Obsidian is a proprietary personal knowledge base and note-taking application that operates on Markdown files. The software is free for personal and commercial use; only the offered cloud services, optional commercial licenses, and early access versions are paid. It is available as desktop versions for macOS, Windows and Linux as well as for mobile operating systems such as iOS and Android, but not as a web application.
Shida Li and Erica Xu, the two co-founders of Obsidian, met while studying at the University of Waterloo. They collaborated on several development projects before creating Obsidian, including the outliner tool Dynalist.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck and they were left quarantining, they started working on Obsidian. Its development was motivated by shortcomings in other tools like MediaWiki, TiddlyWiki, and other note-taking apps. The idea was to build an app that was extensible like code editors and IDEs.
From the Wikipedia article “Obsidian (software)”, CC BY-SA 4.0
What is Obsidian?
Obsidian by Obsidian (developed by Dynalist Inc.) is proprietary Windows software in the notes & to-do category. It ranks 1st by popularity among notes & to-do in this catalogue. The first release dates back to 2020. It is written in Electron, JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheets. Besides Windows, it is available for Linux, macOS, iOS, Android and iPadOS.
Installation and requirements
The publisher provides EXE (NSIS) installers for 64-bit, ARM64 and 32-bit Windows. Installation asks for administrator rights. A silent install is possible with the installer’s documented switches.
Updates and version history
The current version is 1.14.5, released on October 22, 2026. The version history goes back to March 30, 2021: 69 releases, all linked to the official files. That is about 12 releases a year. The last update is less than a month old.
Popularity and file types
The Chocolatey package has been downloaded 337,347 times. The source code on GitHub (obsidianmd/obsidian-releases) has 22,477 stars. Wikipedia has an article about it in 19 of our languages. On Windows it registers 1 file type, including .md. Similar programs include Logseq, QOwnNotes and AFFiNE.
Project description on GitHub: “Community plugins list, theme list, and releases of Obsidian.”
Pros / Cons
Pros
- Native ARM64 build for Windows on Arm
- Documented silent install
- Frequent updates (about 12 a year)
- Also runs on Linux, macOS and iOS
- Large user base
Cons
- Proprietary licence: check the terms and price
- Installation needs administrator rights
In short: Obsidian is a notes & to-do tool for 64-bit, ARM64 and 32-bit PCs. It is actively maintained. Administrators can deploy it unattended.
Is Obsidian safe to download?
- The file is served by github.com, the publisher’s own domain
- The download link uses HTTPS
- A SHA256 hash is published, so you can verify the file:
4B95AA855062FB253439C392A32B536C3F9F22AC7FAD04F1A6CBF176ECBCFA2A· Open the VirusTotal report for this hash - The link has not been checked yet
- ExeAtlas does not host, wrap or modify installers
Related guide: How to check a file’s SHA256 hash on Windows
Security practices (OpenSSF Scorecard)
Automated checks of the obsidianmd/obsidian-releases repository on GitHub by the Open Source Security Foundation, last run on October 19, 2026.
- Actively maintained10
- No binaries in the repository10
- No dangerous workflows10
- Pinned dependencies3
- Code review0
- Static code analysis0
- Restricted token permissions0
- OpenSSF Best Practices badge0
- Fuzzing0
- Security policy0
- Licence declared0
- Signed releases0
The score rates how the project is developed and released, not whether the program is safe to install. scorecard.dev
Recent versions
All 69 versions ›69 versions over 6 years · about 12 a year
| Version | Date | Size | Files |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.14.5Latest | October 22, 2026 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS)ARM64 EXE (NSIS) |
| 1.14.4 | October 5, 2026 | — | 32-bit EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS)ARM64 EXE (NSIS)64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 1.13.7 | August 12, 2026 | — | 32-bit EXE (NSIS)ARM64 EXE (NSIS)ARM64 EXE (NSIS)64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 1.13.6 | August 10, 2026 | — | ARM64 EXE (NSIS)ARM64 EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS)64-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 1.13.4 | July 30, 2026 | — | ARM64 EXE (NSIS)64-bit EXE (NSIS)64-bit EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 1.12.7 | March 23, 2026 | — | ARM64 EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS)64-bit EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS) |
| 1.12.4 | February 27, 2026 | — | 32-bit EXE (NSIS)ARM64 EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS)ARM64 EXE (NSIS) |
| 1.11.7 | February 5, 2026 | — | 64-bit EXE (NSIS)64-bit EXE (NSIS)ARM64 EXE (NSIS)32-bit EXE (NSIS) |
Install from the command line
Silent install ›winget install --id Obsidian.Obsidian -echoco install obsidian -yscoop install extras/obsidianObsidian-1.14.5.exe /SRelated guide: How to use winget: install and update apps
Also for other systems
brew install --cask obsidianflatpak install flathub md.obsidian.ObsidianInformation
- Publisher
- Obsidian
- Developer
- Dynalist Inc.
- Category
- Notes & to-do
- Licence
- Proprietary
- Price
- See the publisher’s site
- Source code
- github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases
- Written in
- Electron, JavaScript, and Cascading Style Sheets
- Content rating
- 12+
- Requires
- Windows 11 / 10
- Architecture
- 64-bit, ARM64, 32-bit
- Installer
- EXE (NSIS)
- Other platforms
- Linux, macOS, iOS, Android, iPadOS
- Version
- 1.14.5
- Released
- October 22, 2026
- First release
- 2020
- Added to the catalogue
- March 30, 2021
- Versions listed
- 69
- Updates / year
- 12.4
- Chocolatey downloads
- 337,347
- GitHub stars
- 22,477
- GitHub forks
- 7,878
- Website
- obsidian.md
- winget ID
- Obsidian.Obsidian
- Chocolatey package
- obsidian
- Scoop package
- extras/obsidian
File types it opens (1)
Ratings and reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to rate it.
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Frequently asked questions
Is Obsidian free?
Obsidian is proprietary (closed-source) software (licence: Proprietary). Whether it costs money depends on the edition: check the publisher’s site for prices and free tiers.
Is Obsidian safe to download?
The download comes from github.com, which belongs to the publisher; ExeAtlas does not host or change the file. Compare its SHA256 hash with the one shown here, or open the VirusTotal report for that hash.
How do I install Obsidian with winget?
Open PowerShell or Windows Terminal and run the winget command shown on this page. winget downloads the official installer and checks its SHA256 hash before running it.
Can Obsidian be installed silently?
Yes. The silent install page lists the exact command for each installer.
Does Obsidian run on ARM (Windows on Arm)?
Yes, there is a native ARM64 installer.
Where can I download an older version of Obsidian?
The versions page lists all 69 versions with links to their official installer files, back to March 30, 2021.
Can I use Obsidian without administrator rights?
Yes, there is a per-user installer that does not need administrator rights.
What are alternatives to Obsidian?
Logseq, QOwnNotes, AFFiNE, Evernote and Notion. The alternatives page compares them.
