Obsidian or Logseq — which one?

Logseq or Obsidian — which is better?

Obsidian and Logseq in 30 seconds

Side by side — as of August 2026

Plugin and theme counts were taken by us directly from both official registries on GitHub on August 14, 2026 (first counted August 11, 2026) — not estimated, not quoted from elsewhere.

Versions tested: Obsidian 1.13.6 / Logseq 0.10.15 (file) / Logseq 2.0.1 (DB beta). Prices are official USD figures as of August 2026.

The experiment: one folder, both apps

"Obsidian and Logseq can share one Markdown folder" is often claimed and rarely demonstrated. So we made a folder with three notes, opened it in Obsidian and then in Logseq (file version), and wrote from both sides.

1. Open it as an Obsidian vault
   Notes, [[links]], tags and a date-named daily note (2026-08-11.md) all worked as-is. The only addition to the folder was a .obsidian/ config directory.
2. Open the same folder in Logseq
   Logseq added three directories — logseq/, journals/, pages/ — deleted or converted nothing, and automatically surfaced the date-named file at the root as that day's journal.
3. Write one line from Logseq
   The new block was appended — as a "- " line — into the very 2026-08-11.md Obsidian had created, and showed up in Obsidian on reopen. The round trip holds.

# 検証フォルダの変化（実測・2026-08-11）

[1] 検証前
pkm-vault/
├─ プロジェクト構想.md
├─ Obsidianとの比較メモ.md
└─ 2026-08-11.md

[2] Obsidianで開いた後（追加は設定フォルダのみ）
pkm-vault/
├─ .obsidian/            ← Obsidianが追加
└─ （既存3ファイルは無変更）

[3] さらに同じフォルダをLogseqで開いた後
pkm-vault/
├─ .obsidian/
├─ journals/             ← Logseqが追加
├─ logseq/               ← Logseqが追加（config.edn等）
├─ pages/                ← Logseqが追加（contents.md）
└─ （既存3ファイルは無変更・削除も変換もなし）

Writing feel and graphs — two philosophies of "linked notes"

The deepest split is paragraphs versus blocks. Obsidian writes like a document, linked exactly as much as you link it. In Logseq everything is a block, and tags and page references become a network automatically. The graphs show it: for the same three-note folder, Obsidian drew 3 notes and 1 link, while Logseq drew six nodes — the #tags became nodes too.

The big 2026 change: Logseq 2.0 moves off Markdown files

On July 13, 2026 Logseq shipped its 2.0 beta — the DB version. The source of truth moves from Markdown files to a local SQLite database, and the file-based app continues separately as Logseq OG. We ran the 2.0.1 build to see it first-hand.

What it means for the choice: if you're comparing these two because you want notes that any text editor can still open in ten years, the options that keep meeting that bar are Obsidian and Logseq OG. If typed properties, tags-as-classes and real-time collaboration excite you, Logseq DB is worth following — priced as a beta.

Pricing — both apps are free; sync is where money starts

The verdict — how to choose

The gap both leave open: split-second capture on iPhone

Both apps live for organising and connecting what's already written; capturing one line mid-walk is neither's core. If that's most of your note-taking, add a lightweight capture app that appends straight into the vault folder in iCloud Drive. Simple Memo emails each note to you and appends it to your Obsidian daily note, including from Siri and Apple Watch. It writes Obsidian-style files (YYYY-MM-DD.md) — it does not target Logseq's journals/ naming or block format. If you picked Logseq, see our Simple Memo vs Logseq comparison.

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