Comparison

Obsideck vs palilili

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

Head to head
About

Obsideck

A casual Markdown note-taking app for iPhone and iPad that displays your notes as a grid of cards. It allows for quick previews, following links and tags, and editing with a focused editor, all while respecting your privacy.

Highlights
  • Card grid for casual browsing
  • Rich Markdown preview
  • Wiki link navigation
  • Tappable tags
  • Interactive task lists
  • Focused Markdown editor
  • Privacy-focused, no account needed
Features
Read full description

Your notes, as cards. Obsidian, made casual. Obsideck is a relaxed way to use your Obsidian notes on iPhone and iPad. Point it at any folder — your Obsidian notes in iCloud Drive, a local folder on your device, or anywhere the Files app can reach — and your notes appear as a tidy grid of cards. Tap a card for a quick preview, follow links and tags, check off tasks, and switch to a focused editor whenever you want to make a change. Everything stays fast and light — no heavy setup, no plugins to configure, just your notes, ready when you are. **Free to start, unlock once** Free to download: browse, search, edit, create notes, and use the preset themes. One Unlock adds pins, card colors, backlinks, the Custom theme, daily notes, and widgets — no subscription, Family Sharing supported. Existing buyers get everything at no extra cost. **A card grid for casual browsing** Your notes are laid out as cards in a masonry grid, like sticky notes. Sort by date modified, date created, or name. Reorder by dragging. With Unlock: pin notes to the top and color cards. Long-press a card for quick actions. **Themes** Choose Violet, Ocean, or Warm, or build a Custom theme: per-element colors, bold and italic, and code block colors. Adjust text size and line spacing for the preview and the editor in Appearance. **Daily notes and widgets** Obsideck reads your Obsidian daily-note settings and shows today's note on a Today card. Add New Note, Today, or Pinned widgets to your Home Screen; the data they show stays on your device. **Rich Markdown preview** - Headings, emphasis, lists, quotes, and code blocks - Frontmatter shown as a clean, structured panel - Callouts (`> [!note]`, `> [!warning]`, and more) rendered with icons - Images embedded with Obsidian syntax: `![[image.png]]` **Wiki links that actually work** Tap a `[[note]]` link to jump straight to that note. Obsideck searches all your notes to resolve links, supports aliases and heading links, and lists backlinks to the note you're reading; with Unlock, tap one to jump there. **Tappable tags** Tap any `#tag` to instantly search your notes for every one that uses it — inline tags and frontmatter tags alike. **Interactive task lists** Check and uncheck `- [ ]` task items right in preview — tap anywhere on the row, not just the checkbox. Your changes are written back to the file. **Edit with a focused editor** Switch to edit mode for syntax-highlighted Markdown editing. Changes auto-save back to the file, so your notes stay in sync with Obsidian and every other tool you use. **Privacy first** - No account or sign-in, and no servers of ours — only Apple's iCloud sync and App Store purchases - No ads, no tracking, no analytics - Your notes never leave your device or your own iCloud Drive - Obsideck reads and writes only the folder you explicitly select **Please note** - Obsideck is a companion reader/editor for Markdown notes; it is not affiliated with Obsidian or Obsidian.md. - Obsideck is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed, or sponsored by Dynalist Inc. Obsidian is a trademark of Dynalist Inc. - The app works with plain Markdown (.md) files. Some advanced Obsidian plugin syntax may not be rendered. - Obsideck is designed for everyday note collections — roughly up to a few hundred notes per folder and a few thousand notes in total. Performance is not guaranteed for very large collections beyond this range. - To use your Obsidian notes, keep them somewhere the Files app can reach (for example, iCloud Drive). - Card layout (order, pins, and colors) is saved in a small hidden `.obsideck` folder at the top of the folder you chose, so it syncs across your devices along with your notes (for example, via iCloud Drive). It never modifies your note files, and Obsidian simply ignores the folder. Deleting the `.obsideck` folder resets the layout to default. Terms of Use: https://unadongames.com/obsideck/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://unadongames.com/obsideck/privacy.html

About

palilili

Features
Read full description

a task list should not become another task. most to-do lists keep everything forever. unfinished tasks pile up, yesterday follows you into today, and the list becomes another source of noise. palilili works differently. it keeps your active list small: what is done, what matters now, and what can wait until later. done, now & later swipe between three simple spaces as your priorities change: - done holds what you have completed. - now is for what matters today. - later is for what can wait. tomorrow starts clean unfinished tasks in now are deleted when the next day begins. tasks placed in later wait quietly and return to now tomorrow. quiet by design - works offline - no account or advertising - no analytics or tracking - no developer-operated cloud - local reminders and daily repeats - available on your phone and watch - optional phone and watch sync - manual ordering for what matters now no feeds. no streaks. no productivity scores. no pressure to keep an endless archive. just you and the things you choose to do. palilili means pali lili in toki pona: small, quiet things to do.

Screenshots

Obsideck4 screens
palilili4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Obsideck at Free against palilili's $1.99. palilili's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (18.6 vs 26.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Obsideck is free to download; palilili costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Obsideck ships an update every 2 months, palilili every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Obsideck versus palilili: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterObsideckpalilili
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS26.018.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShota HoriMikoriza Network Ltd

In-app purchases

None

Obsideck

No in-app purchases

None

palilili

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Obsideck free?
Obsideck is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is palilili free?
palilili costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Obsideck or palilili have ads?
Neither Obsideck nor palilili shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Obsideck or palilili?
Obsideck ships an update every 2 months, and palilili every 3 days. Most recently, Obsideck was updated on October 31, 2026 and palilili on November 10, 2026.

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