Obsidian vs Notion: Which Tool is Best for Creative Agencies?

Are you looking for note-taking and project management tools to optimize your workflows and want to choose between Obsidian and Notion?

When it comes to note-taking tools, there are a thousand and one of them. But Obsidian and Notion seem to have stolen a march on the rest, amassing over 1 million and 30 million users respectively. 

As a creative agency or a project manager with unique needs, which of these two is better suited to your workflow?

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Put on your lenses, let's take a closer look. We'll discuss features, how much they cost, ease of use and much more. 

Ready? Let's go.

Obsidian and Notion are great at what they do but are they really the same tools? 

Obisidan vs Notion

On the surface, Obsidian and Notion look similar. They can help organize your thoughts and take notes. But it's in execution that their differences become clear. 

Notes Management 

As I've already stated, both Obsidian and Notion will help you create individual notes and wikis which you can spruce up by adding pictures, videos and links.

This is where things take a sharp twist…

Obsidian lets you place your notes in categories (with tags), link them together and view them all at once (bird's eye view) in graph view. 

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Graph view is quite useful. It's a network of interconnected notes or ideas which can help you build connections around your notes. It's useful in research and handling complex information. 

While Obsidian's graph view is very useful when it comes to knowledge management, it isn't quite with project management. 

Notion, lacking this feature, provides other ways to visualize data — Kanban boards, Calendars, etc. 

Obsidian also lets you view multiple notes at a time through a split window and visually format them with its Canvas feature. It also uses Markdown (.md) formatting language to create and format notes. 

Markdown language (in design terms) is the sketch or the blueprint — text without the fancy finishing touches — colors, fonts. If you're new to it, it might take a while to get used to it.

Notion does not use the Markdown text format to create and format notes. This means you'll be up and running quickly. 

Project Management

Obsidian has no built-in project management feature, a clear indication it wasn't made for this. However, if you tinker long enough with some of its many plugins, you might be able to add some PM functionality such as time tracking, even Kanban boards. Even after all this work, it's unlikely you'll get close to what's possible in Notion. 

You may as well skip all this upfront work and get Notion if you need project management features.

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Notion lets you assign tasks, set deadlines and select project views — kanban boards and Gantt charts.

Don't get carried away, though. Notion’s project management features are pretty basic. Nothing extraordinary. 

For example, it lacks time-tracking, a common feature of robust project management tools such as ManyRequests or Teamwork built specifically for creative agencies.

My point — if you're looking for a serious PM tool, look elsewhere. 

AI

Since AI practically runs the world now, many tools are tapping into its power. Notion has since joined the fray with what it calls Notion AI. Acting more like an assistant, Notion AI can generate ideas, write drafts and summarize text. You can connect it to Open AI within Notion. That's if you're willing to part with your hard-earned $10 every month. 

Obsidian doesn't have AI functionality built in, although community plugins offer a semblance of this. A cheap workaround, I must say. For example, you can make more than 20 ChatGPT requests a day for less than a dollar this way. 

My opinion regarding this?

Forget the workaround. Choose Notion if AI functionality is important to you. 

Ease of Use

Obsidian is very flexible. Your vaults can be as simple or as complex as you want. With hundreds of vault themes available, you're spoilt for choice really. There are a ton of community plugins available which all but add more functionality to the tool. 

On the other hand, Notion offers you templates and prebuilt layouts so you can get started quickly. It lets you create visually appealing files. You can easily drag and drop different elements, text, images, tables and embedded videos to create multimedia pages. Notion is great for creating project plans. 

Recall we discussed Obsidian’s use of Markdown text formatting. While Markdown isn't difficult to learn, it may still take some getting used to you if you're new to it. It could be a deal breaker if you don't have the time. 

Obsidian stores your notes on your device. This means you won't need an Internet connection to access them. It also means you're in complete control of them. 

Notion, being cloud-based, requires an Internet connection to access. There's an upside to this though — you can access your notes on any device, making collaboration easy. 

If your team members share files regularly, they'll find Notion much more useful. They can share pages or entire workspaces with one another, working together on the same files in real time just like in Google docs. 

Meanwhile, collaboration isn't Obsidian's long suit. It's primarily a personal tool meant for individual use. This won't be a problem if your team members only need a research or journaling tool to make notes which they won't share with colleagues. Otherwise, there may be issues. 

You know what? Let's discuss collaboration in more detail. Shall we? 

Collaboration, Sharing and Export

Notion wins this one clearly. If you're managing a project or running a business, creating tasks, tracking inventory, managing clients, Notion would be a better choice. 

You can easily work with multiple people in the same workspace, having them collaborate and leave comments on items, reply to comments directly within the tool and tag colleagues in messages. Sharing is pretty easy too. Just type the recipient's email. 

Sharing files in Obsidian is kinda of an uphill task as there's no easy way to do this. This is due to the fact that your notes reside on your device and not in the cloud as it's the case with Notion.

You have to do a bit more to share files in Obsidian and it may require dipping your hand in your pocket as we'll see a bit later in this article. 

However, there's an interesting upside to this supposed downside — you have fewer privacy issues to deal with since your notes live on your device.

And if you ever grow tired of Obsidian and want to try something else, you simply take your files with you. Pronto. 

In Notion, although sharing files takes just a few clicks (your notes are on their server), it raises privacy concerns.

How? 

Since the files are on Notion's servers, they're not truly yours. To move them, you'll have to export them. And doing this isn't as easy as it sounds. 

However, syncing your notes on many devices is very easy with your files on Notion's servers. Just log into your account and the rest is easy. 

With Obsidian, you have two options. Move them manually using your own syncing solution (Google Drive or iCloud) or use Obsidian Sync for quite a pricey sum. 

Speaking of pricey, how much do these tools actually cost? Let's talk about money. 

Obsidian pricing

Obsidian is free forever — if deployed for personal use. This means unlimited uploads and unlimited number of notes. Just type away.

However, if you need it for work, you'll have to get a commercial license for $50 per user per year after you've exhausted a 14-day free trial. But that's for the tool alone. If you want any of Obsidian’s addons, you'll have to pay for them. 

For example, Obsidian Sync which lets you sync notes between devices costs $4 per person per month when billed annually. 

And Obsidian Publish which lets you publish your pages online will set you back $8 per month per site when billed annually. 

The spending doesn't end there. Obsidian Catalyst which gets you early access to the beta version and the VIP channel, and also special community badges will bore a $25 hole in your pocket. Not so pricey, huh? 

Notion pricing

Four price tiers are on offer at no extra charge for syncing or publishing, unlike Obsidian.

Free: you get to invite up to 10 guests and upload up to 5 MB of files

Plus ($8 per user per month, billed annually, or $10 per user per month, billed monthly): 100 invites and unlimited blocks and file uploads

Business ($15 per user per month, billed annually, or $18 per user per month, billed monthly): 250 invites, SAML single sign-on and advanced page analytics.

Enterprise (custom pricing): everything plus unlimited workspaces and unlimited extensions.

Notion AI is optional but you can get it with any paid plan $8 per user per month (billed annually) or $10 per user per month (billed monthly). 

Best Use Cases

Obsidian is mainly for personal knowledge management — what is called a "second brain" in some quarters. Discoverability is very good with the use of bidirectional linking and tags. Graph view is also very useful for brainstorming and research. 

Obsidian is also more robust when it comes to privacy. 

However, Notion is better with project and task management, and collaboration. Multiple people can interact in workspaces. It also supports third-party apps, integrating smoothly with Slack and Google Drive. This makes it very useful for small teams. 

If you just want to take for-your-eyes-only notes and journals, use Obsidian. But if you want your team members to collaborate, Obsidian won't hold a candle to Notion. 

Bottom line...

Use Obsidian to think and Notion to work.

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Now what if there were a tool that could give you all we discussed above and much more? An all-in-one solution built specifically for creative agencies and project managers. 

ManyRequests – The Best Obsidian vs Notion Alternative for Project Management

While Obsidian and Notion cater to various aspects of productivity, ManyRequests offers a tailored solution for creative agencies that need a robust, centralized platform for project management, client collaboration, and service delivery. Built specifically for agencies, ManyRequests bridges the gap between knowledge management and practical workflow execution. This makes it an excellent alternative to Obsidian and Notion.

Why ManyRequests Stands Out for Creative Agencies

Built-in Project Management Tools

ManyRequests combines task management, team collaboration and project tracking in one platform. This offers a more cohesive experience than juggling separate tools like Obsidian for note-taking and Notion for workflows.

Client Portals for Seamless Collaboration

Unlike Obsidian and Notion, ManyRequests offers dedicated client portals where agencies can share project updates, deliverables and communications in a professional, branded environment. This enhances transparency and builds stronger client relationships.

Centralized Request Management

Creative agencies often juggle multiple client requests. ManyRequests simplifies this by allowing clients to submit, track, and manage requests from a single dashboard. This eliminates the back-and-forth emails and keeps projects organized.

Custom Branding

With ManyRequests, agencies can create a branded experience for their clients, reinforcing their professional identity. This feature is particularly useful for agencies looking to impress high-value clients and ensure a great experience.

Integrated Invoicing and Payments

Unlike Obsidian and Notion, ManyRequests integrates invoicing and payment systems, allowing agencies to streamline their financial processes. This ensures smooth client transactions and reduces administrative overhead.

Scalability for Recurring Services

For agencies offering recurring services, ManyRequests provides tools to manage subscription-based models, automate workflows and scale operations efficiently.

How ManyRequests Compares to Obsidian and Notion

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Why Choose ManyRequests?

ManyRequests isn’t just another productivity tool. It’s a platform built specifically for the needs of creative agencies. It takes the best elements of project management, client communication and business operations, wrapping them into one cohesive solution. While Obsidian and Notion offer versatility, they lack the agency-specific features ManyRequests provides out of the box.

If your creative agency is looking to enhance efficiency, improve client satisfaction and scale your services seamlessly, ManyRequests is the ultimate choice. You can get a 14-day free trial at zero costs here. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Notion or Obsidian for creative agencies?

The choice between Notion and Obsidian depends on your agency's specific needs.

If collaboration and task management are your top priorities, Notion is the better choice. However, for personal knowledge management and privacy concerns, Obsidian stands out.

Can Obsidian manage projects like Notion?

For teams, Obsidian’s lack of real-time collaboration features can be a limitation. However, for solo users or small teams prioritizing a lightweight, privacy-focused tool, Obsidian can be adapted for project tracking with some effort. For seamless project management out of the box, though, Notion is the more practical choice. 

Conclusion

Thank you for reading to the end. It really means a lot. I hope you're now more informed about Obsidian and Notion 

However, if you'd rather go for an all-in-one solution made specifically for creative agencies, grab your ManyRequests free trial here. 

That'd be all for this article. See you on the next one. Bye. 

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