Notes, tasks, passwords, journal, files, calendar, contacts and bookmarks, with mood and medication tracking. Encrypted on your device. Open source, no ads, no trackers. Free forever; Pro is a one-time purchase.
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Which is more popular?
Based on our record, Obsidian
seems to be more popular. It has been mentioned
1533 times
since March 2021.
social mentions
1,533 vs 0
Note Taking popularity
100% vs 0%
alternatives listed
240+ vs 64
Base details
Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.
Local-first Obsidian stores your notes locally on your device, giving you full control over your data and enhancing privacy.
Markdown Support Obsidian uses Markdown, making it easy to format text and compatible with many other text editors and tools.
Bidirectional Linking You can create bidirectional links between notes, which helps in building a knowledge graph and navigating related information more easily.
Customizability Obsidian is highly customizable with community plugins, themes, and various settings to fit different workflows.
Graph View Provides a visual graph view of your notes and their connections, aiding in understanding relationships and discovering insights.
Offline Access Since the notes are stored locally, you can access and edit them without an internet connection.
Possible disadvantages
Learning Curve Obsidian can be complex and overwhelming for beginners due to its extensive features and customizable nature.
Sync Limitations While local-first is great for privacy, it requires additional steps or third-party solutions for syncing across devices.
No True Real-time Collaboration Obsidian lacks native real-time collaboration features, making it less suitable for collaborative work compared to cloud-based solutions.
Limited Mobile Features The mobile version of Obsidian, while functional, is not as robust as the desktop application, potentially hindering productivity on the go.
Dependence on Plugins Many advanced features require the use of third-party plugins, which could lead to compatibility issues and reliance on community support.
Performance on Large Vaults Performance might degrade with a very large number of notes or complex graphs, impacting usability.
User-Friendly Interface Boxes offers a simple and intuitive interface, making it easy for users to create and manage virtual machines without a steep learning curve.
Integration with GNOME As a part of the GNOME project, Boxes integrates well with the GNOME desktop environment, ensuring a seamless experience for users of this desktop.
Effortless Setup Setting up new virtual machines or connecting to remote desktops is streamlined, requiring minimal user input to get started.
Automatic Resource Allocation Boxes automatically allocates resources like CPU and memory based on the host system capabilities, simplifying management for users.
Remote Desktop Support In addition to managing local virtual machines, Boxes can connect to remote machines, providing flexibility in accessing different environments.
Possible disadvantages
Limited Advanced Features Boxes lacks some of the advanced features found in other virtualization tools, making it less suitable for power users who need extensive configuration options.
Performance Overhead As with many virtualization solutions, there is some performance overhead when running virtual machines, which might affect the host system’s performance.
Dependency on GNOME Since Boxes is designed for GNOME, its integration with other desktop environments might not be as smooth, potentially causing usability issues.
Limited Guest OS Compatibility Some users report that Boxes can have compatibility issues with certain guest operating systems, limiting its effectiveness in some scenarios.
No Snapshot Support Boxes currently does not support taking snapshots of virtual machines, which is a drawback for users who require rollback capabilities for testing configurations.
Analysis
An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.
Obsidian
B
Boxes
Overall verdict
Overall, Obsidian.md is an excellent tool for users looking for a versatile and powerful note-taking application. Its unique features such as backlinking, markdown support, and robust customization options make it a favorite among knowledge management enthusiasts.
Why this product is good
Obsidian.md is considered good by many users because it is a powerful knowledge management and note-taking application that leverages Markdown for document formatting. It allows for bi-directional linking between notes, which helps in creating a network of interconnected ideas, often described as a 'second brain.' Its ability to support plugins, themes, and robust graph visualization also adds to its appeal. Additionally, it stores notes locally, ensuring privacy and data ownership, while being cross-platform compatible across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
Recommended for
Knowledge workers who need a powerful tool to organize and connect their thoughts.
Students who are looking to create a structured and visually interconnected note system.
Writers and researchers who benefit from linking related ideas and maintaining detailed notes.
Tech-savvy users or developers who appreciate the local storage and open ecosystem for plugins and customization.
One thing to note: Notion bills itself as an Evernote competitor for personal users. It can be—but it's too much for most people, and its offline functionality isn't the best. If you love the idea of Notion, go right...
This app is the kind of thing that, if you’re into it, will have you exploring its various ins, outs, and add-ons for days and weeks on end. Obsidian uses the Markdown format for its notes (which means they can be...
However, it's important to note that Obsidian's whiteboard functionality is not as robust as dedicated collaboration tools. While it lacks real-time basic collaboration features, Obsidian compensates with its vibrant...
Boxes is interesting because it’s categorized under social media in the app store. This app has a broader focus by allowing users to organize and catalog a collection, connect with people who have similar interests,...
Social recommendations and mentions
Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.
Obsidian1533 mentions
B
Boxes0 mentions
Build your plugins
After publishing my first plugin which really helped me dive into Obsidian, I realized that the tool I'm using for note taking is missing a very simple, but handy feature - templates for base-based notes.
- Source: dev.to
/
about 16 hours ago
The reasons live somewhere else: in practice notes in an Obsidian vault, one note per convention, with the repos it has held in. A note starts as an idea, moves to trialing, and only becomes enforced once I've applied it again in a few...
- Source: dev.to
/
4 days ago
Parallels Desktop 10 is a hardware and operating system virtualization program designed for the users of Mac Operating System to enjoy the most of the versions of Windows operating systems in their machine.
Joplin is a free, open source note taking and to-do application, which can handle a large number of notes organised into notebooks. The notes are searchable, tagged and modified either from the applications directly or from your own text editor.
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