Noteline vs Obsidian
Both apps keep your notes as plain .md files. The differences come down to weight, opinionatedness, and what ships in the box.
| Feature | Noteline | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Source of truth | Plain .md files in your folder | Plain .md files in a vault |
| Bundle size | ~15 MB (Tauri) | ~120 MB (Electron) |
| Memory footprint (idle) | ~80 MB | ~300 MB |
| Editor | CodeMirror 6 with live preview | CodeMirror 6 with Live Preview |
| Word / PDF export, offline | ✅ Pandoc + Typst bundled (no install) | ⚠ Plugin required, external pandoc setup |
| AI paste → clean Markdown | ✅ Built-in (HTML → MD normalize) | ✗ Manual |
| Plugin ecosystem | ✗ Not yet (planned) | ✅ 1000+ community plugins |
| Sync | iCloud / Dropbox / Git (free) · optional built-in (Pro) | External (free) · Obsidian Sync $8/mo |
| Pricing (personal use) | Free · Pro $4/mo (sync) · Lifetime $29 | Free for personal · $50/yr Commercial |
| Platforms | Mac · Win · Linux · Web (lite) · Mobile (companion, dev) | Mac · Win · Linux · iOS · Android |
| Backlinks / tags | ✅ | ✅ |
| Graph view | ✗ Not yet | ✅ |
TL;DR
- Choose Noteline if: you want a lightweight Markdown editor that just works out of the box — including Word/PDF export — and don't want to manage plugins.
- Choose Obsidian if: you want a deep, hackable knowledge base with graph view, canvas, and the largest plugin ecosystem.