Obsidian Review: Why I Switched from Notion After Two Years of Daily Use

Why I Got Tired of Note App Hopping

I have used more note apps than I can count.

It started with Evernote — I was an early adopter, accumulated thousands of notes. Then Notion, lured by databases and kanban views. A weekend spent migrating everything. Then Bear, Craft, Roam Research, each promising something better. Each migration broke some formatting, lost some links, wasted some weekend.

Then in early 2024, a friend told me: "Try Obsidian. You won't need to migrate again."

I didn't believe him. What makes Obsidian so special?

Two years later, I want to tell my past self: he was right.

Why Obsidian Ends the Migration Cycle

One reason: your notes are plain Markdown files on your local machine.

What this means:

The anxiety of "will this company survive?" and "should I export while I still can?" — completely gone.

Core Feature 1: Bidirectional Links — Notes Are No Longer Islands

Bidirectional links are Obsidian's killer feature. While many apps now offer similar functionality, Obsidian pioneered it and still does it best.

How It Works

Type double square brackets in your note:

I have been researching [[Docker Networking]] and found similarities with [[Kubernetes Network Model]].

Obsidian automatically does two things:

1. In the "Docker Networking" note, a backlinks panel shows "Obsidian Review" references it

2. On the graph view, a new connection appears between two nodes

After six months, the effect compounds. Your notes transform from isolated files into an interconnected knowledge network.

My Experience

Last month, I was writing about API gateways. I searched "gateway" in Obsidian and found fifteen relevant notes — some written over a year ago, completely forgotten.

Double-clicking one revealed a architecture diagram idea that perfectly fit my current article.

It felt like receiving a gift from past-me. Without bidirectional links, that note would have gathered digital dust forever.

Core Feature 2: Graph View — Visualize Your Knowledge Universe

The Graph View is Obsidian's most iconic feature. Open it and you see a network of nodes (notes) connected by lines (links).

I initially thought it was just eye candy — pretty but impractical.

Over time, I discovered its real value:

1. Find orphan notes: Isolated nodes with no connections are forgotten notes. Either link them or delete them.

2. Spot theme clusters: Zoom into dense areas — those are your deepest research topics.

3. Discover serendipitous connections: Sometimes two unrelated topics near each other spark new ideas.

I check the Graph View weekly. It helps me maintain and grow my knowledge base intentionally.

Core Feature 3: Plugin Ecosystem

Obsidian's community plugin ecosystem is unmatched. Thousands of plugins cover virtually any need.

My Must-Have Plugins

Dataview: Turns Obsidian into a database. Query your notes with SQL-like syntax:

TABLE title, created, status
FROM "projects"
WHERE status = "active"
SORT created DESC

This renders as a live table. Sounds technical, but once you use it, there is no going back.

Excalidraw: Draw diagrams, wireframes, and flowcharts directly in your notes. No external tool, no screenshots, no image hosting.

Calendar: Opens a sidebar calendar. Click any date to jump to that day's note. Works perfectly with Daily Notes.

Obsidian Git: Auto-commits notes to GitHub on schedule. Free version control, never worry about accidental deletions again.

Installing Plugins

Simpler than expected:

1. Settings → Community plugins → Turn off safe mode

2. Browse → Search → Install → Enable

No terminal commands. No config files. Like installing phone apps.

Core Feature 4: Daily Notes + Progressive Summarization

This workflow transformed my productivity.

My Setup

Each morning, `Cmd+N` creates today's daily note:

# {{date}}

## Today's Tasks

## What I Learned

## Interesting Ideas

## Follow-ups

I jot things down throughout the day. At end of day, five minutes reviewing — extract worthwhile content to permanent notes.

After a week, I have 7 daily notes. Weekend review:

1. Copy valuable knowledge from daily notes to structured notes

2. Link new notes to existing ones

3. Tag for discoverability

This is "progressive summarization" — capture first, organize later. The beauty: zero pressure about format while writing. Organizing comes after.

I have maintained this for over a year. The biggest benefit? Never again thinking "I remember learning this but cannot find it." Every note has connections, every note has provenance.

Learning Curve: Honest Assessment

Obsidian's learning curve is steeper than Notion's.

First week reactions:

But after two weeks, it clicks. Then you realize: Notion, for all its polish, makes decisions FOR you. Its block editor is intuitive but limiting — you can only do what it allows. Obsidian gives you freedom — organize however you want, build whatever you need.

Freedom has a learning cost, but the return is massive.

My recommendation:

1. Week 1: Learn bidirectional links and basic Markdown

2. Month 1: Start Daily Notes and templates

3. Month 3: Explore plugins, start with Calendar and Dataview

Do NOT install 20 plugins on day one. Obsidian's philosophy: slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Obsidian + AI

Obsidian is not an AI tool, but community plugins add AI capabilities.

Copilot plugin: Integrates ChatGPT/Claude into Obsidian. Select text, ask AI to summarize or rewrite — no browser needed.

Smart Connections: AI-powered note recommendations. Smarter than backlinks — it understands semantic relationships.

This combination gives you Obsidian's local-first ownership with on-demand AI efficiency.

Who Should Use Obsidian?

Honest answer: not everyone.

If you want a "just open and write" app, Apple Notes or Bear serve you better.

But if any of these apply:

Obsidian might be the best note-taking app you will ever use.

Closing Thoughts

After two years, my Obsidian vault holds 800+ notes. Every time I open the Graph View and see those nodes and connections — the growth of my knowledge base — I feel something no other note app gave me: ownership.

Evernote became bloated. Notion tried to do everything and got slow. Roam asked for payment upfront from a questionable company. Obsidian chose subtraction: local files, plain Markdown, plugin ecosystem. It gives you full control.

If you haven't tried Obsidian, download it. Give it two weeks. It might look ugly at first, it might feel unfamiliar. Push through.

All great tools feel strange at first.