Eyrie vs Obsidian
When to switch from Obsidian to Eyrie (and when to stay).
Obsidian is a beautiful piece of software. So is Eyrie. They solve different versions of the same problem — your notes in plain Markdown files on your own disk. After three years of using both daily, here's the honest version of which one is right for you in 2026.
TL;DR
The 30-second version
Switch to Eyrie if: you want AI built into your notes app today, you're tired of installing 14 plugins to get a working setup, and you'd pay $79 once to never think about subscriptions again.
Stay on Obsidian if: you've already invested years into a plugin stack you love, you're on Windows or Linux (Eyrie is Mac-only), or you don't want AI anywhere near your notes (Eyrie's AI is opt-in, but the whole product is designed around it).
Where they agree
Both apps share the same foundation, and it's the foundation that matters most:
- Your notes are plain Markdown files in a folder you own. No proprietary database, no cloud lock-in, no export-to-leave nightmare.
- One-time purchase or free rather than rent-forever SaaS.
- Local-first: the app works without the internet, your notes never have to leave your Mac.
- Wikilinks and backlinks for connecting ideas the way a brain actually works.
- Plugins / extensions for power users — though they treat this very differently (more below).
If you're choosing between Eyrie and Notion, the answer is easy: pick Eyrie (or Obsidian). Notion holds your files hostage on its servers and charges you monthly to access them. Both Eyrie and Obsidian treat your notes as yours. The interesting question is which of them is right for you.
The honest side-by-side.
The AI question: native vs plugin sprawl.
This is the real reason people ask whether to switch. Both apps can do AI. They do it very differently.
Obsidian's path is to give you a plugin marketplace and let you assemble your own AI stack. Install Smart Connections for semantic search. Install Copilot for chat. Install Text Generator for inline commands. Configure each one with your API key. Update them when the maintainer pushes a fix. Cross your fingers when one of them breaks on a major Obsidian update.
It works. Plenty of people are happy with it. But it's a job.
Eyrie's path is to ship AI as a core feature. Chat panel with citations, ⌘E inline commands, semantic search, and MCP integrations to Claude Desktop and Cursor — all baked in, all designed together, all maintained by one team. You bring your Anthropic or OpenAI key once. Or you skip the key entirely and let Claude Desktop do the AI calls through Eyrie's MCP server, which means you pay for AI once (your existing Claude subscription) and Eyrie just provides the notes context.
The Obsidian-plus-plugins path is more flexible. Eyrie is more focused. Pick the one that matches how you actually spend your weekend.
The citations question.
Both apps can ask an LLM "what have I written about X?". Only Eyrie shows you which files it actually read.
When you ask Eyrie a question, the answer comes with clickable chips at the bottom — one per source file. Click a chip, you open that file at the exact heading the model used. You can verify every claim in seconds. If the model invented a citation, you'd know immediately because the chip would lead to a file that doesn't contain what was claimed.
This sounds like a small UX detail. It's the difference between trusting an AI with your knowledge work and not.
Obsidian's AI plugins can be configured to cite sources, but the implementation varies plugin-to-plugin, and the citation-as-clickable-chip pattern isn't standard. You often get an answer with a footnote-style reference that requires manual navigation to verify.
The pricing math over three years.
Most software pricing comparisons are dishonest because they pick the cheapest tier and ignore what you actually need. Here's the real math for a Mac-based knowledge worker using AI daily.
- Obsidian path: Free for personal use, but if you want a working AI setup you need Smart Connections (free with API costs) + Obsidian Sync ($8/mo for vault sync across devices) + an Anthropic or OpenAI API budget. Over three years:
$0 + $288 (Sync) + ~$120/yr API ≈ $648. Plus your time installing and maintaining plugins. - Eyrie path: $79 once for the lifetime license. Use your existing Claude Desktop subscription as the AI brain (via MCP) for $0 extra, or paste your own Anthropic key and pay the API directly (~$5-30/month depending on usage). Over three years:
$79 + your existing AI cost.
If you already pay for Claude Desktop or Cursor, Eyrie is functionally cheaper than free Obsidian because you skip Sync, skip the API budget, and skip the plugin maintenance.
When to stay on Obsidian.
We'd rather you stay on Obsidian and be happy than switch and resent us. Honestly, three groups should not switch:
- You're not on macOS. Eyrie is Mac-only by design — it leans hard on AppKit, SwiftUI, system shortcuts, sandboxing, QuickLook. Cross-platform isn't on the roadmap. If you switch between Mac, Windows, and Linux, Obsidian (or Logseq) is the right answer.
- You've built a plugin stack you love. If your daily Obsidian setup uses Dataview queries, custom CSS themes, and 15 plugins you've configured perfectly — you'd lose that. Eyrie's design philosophy is "the right tools, built in" rather than "any tool, you assemble it." If assembly is the fun part for you, stay.
- You don't want AI near your notes. Eyrie can be used as a regular Markdown editor with the AI features turned off, and we honor that — but the product is designed around AI being there. If "AI in my notes app" makes you uneasy, that's a real signal. We'd rather you stay with a tool that matches your philosophy.
Migrating from Obsidian to Eyrie in 5 minutes.
If you've decided to switch, the move is genuinely fast because both apps store the same Markdown files. There's no export step.
- Download Eyrie and install it.
- Open your existing Obsidian vault folder in Eyrie. Don't move it. Eyrie reads the same files in place.
- Eyrie indexes the vault on first open (a few seconds for a thousand notes). Backlinks, tags, and wikilinks light up immediately.
- If you want AI features, open Settings → MCP or Settings → AI Key, paste your Anthropic or OpenAI key, or hit the "Install in Claude Desktop" button.
- Keep Obsidian installed for a week. Use both. You'll know which one feels right by Friday.
Your notes never get touched, modified, or copied during this. Both apps can read the same vault simultaneously without conflict because Markdown files don't lock.
14 days free. No signup. No credit card.
Open your existing vault in Eyrie. Decide for yourself.
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