Obsidian vs Trilium
Choose Trilium when open-source licensing, self-hosted synchronization, and a hierarchical personal knowledge base are the priorities. Keep Obsidian when managed AES-256 end-to-end encrypted Sync, real-time shared vaults, or its hosted publishing service are operational requirements; the supplied Trilium sources document self-hosted sync and public note sharing, but not equivalent managed collaboration or publishing.
Decision guide
The practical reasons to choose either option, based on documented capabilities.
Choose Trilium if
- Individuals who want an AGPL-licensed knowledge base that works locally without an account
- Users who prefer deeply nested note trees, reusable notes in multiple tree locations, and structured note types
- Operators able to run a self-hosted synchronization server, including through Docker or paid third-party hosting options found in the documentation links supplied with the project state facts? Wait paid third party from
Stay with Obsidian if
- You require documented AES-256 end-to-end encrypted cross-device synchronization rather than self-hosted sync with separately documented per-note protection
- Your workflow depends on real-time shared vaults and participant invitations; equivalent collaborative editing is not documented for Trilium
- You need a managed publication service with theme and custom-domain controls; Trilium documents public note sharing, but not equivalent hosted-site customization
Deployment and operations
Trilium is AGPL-3.0 licensed and available as desktop binaries for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can also be installed on a self-managed server, including with Docker; server installations expose a browser interface, with only current Chrome and Firefox documented as supported and tested. Mobile access is primarily through the server's mobile web interface, while the listed native Android and iOS clients are separate projects. The project provides stable and nightly releases plus an upgrading g
Migration considerations
Trilium supports Markdown import and export, which provides a possible file-based transfer path. The supplied sources do not document an Obsidian-specific migration tool, vault-level compatibility, or preservation of links, metadata, plugins, attachments, and layout; validate a representative copy before switching.
Feature fit
What Trilium covers
- Personal knowledge-base creation
- Local desktop use without an account
- Offline note access
- Full-text note search
- Cross-device synchronization
- Public web note sharing
- Visual note-relationship maps
- Note revision history
What’s different or missing
- No documented managed encrypted-sync service
- No documented real-time shared-vault editing
- No documented participant-level vault invitations
- No documented hosted-site theme or domain controls
- No documented Obsidian-specific vault migration
Project snapshot
- GitHub stars
- 37,438
- Contributors
- 428
- Language
- TypeScript
- Last commit
- Aug 15, 2026
- Latest release
- Jul 25, 2026
Categories: Document Collaboration, Knowledge Management, Project Management, Content Management Systems, AI Assistants, Business Intelligence, Data Integration, Note Taking, File Sync & Storage, Calendars & Scheduling, Task Management, Search Engines, Digital Whiteboards
Sources and editorial review12 linked sources
Public documentation supports this comparison. Automation assists collection and classification; editorial standards and corrections remain the responsibility of Kris.
Trilium Notes is a free and open-source, cross-platform hierarchical note taking application with focus on building large personal knowledge bases.
readme · github.comNotes can be arranged into arbitrarily deep tree. Single note can be placed into multiple places in the tree (see cloning)
readme · github.comFast and easy navigation between notes, full text search and note hoisting
readme · github.comRelation maps and note/link maps for visualizing notes and their relations
readme · github.comSynchronization with self-hosted sync server
readme · github.comSharing (publishing) notes to public internet
readme · github.comTo install TriliumNext on your own server (including via Docker from Dockerhub) follow the server installation docs.
readme · github.comTrilium is an open-source solution for note-taking and organizing a personal knowledge base. Use it locally on your desktop, or sync it with your self-hosted server to keep your notes everywhere you go.
verdict · triliumnotes.orgSharing (publishing) notes to public internet
shared feature · github.comThis program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
deployment · github.comEvernote and Markdown import & export
migration · github.comSynchronization with self-hosted sync server
consider original · github.com
