Abstract

• Obsidian is a free, intuitive markdown editor for journaling and writing with seamless machine syncing.
• As a substitute of getting to pay for a cloud syncing subscription, Obsidian presents a neighborhood file storage possibility (which may then be synced with iCloud or Google Drive).
• Obsidian offers a flexible platform for numerous writing wants, from articles to documentation, to-do lists, and extra.

2025 is the 12 months I used to be decided to maintain a journal. And, as an alternative of getting to spend cash month-to-month on an app like Day One, I made a decision to offer Obsidian a attempt. There isn’t any going again.

I Needed a Stable, Easy, and Intuitive Journaling App for 2025

I’ve considered journaling for years now however have by no means finished it. Previously, I’ve used bodily notebooks to maintain my Bible studying notes, however that by no means actually lasted. Exterior of these studying notes, I’ve by no means truly stored a journal earlier than.

So, when 2025 began, I wished to maintain a journal to see how I appreciated it. I had seen so many individuals do it and discuss how useful retaining a journal was, so I made a decision to offer it a attempt myself and see if it was as transformative as they stated (it was). I used to be additionally challenged by a pal to maintain a journal for the primary 30 days of the 12 months—only a month. As a substitute of making an attempt to make use of a bodily pocket book, I wished to go digital for my journal and every day Bible studying. I did some analysis, and started my journaling journey with an app called Day One. I had thought of utilizing Apple’s official Journal app, however the truth that it’s exclusive to iPhone and never on Mac, iPadOS, or some other platform (like Home windows) is what pushed me to Day One.

I began my journaling profession on January 1, 2025, utilizing Day One. I actually appreciated the app. It was clear, labored nicely, and in addition had every day prompts to assist jumpstart your writing. The every day prompts have been nearly sufficient alone to maintain me on Day One. Add to that how clear the consumer interface is and the way nicely it stored my iPhone, iPad, and MacBook in sync, and you’ve got a successful combo.

Day One Was Nice, however It Left Me Wanting a Little Extra

Do not get me flawed, Day One is incredible. I actually loved it — for probably the most half. It was the little issues that began to get to me. On Home windows, I had to make use of the net app. Then, there was the truth that I must pay for yet one more subscription to make use of Day One on a couple of machine. And there have been some formatting oddities that it had. The formatting inside the app itself was constant, however Day One makes use of a taste of markdown that I am not extremely acquainted with. So, I needed to change how I wrote in Day One in comparison with all the opposite Markdown packages I used, and I simply wasn’t a fan of that.

It was an awesome app, and I believe that, for many individuals, Day One shall be a incredible journaling app. It simply merely left me wanting a bit extra. So, after a couple of days, all of the annoyances piled as much as finally overflow into me trying to find a Day One alternative. On the similar time, a pal of mine was constantly pestering me to attempt a writing app that he swore by. Since I used to be nonetheless on the 30-day free trial of Day One, I made a decision to offer one other app a attempt: Obsidian.

Initially, I stored Day One round and simply accessed the net app to repeat the every day immediate into Obsidian. However, that turned cumbersome after some time, and I merely simply stopped utilizing Day One solely and fully moved over to Obsidian full-time.

Obsidian Solved My Journaling Woes and Gave Me a New Residence for All My Writing

Obsidian is a markdown editor that offers you the choice to maintain all of your information native or to pay for its syncing service. One in all my favourite options of Obsidian is which you can retailer your information “regionally” in iCloud or Google Drive, having them sync to any machine or laptop you employ.

It took me a short time to get used to writing in Obsidian. However, two full months in, I am completely loving it. I began out my Obsidian journey by utilizing a third-party plugin to import my Day One entries. After that, I started to do all of my writing in Obsidian. I ended up not simply utilizing Obsidian for journaling and Bible studying, however now I write all of my articles for How-To Geek, my Sunday Faculty classes, sermons, notes, homelab documentation, every thing in Obsidian.

As a substitute of paying for Obsidian’s syncing service, I take advantage of iCloud to maintain every thing updated throughout my units. This enables me to make use of Obsidian on my MacBook, iPad, and iPhone with ease. Plus, utilizing iCloud on Home windows, I may even maintain my desktop updated with the remainder of my units. All with out having to pay for yet one more subscription.

There are many plugins locally repository for journaling, however I merely select to make use of Obsidian as a typical markdown editor for that side of issues. I do use a number of plugins, although, with my favourite being this Bible references one that lets me insert a verse according to my textual content. It makes each my every day Bible research and Sunday Faculty prep extraordinarily fluid and easy.

My different favourite plugin is known as Make.md, and it permits me to pull and drop notes within the facet panel in any order I need. This would possibly sound easy, however by default, Obsidian solely helps you to type notes in ascending or descending order by title, date, or a couple of different metadata factors.

For journaling, I’ve a folder referred to as “Every day Journal,” through which I maintain sub-folders for every month. The every day entries are titled with the date like so, “2025-03-07.” I do know it is not very “enjoyable,” but it surely helps maintain issues so as and permits my thoughts to easily movement onto the web page as an alternative of making an attempt to give you a novel title for every day. And after two months of journaling, I can say that it truly is as transformative as everybody says it’s. If you happen to’ve not tried journaling but, you must undoubtedly give it a shot.

The truth that Obsidian syncs with all of my units means I can journal from in every single place. When my spouse and I have been within the Nice Smokey Mountains final month, I used Obsidian on my MacBook to journal. I’ve used my telephone and my iPad as nicely once I did not wish to seize my laptop computer or go to my desktop.

And, when doing some other type of writing, I simply dive into Obsidian. It really works fantastically, is free, and is cross-platform.

On the finish of the day, Obsidian changed all of my writing apps for me. I left Day One and use Obsidian for my journal. I not use Notion for sermon notes or Sunday Faculty classes. I’ve migrated from writing my articles in Asana or ClickUp to writing them in Obsidian.

Even my to-dos for my homelab, trip concepts, books I wish to get, locations I wish to go for panorama images, and extra are all stored in Obsidian.

If you happen to’re in search of an awesome, free markdown editor to make use of for writing, give Obsidian a try. It has a sturdy plugin library and is an very simple app that merely works with out costing a dime.