Obsidian vs Alexandrie
Alexandrie is the stronger fit when open-source licensing, self-hosting, centralized team organization, permissions, and OIDC are priorities. Obsidian remains the safer choice for a personal, device-local vault and workflows that depend on graph exploration, native applications, or documented AES-256 end-to-end encrypted sync; equivalent Alexandrie coverage is not documented in the supplied sources.
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Alexandrie if
- Teams wanting a self-hosted Markdown knowledge base with workspaces and five-level access controls
- Organizations requiring OIDC sign-in and control over application, database, and object-storage infrastructure
- Individuals or teams needing offline browser access, full-text search, public read-only pages, and Markdown import/export
Stay with Obsidian if
- You need graph-based exploration of note connections; Alexandrie documents hierarchical navigation and full-text search, but not a note graph.
- You require documented AES-256 end-to-end encrypted cross-device sync and version history; Alexandrie documents offline synchronization and transport encryption, not equivalent end-to-end encryption or history guarantees
- You want native desktop or mobile applications; Alexandrie is a responsive web application/PWA, and its website says native apps are on the roadmap only accepted local storage.
Deployment and operations
Alexandrie is MIT-licensed and self-hostable with Docker Compose. Its documented stack includes a frontend, backend API, MySQL, and optional S3-compatible object storage. Production operators are responsible for configuration and maintenance, including secrets, HTTPS termination through a reverse proxy, database and storage exposure, backups, and upgrades. The project website says its maintainer develops it in spare time; organizations should account for this support model.
Migration considerations
Alexandrie states that it can import Markdown files from Obsidian and other Markdown editors. It also documents ZIP import/export for selected nodes, metadata, or complete platform states. The supplied material does not document preservation of Obsidian-specific links, graph relationships, plugins, themes, settings, or other vault metadata, so test a representative vault before committing.
Feature fit
What Alexandrie covers
- Markdown-based note writing
- Offline note access
- Cross-device synchronization
- Full-text search
- Hierarchical organization
- Team sharing and permissions
- Public note publishing
- Data export
What’s different or missing
- Documented note graph
- Documented AES-256 end-to-end sync
- Documented sync version history
- Native desktop and mobile apps
- Documented Obsidian-plugin compatibility
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 2,326
- Contributors
- 32
- Language
- Vue
- Last commit
- Aug 13, 2026
- Latest release
- Aug 12, 2026
Categories: Document Collaboration, Knowledge Management, AI Assistants, Project Management, Note Taking, File Sync & Storage, Calendars & Scheduling, Task Management, Search Engines, Digital Whiteboards
Sources and editorial review13 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
A self-hosted, open-source knowledge base with an extended Markdown editor.
repository description · github.comOrganize, search, share and export your notes from any device, even offline.
readme · github.comOffline-First PWA: Install on any desktop or mobile device with full offline capabilities and seamless synchronization.
readme · github.comFull-Text Indexing: Instant lookup with snippet highlights and precise relevancy sorting scores.
readme · github.com5-Level Access Model: Fine-tune user privileges from None, Read, Write, Admin, to Owner status per node or workspace.
readme · github.comOne-Command Deployment: Bring up the entire full-stack application instantly using Docker.
readme · github.comAlexandrie is an open-source self-hosted wiki and knowledge management platform built for teams and individuals.
verdict · github.comFull-Text Indexing: Instant lookup with snippet highlights and precise relevancy sorting scores.
shared feature · github.comYes! You can import Markdown files from other apps like Notion, Obsidian, or any Markdown editor.
migration · alexandrie-hub.frAlexandrie is a responsive web application that works great on mobile browsers. Native apps are on our roadmap.
consider original · alexandrie-hub.frThe Alexandrie stack consists of four main services, defined in the docker-compose.yml file:
deployment · alexandrie-hub.frNot expose MySQL or RustFS directly - Use a reverse proxy (Nginx, Traefik, Caddy) - Terminate HTTPS at the proxy
deployment · alexandrie-hub.frYes, Alexandrie is 100% open-source under the MIT license. You can use it, modify it, and distribute it freely. No hidden costs, no premium tiers.
deployment · alexandrie-hub.fr
