Obsidian vs Recence
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
Recence
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ノートが増えるほど, 探すのが大変になる. Recenceは, その「探す時間」を減らすためのアプリです. Obsidianで育てた何千ものMarkdownノートを, iPhoneやiPadで軽く, 速く検索・閲覧できます. 重いvaultをそのまま同期するのではなく, 必要なノートだけを軽量なデータに変換して持ち歩くので, 大きなvaultでもサクサク動きます. ■ 探せる ・高速検索: AND / OR / NOT, タイトル・タグ・見出し・本文を指定した検索に対応. ・AI検索: 言葉が違っても, 意味の近いノートを見つけます. ・専門用語の辞書で, 略語や言い換えも拾えます. ■ 読める ・ノート内の画像も軽量化して表示. ・一度読み込めば, 通信がなくても閲覧できます. ・iPadの大きな画面にも対応. ■ 書き留められる ・Inboxに思いついたことをすぐメモ. Mac側でObsidianへ自動で取り込めます. ・画像からの文字起こし, 音声入力, 他のアプリからの共有に対応. ■ 覚えられる ・ノートごとに学習状況と最終確認日を記録. 見直したいノートがすぐ分かります. ■ 安心して使える ・Face IDでノートを保護できます. ・アプリ切り替え画面ではノートの内容を隠します. ・閲覧専用なので, 元のノートを書き換えません. 【ご利用にあたって】 Mac用アプリ「Recence Exporter」(別途インストール)でvaultを変換し, iCloud Drive経由でiPhone/iPadへ届けます. AI検索のデータもRecence Exporterで作成します. - The more notes you keep, the harder they are to find. Recence gives you that time back. Search and read thousands of Markdown notes from your Obsidian vault on iPhone and iPad—fast and light. Instead of syncing your whole heavy vault, Recence converts only the notes you choose into compact data, so even large vaults stay quick. ■ Find ・Fast search with AND / OR / NOT, and filters for title, tag, heading, and body. ・AI search finds notes with related meaning, even when the words differ. ・A domain dictionary catches abbreviations and synonyms. ■ Read ・Images in your notes are optimized for quick display. ・Once loaded, notes are available offline. ・Designed for the larger iPad screen, too. ■ Capture ・Jot ideas in the Inbox and import them into Obsidian automatically on your Mac. ・Text recognition from images, voice input, and sharing from other apps. ■ Remember ・Track study status and last-reviewed date for each note, so you know what to revisit. ■ Stay private ・Protect your notes with Face ID. ・Note contents are hidden in the app switcher. ・Read-only: Recence never modifies your original notes. [Requirements] Convert your vault with the Mac app "Recence Exporter" (installed separately); it reaches your iPhone/iPad via iCloud Drive. AI search data is also created with Recence Exporter.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Recence at every 4 days against Obsidian's every 3 weeks. Obsidian's advantage is chart position (#123 vs unranked). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Obsidian ships an update every 3 weeks, Recence every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Obsidian | Recence |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2.8K ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 61.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Best chart rank | #123 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 116 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Dynalist Inc. | Keiichi Uchiyama |
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
Recence
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Obsidian
No in-app purchases
Recence
No in-app purchases









