Catchlight vs Obsidian.

Obsidian gives you a folder of markdown files and a plugin for nearly everything. Catchlight gives you one encrypted place where a note, a task and a reminder are the same thing, no assembly required.

Obsidian is the power tool of personal knowledge. Local files, backlinks, a graph of how your thinking connects, and a community that has built a plugin for almost anything. Catchlight is after a different person, the one who wants to catch a thought and be reminded of it later, without building the system first.

At a glance. The short version.

Obsidian details verified July 2026, check obsidian.md for current plans. The core app is free with no account, Obsidian Sync is a paid extra with end-to-end encryption you enable and hold a password for. Catchlight is pre-launch, its feature set is subject to change before launch.

Local, not sealed. How the privacy actually compares.

Obsidian’s privacy story is a good one, and it’s mostly about locality. Your notes are plain markdown files in a folder on your device, no account, nothing phoning home, and you can walk away with the folder any time. We rate that highly.

The catch is the word plain. The files aren’t encrypted at rest, so anything that can read your storage can read your notes. End-to-end encrypted sync exists, but it’s a paid add-on with a mode to choose and a password to hold. Catchlight starts from the other end. Every Take is sealed on your device the moment you save it, with a 12-word Privacy Phrase only you hold, and sync is included, writing encrypted files into a folder you already own.

One reversal surprises people. Obsidian is closed source with an open file format. Catchlight is open source, so you can read the code that does the sealing.

The reminder gap. A vault doesn’t tap you on the shoulder.

Obsidian will hold a task forever, but out of the box it won’t remind you of anything. Due dates come from community plugins, and on your phone even those can’t fire a system notification, the app has no way to let them. For a tool people run their lives in, that’s a real hole.

It’s also the hole Catchlight was built around. A Take carries its own reminder. Add a time and your phone tells you, no plugin, no bridge app, and the note is right there when it does.

Being fair. Where Obsidian is the better choice.

Obsidian is the better choice if you’re building a long-term knowledge base, you want backlinks and a graph of your thinking, and you enjoy shaping the tool itself. It’s free, the files are yours, and the depth is real. Catchlight doesn’t attempt any of that.

Where Catchlight is the better choice.

Catchlight is the better choice if what you want is capture rather than curation. One place where a note, a task and a reminder are the same item, encrypted by default, that notifies you when it matters. Nothing to configure, no vault to tend.

Quick answers. Common questions.

Is Obsidian encrypted?

Not on your device. Notes are plain markdown files in a folder, which is excellent for ownership and portability, but anything with access to your storage can read them. Obsidian Sync offers end-to-end encryption as a paid extra. Catchlight encrypts every Take on your device by default.

Can Obsidian remind me about tasks?

Only with community plugins, and on mobile they can’t fire system notifications, the app doesn’t provide one. In Catchlight the reminder is part of the Take. Add a time and your phone notifies you.

Is Catchlight open source like Obsidian?

The other way round. Obsidian is proprietary with an open file format. Catchlight’s iOS app is open source under Apache 2.0, so you can read the encryption code yourself.

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