dataview or Excalidraw, Obsidian remains the better fit.
Can I switch back to Obsidian later?
Yes, at any time. Your notes stay plain markdown files in an ordinary folder the whole time you use Jotura, so Obsidian, or any other editor, can open the same vault. There is nothing to export because nothing was ever locked in.
Is there an iPhone app?
Not yet. Jotura runs on Mac, Windows, Linux, and Android today, with iOS on the roadmap. If you need an iPhone app now, Obsidian has one.
Try it on a copy of your vault this afternoon. Your files stay plain markdown either way.
Download JoturaSwitching? Read the migration guide.