Short answer
No. Obsidian's help says it "does not yet support collaborative live editing on the same file", and multiplayer is on its roadmap with no date. Shared vaults on Obsidian Sync merge edits after they sync. For live cursors today, use a plugin such as Relay, or a markdown app built for teams like Baalda.
No, not yet. Obsidian's own help page says it "does not yet support collaborative live editing on the same file", and that with a shared vault "You will not see the other user's cursor, and their edits will only appear once the changes are synced." Its public roadmap lists "Multiplayer: Share notes and edit them collaboratively", with no date.
What Obsidian does have is shared vaults on Obsidian Sync, which is a different thing. This page separates the two, then covers the three ways to get live editing on Obsidian-style markdown today. Every Obsidian fact is quoted from its help pages, checked on 13 October 2026.
Is Obsidian Sync real-time?
It syncs in the background, and Obsidian's Sync page says "Notes are updated in real-time across your team's devices." That describes delivery, not co-editing. A shared vault is a folder several people sync, and each person edits their own copy.
If two people change the same markdown note before their copies meet, Obsidian Sync "merges the changes using Google's diff-match-patch algorithm". For every other file type, canvases included, it uses "last modified wins". Since version 1.9.7 a device can be set to create a conflict file instead of merging, and Obsidian's help notes that automatic merging "may sometimes create duplicate text or formatting problems".
So a shared vault works well for taking turns, and poorly for two people in the same paragraph at the same moment.
What does a shared Obsidian vault allow?
From Obsidian's help page on collaborating:
- "All collaborators must have an active Sync subscription to access a shared vault."
- "The maximum number of collaborators on a shared vault is 20 users."
- "Fine-grained permissions are not supported yet. All collaborators receive the same permissions as the vault owner, with one exception: only the vault owner can invite collaborators."
Sync Standard is $4 per user a month billed yearly. The other ways to share a vault, including Git, Dropbox and Publish, are costed in how to share an Obsidian vault with others.
Is Obsidian multiplayer?
Not officially. "Multiplayer" is on Obsidian's roadmap, which means the team intends to build it. Until then there are three ways to get live editing on markdown.
1. A collaboration plugin inside Obsidian. Community plugins add live cursors through a CRDT, the same class of technique shared document editors use. Relay is the most used by far, with 219,344 downloads on Obsidian's own plugin stats, a free tier for up to 3 users and paid plans from $5 a month. Others run on a server you host yourself. We compared all eight in Obsidian collaboration plugins.
2. A shared document outside Obsidian. Write together in HedgeDoc, Google Docs or Notion, then paste the result into the vault. It works for one meeting, and it means the live version and the vault version are two different things.
3. A markdown app built for teams. Use an editor where live editing, access and sync are one system, and the notes are still .md files on disk.
What does real-time markdown editing need?
Two things that a file sync cannot provide.
Merging by operation, not by file. A CRDT treats each insertion and deletion as an operation that can be applied in any order and still converge, so two people typing in one sentence both keep their words, even if one of them was offline. File sync compares whole versions after the fact, which is why it needs a merge algorithm and sometimes a conflict file.
A server that knows who is editing. Live cursors and presence need something that carries each person's edits to everyone else as they happen, and per-person access needs that same thing to refuse a change from someone who only has view rights.
How does Baalda do it?
Baalda is the third route. Notes stay plain .md files in a folder on each member's disk, and the same folder opens in Obsidian if you want it to. On top of that:
- Live editing with cursors. Several people in one note, merged keystroke by keystroke through a CRDT, with presence showing who is in the note. Edits made offline merge when you reconnect.
- Per-person access. Can edit, Can view or No access on the vault, on folders and on single files, so a shared vault can still hold a private folder.
- Your AI on the same files. Assistants connect over MCP with a person's own token and the same access that person has.
- Open source. Apache-2.0, free to run locally or self-host, with a managed backend that is free for 2 people.
The trade is Obsidian's plugin ecosystem, Canvas, Bases and its mobile apps, none of which Baalda has. If those are why your team uses Obsidian, a plugin like Relay is the better answer. The broader decision is in Obsidian for teams, and the side by side is on Baalda vs Obsidian.