Obsidian vs Ellipsus
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Obsidian
Organize your thoughts and knowledge with a powerful, local-first note-taking app. Build your personal knowledge base using plain text Markdown files, accessible across devices. Customize your experience with themes and plugins for a truly personal workflow.
- Local Markdown file storage
- Customizable toolbar
- Graph view for connections
- 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
Ellipsus
This creative writing tool facilitates seamless collaboration for authors, editors, and co-writers. It offers real-time co-authoring, robust draft management with version control, and distraction-free writing environments. Easily share and export your work in various formats.
- Unlimited documents, drafts, folders, and collaborators
- Real-time collaboration with commenting and chat
- Version history and version control for drafts
- Built-in writing sprints and timers
- Import from Markdown, export to PDF/AO3
- Distraction-free minimalist design
- Privacy-focused with no generative AI or tracking
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Writing together is hard. We think it should be easier. Ellipsus is a creative writing tool built by writers, for writers—whether you’re flying solo, working with betas and editors, or co-authoring something epic. In Ellipsus, you'll find: Creativity without limits: Create unlimited documents, drafts, folders, and collaborators. Real-time collaboration: Comment, chat, manage permissions, and keep track of every change with version history and version control. Draft management with version control: Experiment freely, and merge drafts when you're ready. Collaborators can suggest edits without changing your main document, Writing sprints and timers: Stay focused and creative with built-in sprint timers. Easy sharing and exports: Import from Markdown. Export to PDF or AO3. Share highlights with our Snippets feature. Distraction-free writing—anywhere: Minimalist design and themed workspaces keep you inspired. Write seamlessly on any device. Privacy-first, always: No generative AI. No creepy tracking. Your words stay yours.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Obsidian at none against Ellipsus's 1. Obsidian also leads on ratings volume (2.8K vs 173). Ellipsus's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 3 weeks) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). On price, ads, chart position 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. Ellipsus sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Obsidian asks for nothing beyond the download.
Ellipsus holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Obsidian has 2.8K ratings behind it against 173, 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 85% of Ellipsus's.
Obsidian ships an update every 3 weeks, Ellipsus every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 14, 2026 and November 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Obsidian | Ellipsus |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (2.8K ratings) | 4.8 (173 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.0% of reviews | 84.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.8K — better | 173 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #126 | #101 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Dynalist Inc. | Ellipsus |
Customer experience
Obsidian
Ellipsus
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
Ellipsus
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Obsidian
No in-app purchases
Ellipsus
- Ellipsus Lifetime$99.00









