Both keep your notes as plain .md files on your own disk — so local-first isn’t the difference. The difference is what you do with them: a clean document you just open and write in, versus a power tool you build a knowledge system inside.
No tool is best at everything. If these matter most to you, Obsidian may be the better choice.
Graph view, backlinks, dataview, hundreds of community plugins. If you want to build a personal knowledge base, Obsidian’s extensibility is unmatched — and that’s not what Pinrom is trying to be.
Obsidian ships polished iOS and Android apps now. Pinrom is desktop-first, with iPad the next target — so on phones, Obsidian is simply further along.
Themes, templates, tutorials and a devoted base built up over years. That depth is real, and worth crediting.
| Pinrom Docs | Obsidian | |
|---|---|---|
| Format as you type (true WYSIWYG) | ✓ | ~ live preview, still markup-ish |
| Files stay as .md on your disk | ✓ | ✓ table stakes for both |
| Works with zero setup | ✓ | ~ plugins & config to get going |
| Private sharing built in | ✓ private, revocable | ✕ Publish is a paid add-on |
| Rich paste from Docs / Word / AI | ✓ | ~ |
| Plugin / extension ecosystem | ✕ deliberately simple | ✓ |
| Graph, backlinks, knowledge-base tools | ✕ not the goal | ✓ |
| Mobile apps | ~ iPad next | ✓ |
| Price | Free | Free personal · paid for commercial / Publish / Sync |
Both tools keep your notes as plain files on disk — so that’s not where they part ways. Pinrom Docs is a document you just open and write in, the way Google Docs is, with private sharing built in. Obsidian is a power tool for building a knowledge system, and it rewards the hours you invest configuring it.
If you want a personal knowledge base, Obsidian is the better tool. If you want a clean doc that happens to be a .md file you own — and a link you can send in one tap, no account needed on the reading end — that’s Pinrom.
Building a knowledge base with backlinks and plugins? Obsidian is the better fit — and it’s also just a folder of .md files, so you can try Pinrom on the very same files with nothing to lose.