The short answer
- Obsidian's official migration guide moves 2 kinds of data in full and 1 partly; 6 things stay behind. What moves
- 1 public account of making this switch: 1 gave up. Read them
- 3 comparison pages checked, each labeled with who wrote it. What they claim
- Switching help: Free, official Importer community plugin supports both a Notion API import and a Notion .zip/HTML import; no paid Obsidian license is required to import. obsidian.md
What Notion and Obsidian cost
List prices from each vendor's pricing page, as stored in the Stackcut catalog. Each price links its source.
| Plan | Billed monthly | Billed yearly (per month) | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notion Plus | $12/user/mo | $10/user/mo | Unlimited collaborative blocks and file uploads, 30-day page history |
| Notion Business | $24/user/mo | $20/user/mo | Notion Agent, AI Meeting Notes, enterprise search, SAML SSO, 90-day page history |
- Notion free plan: Unlimited pages/blocks for individuals but limited blocks for 2+ members; 5 MB per file upload; 7-day page history; 10 external guests; Notion AI trial only notion.com
Obsidian's plans aren't in the Stackcut catalog yet; check Obsidian's own site.
What comparison pages say
Each claim as the page makes it, and who it favors. Vendor pages are labeled; weigh them accordingly.
3 pages compared, 0 of them written by one of the two vendors. Claims are the pages' own, paraphrased; prices in them may be older than the catalog prices above.
| About | The page says | Favors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reliability | Obsidian is single-user by design; two people editing the same synced note can silently overwrite each other or create conflict copies | Notion | DEV Community independent |
| Security and compliance | Obsidian has no way to restrict which notes a given person can read inside the app itself | Notion | DEV Community independent |
| Migration effort | Obsidian fits engineering-owned docs that benefit from code review and version control, especially paired with Git; Notion fits cross-functional teams needing live collaboration and granular permissions | Even | DEV Community independent |
| Price | Obsidian starts at $4/user/month annually with a free personal tier, versus Notion starting at $10/user/month annually | Obsidian | G2 independent |
| Limits | Collaborative editing in Obsidian requires the paid Sync add-on or technical workarounds like Git, while Notion is built for real-time editing, comments and task assignment | Notion | G2 independent |
| Ease of use | A reviewer praised Obsidian's plugin flexibility while another called its learning curve steep for novices | Even | G2 independent |
| Performance | A Notion reviewer said performance lags with large databases and real-time collaboration sometimes feels clunky | Obsidian | G2 independent |
| Ecosystem | Obsidian is framed as being for individual thinkers while Notion is built for teams, breaking down the moment you try to share it with a team | Notion | Slite independent |
| Features | Notion has native databases, Kanban boards, timelines and relations built for project tracking that Obsidian lacks natively | Notion | Slite independent |
| Price | Obsidian is free for personal use but $50/user/year for commercial use, versus Notion's $10-$20/user/month paid plans | Unclear | Slite independent |
Moving from Notion to Obsidian
What Obsidian's importer carries over, what it leaves behind, and any help it offers switchers.
To Obsidian
Official guide obsidian.md · Tools: Obsidian Importer plugin
Moves: Pages and formatting (full); Databases (via Notion API import) (partial); Attachments and internal links (full). obsidian.md
Doesn't move: Databases (via .zip/HTML import); Comments; Linked data sources within a shared database (a Notion API limitation); Real-time collaboration and shared-workspace permissions - Obsidian has no equivalent; The People functions name()/email() and Text functions style()/unstyle(). obsidian.md
Watch out for:
- Notion's Markdown export omits data that the HTML export keeps - use HTML for the .zip import path obsidian.md
- Only each database's primary/default view survives; other saved views are dropped obsidian.md
- The API import silently skips a database's linked data sources unless the integration is explicitly shared with the source too obsidian.md
Community guide obsibrain.com · Tools: Obsidian Importer plugin, Dataview plugin
Moves: Database entries, properties (API path) (partial); Pages, attachments, hierarchy, links (HTML path) (full); Formulas (API path only) (partial). obsibrain.com
Doesn't move: Linked data sources; Shared pages, comments, permissions, automations and real-time collaboration. obsibrain.com
Watch out for:
- Only the primary view for each database is imported; linked data sources are not imported obsibrain.com
- Obsidian is not a drop-in replacement for shared Notion workspaces - team features need Notion or a separate tool obsibrain.com
Switching help: Free, official Importer community plugin supports both a Notion API import and a Notion .zip/HTML import; no paid Obsidian license is required to import. obsidian.md
From each destination's own migration docs and switching pages, plus community write-ups where no official guide exists, each checked against its page. Confirm terms on the linked page before you rely on an offer.
People who moved from Notion to Obsidian
1 public accounts of leaving Notion: 1 gave up. Summaries are ours; each links the original, and each was checked against its page before it appeared here.
A 2020 community script for converting a Notion Markdown/CSV export into an Obsidian-ready vault; most commenters over the following months reported the Python script no longer worked and one switched to a JavaScript alternative. The thread now points readers to Obsidian's official Importer instead. Obsidian Forum
How to leave Notion
Export first, then cancel. Every step links the vendor's own help page, checked on the date shown.
How to leave Notion
Export first
- Whole workspace: Settings → General → Export all workspace content (Markdown & CSV, HTML, PDF). Large exports arrive by email with a link that expires after 7 days and can take up to 30 hours. Form views can't be exported. notion.com
- A single page: The ••• menu at the top right of the page → Export (Markdown & CSV, HTML, PDF). notion.com
What you lose
- Form views of a database can't be exported at all, in any format
- Other members' private pages you lack access to are skipped by any export you run
- Content restricted by teamspace settings may be excluded from an export
- Downgrading caps multi-person workspaces at 1,000 blocks, 5MB files, 7-day version history, 10 guests and 1 published domain
- Automations and Custom Agents become view-only (not deleted) on downgrade; SAML SSO, SCIM and the Audit Log are switched off below Business/Enterprise
Cancel
- Export the whole workspace first (see export).
- Settings → Billing → Change plan → pick the plan → Continue → give feedback → Downgrade.
- Takes effect
- At the end of your billing cycle.
- Refunds
- Only within 3 days of the invoice on monthly billing, or 30 days on annual billing, requested from the workspace owner's or billing email.
- After you cancel
- You land on the Free plan: Unlimited pages/blocks for individuals but limited blocks for 2+ members; 5 MB per file upload; 7-day page history; 10 external guests; Notion AI trial only.
FAQ
Can I move my Notion data to Obsidian?
Obsidian's official guide moves: Pages and formatting; Databases (via Notion API import); Attachments and internal links. It doesn't move: Databases (via .zip/HTML import); Comments; Comments; Linked data sources within a shared database (a Notion API limitation). obsidian.md
What do I lose when I leave Notion?
Per Notion's own pages, leaving or downgrading loses: Form views of a database can't be exported at all, in any format; Other members' private pages you lack access to are skipped by any export you run; Content restricted by teamspace settings may be excluded from an export; Downgrading caps multi-person workspaces at 1,000 blocks, 5MB files, 7-day version history, 10 guests and 1 published domain. notion.com
Does Obsidian help people switch from Notion?
Free, official Importer community plugin supports both a Notion API import and a Notion .zip/HTML import; no paid Obsidian license is required to import. obsidian.md
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find_alternatives({"vendor": "Notion"})