Proton Drive vs Obsidian
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Proton Drive
Securely store, back up, and access your files and photos across devices with end-to-end encryption. Protect sensitive documents and cherished memories with advanced privacy features and Swiss data protection laws. Offers 5 GB of free storage with upgrade options up to 1 TB.
- End-to-end encrypted storage
- Automatic photo and video backup
- Secure link sharing with password/expiration
- PIN or biometric protection
- Offline file access
- File version history
- Create, edit, and collaborate on docs
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Proton Drive provides private and secure storage for your files and photos. With Proton Drive you can protect important documents, automatically back up cherished memories, and access your content across devices. All Proton Drive accounts come with 5 GB of free storage and you can upgrade to up to 1 TB of storage at any time. Trusted by over 100 million users, Proton Drive gives you an end-to-end encrypted vault where only you—and the people you choose—can access your files and photos. Proton Drive features: - Secure storage - Get 5 GB of free encrypted cloud storage with no file size limits. - Share content using secure links with password and expiration settings. - Keep your files and photos safe with PIN or biometric protection. - Access important files and photos even if your device is lost or damaged. Easy to use - Automatically back up photos and videos in their original quality. - Securely organize your cherished memories into albums. - Rename, move, and delete your personal files securely within the app. - Create, edit and collaborate on docs. - View your important files and memories – even when offline. - Restore files with version history. Advanced privacy - Stay private with end-to-end encryption – even Proton can’t view your content. - Secure your metadata, including filenames, sizes, and modification dates. - Protect your content with Swiss privacy laws, the strongest in the world. - Trust in our open-source code that is public and verified by experts. Secure up to 5 GB of free storage for your personal files, photos, and videos with Proton Drive. Stay ahead with our releases and updates by connecting with us! - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/protonprivacy - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/protonprivacy/ - X/Twitter: https://x.com/ProtonDrive - Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ProtonDrive/ Terms of Service: https://proton.me/legal/terms Privacy Policy: https://proton.me/legal/privacy
Obsidian
Organize your thoughts and ideas with a powerful knowledge base that stores your notes as plain text Markdown files. Access your personal second brain on any device, with extensive customization options and community-driven plugins.
- Local Markdown file storage
- Customizable toolbar
- Graph view
- Community plugins
- Themes
- Sidebar pinning
- iCloud vaults
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Obsidian is a powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files. It is a second brain, for you, forever. Now available on the go for iOS! Features include: - Customizable toolbar - Pull down quick actions - Graph view - Community plugins - Themes - Sidebar pinning for tablet - iCloud vaults
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Obsidian at none against Proton Drive's 6. Obsidian also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (62% vs 37%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Proton Drive sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Obsidian asks for nothing beyond the download.
Obsidian holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.3K and 2.8K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 37% of Proton Drive's written reviews are positive against 62% of Obsidian's.
Proton Drive ships an update fortnightly, Obsidian every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Proton Drive | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (1.3K ratings) | 4.5 (2.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 37.0% of reviews | 62.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.3K | 2.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #127 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 15.6 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 248 MB | 39 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Proton AG | Dynalist Inc. |
Customer experience
Proton Drive
Obsidian
User reviews
Proton Drive
From 1.3K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and efficient
- 🔒 Secure and private
- 👍 Simple and intuitive UI
- 💡 Integrated with iOS Files app
Room to improve
- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 📥 Slow upload/download speeds
- 🗂️ Lacking key features like search and sorting
Obsidian
From 2.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful features
- 👍 Customizable and flexible
- 🔒 Secure and private
- 💡 Innovative note-taking approach
- 🚀 Smooth mobile experience
Room to improve
- 🐛 Sync issues and unreliable iCloud integration
- 🔋 Slow startup and performance issues on mobile
- 👎 Steep learning curve for new users
- 👎 Limited sorting and organization options
- 👎 Lack of WYSIWYG editing on mobile
Bugs and requests
Proton Drive
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent crashes and errors
- Inconsistent file syncing across devices
- Unable to access files uploaded from desktop
- Issues with offline file access
Requested features
4 requests- Automatic photo/video backup
- Ability to edit documents within the app
- Seamless integration with other apps for file sharing
- Linux desktop client
Obsidian
Reported bugs
3 issues- Sync issues leading to data loss
- Freezing and crashing on mobile devices
- Editing bugs and text input issues
Requested features
5 requests- Improved sorting and organization options
- WYSIWYG editing on mobile
- Better integration with other cloud storage services
- More intuitive onboarding process for new users
- Native mobile widgets and share sheet integration
In-app purchases
Proton Drive
- Drive Plus 1 month$4.991 Month
- Drive Plus 1 TB (1 month)$9.991 Month
- Proton Unlimited 1 month$14.991 Month
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- Drive Plus 1 year$47.901 Year
- Drive Plus 1 TB (1 year)$95.991 Year
- Proton Unlimited 1 year$119.001 Year
Obsidian
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Proton Drive free?
Is Obsidian free?
Which has better reviews, Proton Drive or Obsidian?
Do Proton Drive or Obsidian have ads?
Which is updated more often, Proton Drive or Obsidian?
Other comparisons
