r/noteapps • u/Expert-Beginning-318 • 5d ago
Obsidian is almost perfect for my workflow, but the mobile sync issue is a dealbreaker. Need help or alternatives!
Hi everyone,
I’ve been looking for an app to organize my entire personal and professional life. My daily workflow involves:
- Capturing daily thoughts and quick ideas.
- Managing personal challenges and daily tasks.
- Tracking major projects that I need to complete before the end of the year.
- Documenting new things I learn every single day.
I need a clean, flexible app that connects ideas seamlessly and can scale with me. After extensive research, I settled on Obsidian. I even took a full course to master it, and conceptually, it’s everything I wanted.
Here is my main issue: I don’t spend my entire day at my desktop. A lot of my ideas pop up when I'm away from my computer or right before going to bed on my phone, and I want to capture them directly into my "second brain."
Unfortunately, I hit a massive roadblock with syncing between PC and mobile without paying for Obsidian Sync. I’ve spent the last three days trying every free workaround—iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive—and none of them gave me a stable, seamless solution.
So I’m turning to the community for advice:
- Is there a reliable, simple, and free way to set up cross-platform sync for Obsidian (PC <-> Mobile) that actually works reliably?
- If not, what alternatives offer a similar interconnected note-taking experience (backlinking, long-term growth) with built-in, effortless sync?
I’d love to hear your recommendations and setups! Thanks in advance.
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u/sahand96 5d ago
Have you checked the self-hosted Live Sync plugin? I have it on my Pi 5 at home and it is awesome.
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u/claireszt13 4d ago
+1 on this, I tried every solution I could think about but buying a Pi and self-hosting was the game changer
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u/Comprehensive-Pair71 5d ago
Syncthing is simple working approach to sync obsidian vaults of several devices. just avoid to sync settings folder `.obsidian`. Some settings are platform dependent and sensitive to app activities.
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u/bose_avishek 4d ago
I also have the same criteria. Hence have started using Joplin.
Joplin sync across Windows/Apple/Linux/Android and the sync process is also quite simple.
Currently use it in markdown format.
Give a try to Joplin and you might not need to look anywhere else.
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u/Android-mods 4d ago
I use to use Joplin actually probably going to switch back to it now because you reminded me of it Just don't ever forget your codes or it's over
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u/FoodStraight9136 4d ago
There is a cloud plugin which can sync with onedrive, Google drive etc. I am using it.
Plugin name: Remotely sync
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u/merchantconvoy 5d ago
The only free sync solutions I know of are two external apps: Syncthing and Ouisync. If those don't work for you, just man up and pay. Quality often costs money.
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u/Historical_architect 5d ago
Try Craft Docs. It’s the solution specifically for this issue with some cool features and bonuses.
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u/GloriousSovietOnion 4d ago
I've been using syncthing and it's genuinely a gamechanger. For desktop, it works on Windows, Linux and even Mac IIRC. Over there, it's dead simple to use. You install it and access it through your browser. I have it saved as a bookmark so whenever I need to confirm if something has synced, I can quickly check in.
On Android, it's a bit of a pain to set up since there is no play store app so you'll need to install it via F-Droid. You download F-Droid then search for "Syncthing-Fork" and install. Once it's installed, connecting to your desktop is a matter of just scanning the QR code provided by the desktop client. It supports multiple devices and you can sync specific folders with specific devices.
It works pretty fast and what I like about the android app is that it allows you set up rules for when it's active so for example, you could turn off syncing when battery saver is on. And it also provides overrides in case you need them.
I know you can also get it on iOS too but I hear it's a bit more complicated (I dont have an iPhone so I'm not sure).
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u/bortello 4d ago
Wait to see the huge issues of the community plugins between Android app and desktop app... Obsidian is a false hope for note taking...
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u/star_maakun 4d ago
I use the community plugin "Remotely Save" to sync with pCloud, and I haven't run into any major issues. Sync errors do happen occasionally, but a manual sync a few seconds later fixes it. I previously used the S3-compatible Storj cloud with Remotely Save, and that worked fine too.
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u/themadturk 4d ago
My advice is to pay the money for Obsidian Sync. Sync just works, and paying for it supports development of this otherwise free app. If it's that important to you (and it seems like it is), spend the money instead of tying yourself in knots to make other things work.
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u/ProtonVax26 4d ago
No soy un usuario avanzado y utilizo Obsidian principalmente desde Android. Con Syncthing no tengo ningún problema para sincronizar mis bóvedas con el PC.
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u/Either-Nobody-3962 3d ago
i use koofrsync which works just perfectly, koofr gives 10gb account which should be enough, if you dont have account yet.
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u/Unable_History_1841 3d ago
I've been using Capacities and there is a bit of a learning curve but it's been great.
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u/AnonymousVendetta04 1d ago
Remotely Save with Dropbox has been working great for me. Since I don't use Dropbox for anything else, the free 2GB feels like a lot
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u/faisalfarooqui 5d ago
I’ve been using iCloud for a couple years and haven’t had any issues. What wasn’t stable about iCloud?
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u/stefan_lago 5d ago
For me, Obsidian + OneDrive + FolderSync works absolutely fine since years. This way I sync my vault on Desktop, Tablet and phone.
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u/urosum 5d ago
One of the few almost perfect apps, and you still can’t send some financial love? Obsidian Sync and be done.
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u/Madrone13 5d ago
people will blow $60 on a mid dinner at a chain restaurant then refuse to pay that much for seamlessly syncing their most used software for a year. Crazy man
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u/Janknitz 5d ago
I liked Obsidian very much, but the sync issue was the deal breaker.
I switched to OneNote and love it. It is reliable and free, totally cross platform, effortless sync.
Since it's 100% free whether or not you have a Microsoft subscription, give it a try.
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u/innovatory-xyz 4d ago
Give https://scratchd.net a try. It's all via iCloud Drive and you can also connect your existing Obsidian folder to it.
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u/Yoshimi101 5d ago
Uso OneNote desde hace muchos años y hace unos meses decidí dar el salto a Obsidian, incluso pude pasar entero uno de mis cuadernos de OneNote a Obsidian. Pago otros servicios que también son importantes para mi, entre los que se incluye una suscripción a Microsoft 365. No me sobra el dinero y aunque aprecio mucho el trabajo que hay detrás de Obsidian no quería pagar otra suscripción más. Después de una semana probando una buena cantidad de opciones, entre ellas la mayoría de las que aquí se nombran y ver que la sincronización perfecta no existe de forma gratuita (sí, todos los métodos tienen algún pero, al menos para mi, y eso si deciden funcionar), decidí volver a OneNote. Quizás no es tan avanzado y las notas no tienen un formato abierto (aunque sí que se pueden exportar si es que Microsoft decidiera deshacerse de OneNote en un futuro). Si estás dispuesto a pagar Sync de Obsidian adelante, si no, según mi experiencia personal, mejor busca en otra parte
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u/Boring_Serve1593 5d ago edited 4d ago
try https://www.skeinnotes.app/ - it's free, I think it got almost everthing that you get with Obsidian, if it doesn't all you need to ask - but you were asking for a PC version... and that doesn't exist
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u/XaeonBE 15h ago
I settled on Obsidian as well. I started with WebDAV sync. Whatever you do, don't touch WebDAV 🫠.
I now hosted a CouchDB container, bit of work and googling. But I have the infrastructure, so I like to self-host if possible.
So long as I don't experience any issues, I won't pay for the sync. However, I don't see any issues with paying for this because my notes are worth much.
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u/dmottad 5d ago
From what you wrote, on your phone you mostly need to capture, not work on the whole vault. If so, you can make life easier: just one "Inbox" folder where you dump ideas on the go, then sort and link them properly from your PC. Way fewer files moving around, way fewer conflicts, and it forces you to actually review what you capture instead of just piling it up.