Comparison

Obsidian vs Freeform

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Obsidian

Organize your thoughts and ideas with a powerful knowledge base that utilizes local Markdown files. This app acts as your personal second brain, accessible on your mobile device for seamless note-taking and idea connection.

Highlights
  • Local Markdown file storage
  • Customizable toolbar
  • Graph view for connections
  • Community plugins
  • Themes
  • iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

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

About

Freeform

This app provides a flexible canvas for bringing ideas to life. It supports various file types, drawing tools, and shape libraries for creative projects. Real-time collaboration with multiple users is also a key feature.

Highlights
  • Flexible canvas for ideas
  • Supports photos, video, audio, documents, PDFs, web links
  • Drawing with finger or Apple Pencil
  • Library of over 700 shapes
  • Built-in document scanner
  • Real-time collaboration with up to 100 users
  • Integrated Messages and FaceTime
Read full description

Freeform is now part of Apple Creator Studio, an amazing collection of Apple’s most powerful creative apps designed to help you bring your ideas to life. The suite includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage — plus premium content and intelligence features* in Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and Freeform, all in one simple plan. Creating, viewing, and editing boards in Freeform, as well as collaborating in real time, does not require a subscription. Freeform is a great place to bring your ideas to life. Sketch out a project, design a mood board or start a brainstorming session on a flexible canvas that supports almost any kind of file. And with iCloud, all your boards stay in sync, whether you’re on your Apple Vision Pro, your Mac, your iPad or your iPhone. New Features For Apple Creator Studio Subscribers: • Explore high-quality photos, graphics, and illustrations for your document in the all-new Content Hub • Find inspiration faster with collections of new Apple-curated content in the Content Hub • Create stunning images and graphics right in your document, apply quick edits, or adjust the style using AI • Increase the clarity and detail of existing images and graphics using Super Resolution • Use Auto Crop to generate suggestions for how to frame your image Other New Features: • Organize Your Board with Tables. Arrange text, images, and content into flexible rows and columns • Present your ideas with Scenes, letting you save and jump to specific regions of your board Overview Unleash your creativity • Add photos, video, audio, documents, PDFs, web links, stickies and more anywhere on a Freeform board, perfect for creating a digital pinboard, collecting research for a school project or gathering inspiration for your home renovation. • Use your finger to draw anywhere on the canvas. Choose from a variety of brush styles and colors. • Create beautiful diagrams with a library of over 700 shapes and alignment guides to help make your document look just the way you’d like. • Scan paper documents with your iPhone or iPad’s built-in document scanner to archive documents and even annotate them if you’d like, directly on the board. Collaborate with others • Invite your friends or colleagues into your board for real-time collaboration. Freeform brings people together into a shared space for creativity, whether you’re at your desk or on the go. Easily invite others via email, link or Messages. • Brainstorm together with up to 100 collaborators in the same board. • Communicate with Messages or FaceTime. When you’re working on a board with others, you can jump into the associated Messages conversation or start a FaceTime call with your collaborators with a single tap. * Some features of Apple Creator Studio require an Apple Intelligence–capable device. For full system requirements and usage limits for Apple Creator Studio intelligence features, see Apple Support article 125029.

Screenshots

Obsidian4 screens
Freeform4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Freeform at 440K against Obsidian's 2.7K. Freeform also leads on review sentiment (73% vs 62%). Obsidian's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and chart position (#131 vs unranked). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Obsidian against 4.6 for Freeform. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Freeform has 440K ratings behind it against 2.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of Obsidian's written reviews are positive against 73% of Freeform's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Obsidian ships an update every 3 weeks, Freeform every 3 months. Both last shipped on September 29, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Obsidian versus Freeform: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterObsidianFreeform
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2.7K ratings)4.6 (440K ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.1% of reviews72.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.7K440K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#131 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Vision Pro
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.2
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDynalist Inc.Apple

Customer experience

Obsidian

All ratings2,674 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral4.0%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews1,303 reviews
Positive62.1%
Neutral11.9%
Negative26.0%

Freeform

All ratings439,937 ratings
Positive88.3%
Neutral5.0%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews3,543 reviews
Positive72.5%
Neutral10.0%
Negative17.5%

User reviews

Obsidian

From 2.7K App Store ratings

What 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

Freeform

From 440K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great for note-taking and organizing
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🎨 Excellent for creative projects
  • 💡 Useful for brainstorming and mind mapping
  • 🤝 Helpful for collaboration and sharing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly
  • 🤔 Laggy performance, especially with complex boards
  • 🤷‍♀️ Lack of organizational features like folders
  • 📦 Issues with syncing and sharing boards

Bugs and requests

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

Freeform

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Boards randomly disappearing or not syncing properly
  • Writing and drawing becoming unresponsive or laggy
  • Overlapping and misaligned elements after editing
  • Inability to rotate or resize objects accurately

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add dark mode option
  • Improve Apple Pencil integration with pressure sensitivity
  • Implement undo/redo shortcuts
  • Allow for grouping and aligning of objects
  • Add more shape and text formatting options

In-app purchases

None

Obsidian

No in-app purchases

None

Freeform

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Obsidian free?
Obsidian is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Freeform free?
Freeform is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Obsidian or Freeform?
Freeform is rated higher. Obsidian averages 4.5 out of 5 from 2.7K ratings, while Freeform averages 4.6 from 440K ratings.
Do Obsidian or Freeform have ads?
Neither Obsidian nor Freeform shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Obsidian or Freeform?
Obsidian ships an update every 3 weeks, and Freeform every 3 months. Most recently, Obsidian was updated on September 29, 2026 and Freeform on September 29, 2026.

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