Comparison
Baalda vs Obsidian: which second brain fits your team?
Local-first plain-markdown notes, built for one person.
Short answer
Pick Obsidian if you want a powerful personal vault with a huge plugin ecosystem and never need real-time collaboration. Pick Baalda if you want Obsidian's local-first markdown model but need a whole team editing the same notes live, with per-file permissions and AI over MCP.
At a glance
| Feature | Baalda | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Real-time multi-user editing | Yes · CRDT, keystroke-level | No · single-user by design |
| Notes are plain markdown files on your disk | Yes | Yes |
| Local-first (works offline, you own the files) | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes · Apache-2.0 | No · proprietary (free) |
| AI reads & writes your files (MCP) | Yes | Partial · community plugins |
| Per-file permissions | Yes | No |
| Self-hostable | Yes | Sync is a paid service |
| Price | Free + Team plan | Free + paid Sync/Publish |
Where Obsidian is the better choice
- A massive community plugin ecosystem and years of maturity.
- Best-in-class solo experience with deep customization.
- Canvas, themes, and a huge library of community workflows.
Where Baalda wins
- True real-time collaboration: many people in one note, merged by a CRDT.
- Per-file permissions for a shared team vault.
- An AI assistant that writes to the same files over MCP, first-class not bolted on.
Can you switch?
Baalda uses the same plain-markdown format, so moving an Obsidian vault is a copy: your files, wikilinks, and folders come across as-is, and stay markdown on the way out.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Does Obsidian support real-time collaboration?
No. Obsidian is single-user by design; Obsidian Sync only syncs one person's vault across their own devices. Baalda adds true multi-user real-time editing on the same markdown files.
Is Baalda a drop-in Obsidian replacement for teams?
For shared team notes, yes: Baalda keeps Obsidian's local-first markdown model and adds real-time collaboration, permissions, and AI. Solo power users may still prefer Obsidian's plugin ecosystem.
Can I move my Obsidian vault to Baalda?
Yes. Because both use plain markdown files, migration is a straight copy of your vault folder, with wikilinks and structure intact.
Still weighing it up?
The app is free and works entirely offline, so you can answer the question with your own vault instead of a table.
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