# Baalda vs Obsidian

> Baalda vs Obsidian: Obsidian is the best solo local-markdown vault, but has no real-time collaboration. Baalda keeps the local-first model and adds a live, shared team brain.

Source: https://baalda.com/compare/obsidian
Site: Baalda, https://baalda.com

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.

## Side by side

| | 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 wins

- 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.

## Moving over

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

### 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.