Obsidian vs Gemini Notebook
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
Gemini Notebook
This AI-powered tool transforms complex information from various sources into clear, understandable insights. It allows users to upload documents, websites, and videos, then ask questions and receive summarized answers with inline citations. Users can also generate podcast-style audio discussions for a different learning experience.
- Upload PDFs, websites, and videos
- AI-powered summarization
- Ask questions about sources
- Inline source citations
- Podcast-style audio overviews
- Offline access
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Turn complexity into clarity with Gemini Notebook, your brain’s new best friend. Join the millions of students, creators, researchers, professionals, CEOs, and more who are saving time, getting stuff done, and learning in new ways. “One of the most compelling and completely flabbergasting demonstrations of AI’s potential yet.” – The Wall Street Journal Now, with the Gemini Notebook app, you can create and access notebooks, ask questions whenever you think of them, and listen to your podcast-style Audio Overviews on the go with background playback and offline support. UPLOAD SOURCES Upload all your long and complex PDFs, websites, YouTube videos, or text into a notebook. INSIGHTS YOU CAN TRUST Gemini Notebook becomes an expert on your sources, summarizing them and making interesting connections. Then, you can ask it questions about, well, anything — and you can trust the answers, since your sources are cited in-line. LEARN YOUR OWN WAY Long blocks of text not your preferred way to learn? Transform what you uploaded into something more your speed, like a podcast-style audio discussion with two engaging AI hosts. You can even join the show to ask questions or steer the conversation in a different direction.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Obsidian at none against Gemini Notebook's 26. Obsidian also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). Gemini Notebook's advantage is rating (4.9 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (63K vs 2.8K). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Gemini Notebook sells 15 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Obsidian asks for nothing beyond the download.
Gemini Notebook holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Gemini Notebook has 63K ratings behind it against 2.8K, 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 79% of Gemini Notebook's.
Obsidian ships an update every 3 weeks, Gemini Notebook weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Obsidian | Gemini Notebook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2.8K ratings) | 4.9 (63K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.0% of reviews | 78.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K | 63K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #134 | #37 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 211 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Dynalist Inc. | |
Customer experience
Obsidian
Gemini Notebook
User reviews
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
Gemini Notebook
From 63K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and accurate audio summaries
- 👍 Useful for learning and studying
- 🚀 Convenient mobile access
- 👍 Great for on-the-go use
Room to improve
- 🐛 Audio volume issues
- 🔍 Missing key features from web version
- 🔍 Lack of customization options
- 🔍 Inconsistent dark mode implementation
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
Gemini Notebook
Reported bugs
2 issues- Audio coming through earpiece instead of speaker
- Interactive features not working properly
Requested features
3 requests- Ability to curate audio summaries
- Sync saved notes from web version
- Add mind maps, study guides, and other advanced features
In-app purchases
Obsidian
No in-app purchases
Gemini Notebook
- 100 GB2 variants$1.991 Month
- 200 GB$2.991 Month
- Google AI Plus (400 GB)2 variants$4.991 Month
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- Google AI Plus (400 GB)1 Month trial$4.991 Month
- Google AI Plus (2 TB)2 variants$9.991 Month
- Google AI Pro (5 TB)2 variants$19.991 Month
- Google AI Pro (5 TB)1 Month trial2 variants$19.991 Month
- 100 GB2 variants$19.991 Year
- 5 TB2 variants$24.991 Month
- 200 GB2 variants$29.991 Year
- Google AI Plus (400 GB)$49.991 Year
- 10 TB2 variants$49.991 Month
- Google AI Pro (5 TB)$199.991 Year
- Google AI Pro (2 TB)$199.991 Year
- Google AI Ultra (30 TB)2 variants$249.991 Month









