Obsidian vs Notion vs Mdit: Choosing the Right Markdown Workflow
If you’ve ever tried to find the perfect note-taking app, you’ve probably felt the same frustration: Notion feels powerful but slow, Obsidian is flexible but hard to master, and most others are either too limited or too complicated.
Markdown seems like the answer — a simple, portable format that gives you full control of your notes. But even among Markdown-based tools, the workflows differ a lot. Let’s compare Obsidian, Notion, and Mdit to help you find what fits your style.
🧩 Notion: Connected but Cloud-Dependent
Notion is great for people who want an all-in-one workspace — databases, tasks, docs, and team collaboration. It’s beautiful and feature-rich, but there’s a trade-off.
- Pros: Visual interface, easy organization, great for teams.
- Cons: Runs on the cloud, slow to open large pages, and you don’t truly own your data.
- Markdown workflow: Notion supports Markdown syntax, but under the hood, it’s a proprietary format. Exporting and syncing Markdown files isn’t seamless.
If you want total control over your Markdown files, Notion can feel like a walled garden.
🗂 Obsidian: Power and Flexibility — If You Can Handle It
Obsidian takes a different route — it’s a local-first app that stores your notes as plain .md files on disk.
You get backlinks, graph views, and plugin support that make it extremely powerful.
- Pros: True Markdown files, massive community plugins, customizable.
- Cons: Steep learning curve, heavy UI, and can feel overwhelming for casual note-takers.
- Markdown workflow: Perfectly pure. Every note is a plain text file. But you’ll spend time configuring plugins and themes before it feels right.
For developers and power users, Obsidian is a dream. For minimalists, it can be too much.
✍️ Mdit: Lightweight, Beautiful, and Local-First
Mdit was built to bridge the gap between Notion’s simplicity and Obsidian’s control.
It’s a local-first Markdown app — your notes live as plain files on your disk, not in someone else’s server. But unlike most plain-text editors, Mdit has a modern interface with slash commands and optional AI tools that connect to your own API keys (like OpenAI, Gemini, or Ollama).
- Pros: Local-first, privacy-focused, minimal UI, fast (<10MB build).
- Cons: Currently desktop-only.
- Markdown workflow: Pure Markdown files + smart editing experience. You don’t need to memorize syntax — just type
/to insert blocks, front-matter, or AI prompts.
Mdit feels like writing in Notion but saving like Obsidian — lightweight, offline, and yours.
⚖️ Comparison Table
| Feature | Notion | Obsidian | Mdit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | Cloud-based | Local files | Local files |
| Markdown Support | Partial | Full | Full |
| Collaboration | Real-time | Limited | Limited |
| Learning Curve | Easy | Steep | Simple |
| Plugin System | Built-in blocks | Huge community | Built-in features |
| AI Features | Built-in (cloud) | Community plugins | Local / your own API key |
| Privacy | Cloud-stored | Local | Local |
| Platform | Web, Mobile, Desktop | Desktop, Mobile | Desktop |
🧠 Which One Fits You?
- Choose Notion if you need collaboration and cloud access.
- Choose Obsidian if you love customization and deep linking.
- Choose Mdit if you want a fast, private, and distraction-free Markdown experience that just works.
No one tool fits everyone — but the right Markdown workflow should fit your habits, not the other way around.
💡 Try Mdit
If you’re curious about Mdit, you can download it at mdit.app. No account, no tracking — just a small desktop app that respects your files and your focus.