Obsidian vs PDF Dark
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Local Markdown file storage
- Customizable toolbar
- Graph view for connections
- Community plugins
- Themes
- iCloud sync
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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
PDF Dark
Transform bright PDF pages into a comfortable dark mode for easier reading at night. Reduce eye strain, improve focus, and potentially save battery life. Enjoy a smoother reading experience on your devices.
- Dark mode for PDFs
- Reduced eye strain
- Improved focus
- Battery saving
- Multi-device support
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PDF Dark — Night Reading, Without the Pain Tired of burning eyes and sleepless nights from bright PDFs? PDF Dark flips white pages into a smooth black background with crystal-clear text — perfect for late-night reading. Why You’ll Love It Instant Comfort: No more white glare. Read Longer: Less strain, better focus. Sleep Better: Protect your eyes and rest naturally. Battery Saver: Dark pixels use less power. Multi-Device: Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. For students, night owls, and professionals who read after dark. Download now — your eyes will thank you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Obsidian at Free against PDF Dark's $3.99. Obsidian also leads on review sentiment (62% vs 25%) and rating (4.5 vs 4.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Obsidian is free to download; PDF Dark costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Obsidian holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Obsidian has 2.8K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of Obsidian's written reviews are positive against 25% of PDF Dark's.
Obsidian ships an update every 3 weeks, PDF Dark every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Obsidian | PDF Dark |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.5 (2.8K ratings) — better | 4.0 (2 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 62.0% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #119 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dynalist Inc. | Jorge Lucioni Charalla |
Customer experience
Obsidian
PDF Dark
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
PDF Dark
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Obsidian
No in-app purchases
PDF Dark
No in-app purchases
