There are many ways to keep an Obsidian vault in step across your devices: Obsidian's own service, independent services like Nodra and Synch, plugins that use storage you already have, peer-to-peer tools, cloud drives and Git. This page puts ten of them side by side on what usually decides the choice: price, storage, encryption, web access, mobile, version history, setup effort and whether you can run it yourself.
We make Nodra, so read this as a vendor's comparison, written to be checked. Every fact about another product comes from that product's own page, linked in its row, and was verified on 3 October 2026. Where a page did not state something, the cell says — and a note explains why. Prices change; follow the links before you decide.
The comparison
The table scrolls sideways on small screens. "Client-side encryption" means your notes are encrypted before they leave your device, with keys the provider does not have.
| Option | Price | Storage | Client-side encryption | Web access | Mobile | Version history | Setup effort | Open source and self-hosting | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nodra | Free: €0. Pro: €58.99 a year or €5.99 a month. Max: €118.99 a year or €11.99 a month. Euro prices include VAT; elsewhere, the same figures in US dollars plus tax. Paid plans open soon. | 500 MB, 10 GB or 100 GB by plan. Files up to 10 MiB on Free, 64 MiB on Pro and Max. | Managed (default): in transit and at rest, and Nodra can read your notes. Private mode: end-to-end encrypted, on every plan. | Yes, a web editor at app.nodranotes.com. Canvas files open read-only. | No. Desktop plugin only, and no app for iPhone or Android yet. | 7, 90 or 365 days by plan. | Low. Install the plugin from its GitHub release and sign in. | No. The plugin's own code is MIT licensed, but it bundles Nodra's sync and encryption libraries, which are not open source. No self-hosting. | Plans. |
| Obsidian Sync Standard | $4 USD per user, per month, billed annually, or $5 USD billed monthly. | 1 GB. Files up to 5 MB. 1 vault. | Yes, on by default. Optionally, standard encryption managed by Obsidian. | —1 | Yes, iOS and Android. | 1 month. | Low. Built into Obsidian. | No. | obsidian.md/sync, plans, security, verified 2026-10-03. |
| Obsidian Sync Plus | $8 USD per user, per month, billed annually, or $10 USD billed monthly. | 10 GB, upgradable to 100 GB. Files up to 200 MB. 10 vaults. | Yes, on by default. Optionally, standard encryption managed by Obsidian. | —1 | Yes, iOS and Android. | 12 months. | Low. Built into Obsidian. | No. | obsidian.md/sync, plans, history, verified 2026-10-03. |
| Synch | Sync Free: $0. Sync Starter: $12 USD a year, or $1 USD billed monthly. Sync Plus: $9 USD billed monthly. | 30 MB, 1 GB or 15 GB by plan. Files up to 3 MB, 5 MB or 100 MB. | Yes. Notes are encrypted locally before they leave your device. | —1 | —2 | 1 day, 1 month or 1 year by plan. | Low for the hosted service; higher if you host it. | Yes, open source. Self-host on Cloudflare or on your own hardware. | synch.run, pricing, verified 2026-10-03. |
| Remotely Save | Open-source core, no licence fee. Paid PRO features: price —3 | Storage you bring: S3-compatible, Dropbox, WebDAV or OneDrive, more with PRO. | Optional, with a password you set. | —1 | Yes. Its README says Obsidian Mobile is fully supported. | —2 | Medium. Set up a storage backend. | Core is open source (Apache-2.0); the PRO part is source-available. Uses storage you choose. | GitHub README, verified 2026-10-03. |
| Self-hosted LiveSync | Open source, no licence fee. You pay for your server or storage. | Your own CouchDB or S3-compatible storage, or peer-to-peer. | Supported. Whether it is on by default: —2 | —1 | Yes, on every platform Obsidian runs on. | —2 | High. Run and secure a database or object storage. | Yes, MIT licensed and self-hosted. | GitHub README, verified 2026-10-03. |
| Syncthing | Open source. The site lists no price. | Your own devices. No cloud copy. | Traffic between your devices is encrypted with TLS. | —1 | Not on iOS from the Syncthing project, and its official Android app was discontinued in December 2024. | —2 | Medium. Install it on every device and pair them. | Yes. Peer-to-peer, no server needed. | syncthing.net, FAQ, Android repository, verified 2026-10-03. |
| iCloud Drive | 5 GB free; 50 GB for $0.99 USD monthly in the US. | 5 GB free. | Optional, with Advanced Data Protection. By default Apple holds the keys. | —1 | Yes on iOS, per Obsidian's help. | —2 | Low on Apple devices. Obsidian warns that iCloud Drive on Windows may duplicate or corrupt files. | No. | Apple storage, Apple data protection, Obsidian help, verified 2026-10-03. |
| Google Drive | 15 GB free; 100 GB for €1.99 EUR monthly. | 15 GB free. | —2 | —1 | Not officially supported on iOS, per Obsidian's help. | —2 | Low on a computer. | No. | Google One plans, Obsidian help, verified 2026-10-03. |
| Dropbox | Basic: free. Plus: €9.99 EUR monthly. | 2 GB on Basic; 2 TB on Plus. | —2 | —1 | Not officially supported on iOS, per Obsidian's help. | —2 | Low on a computer. | No. | Dropbox plans, Obsidian help, verified 2026-10-03. |
| Git with the Obsidian Git plugin | Open source, no licence fee. Your Git host may charge. | Your Git host's limits. | No extra encryption. Notes sit in the repository as plain text. | As plain text, in your Git host's web editor. | Its README calls mobile support very unstable. | Full Git history. | High. Git, a repository, and pulling and pushing changes. | Yes, MIT licensed. Works with any Git server, including your own. | GitHub README, verified 2026-10-03. |
- The provider's page we checked does not mention a web editor for your notes.
- The provider's page we checked does not state this.
- The README describes the paid PRO features but gives no price.
Where others are better than Nodra
- Mobile. Obsidian Sync, Remotely Save and Self-hosted LiveSync work in Obsidian on iPhone and Android. Nodra doesn't yet: its plugin runs only in Obsidian on desktop.
- Official support. Obsidian Sync is made by Obsidian's own developers and built into the app. Nodra is independent and not affiliated with Obsidian.
- Vaults for several people. Obsidian Sync supports shared vaults on both plans; Nodra doesn't.
- Open source and self-hosting. Synch, Self-hosted LiveSync, Syncthing and Obsidian Git are open source and can run on your own hardware, and Remotely Save's core is open source. Nodra is neither.
- Bigger files. Obsidian Sync Plus takes files up to 200 MB and Synch Plus up to 100 MB. Nodra's limit is 64 MiB on its paid plans.
- Small vaults on a budget. Syncthing and Obsidian Git cost nothing beyond your own devices or Git host, Synch Starter is $12 USD a year for 1 GB, and the free tiers of iCloud (5 GB) and Google (15 GB) hold more than Nodra Free's 500 MB.
- Available today. Paid plans open soon. Until then, Nodra is limited to its Free plan: one vault and 500 MB.
Where Nodra fits
Nodra is built for one situation: you keep your vault in Obsidian on your computers and also want to read and edit it in a browser, on a work computer, a Chromebook or a borrowed laptop, with the changes syncing back. Of the options above, it is the one whose main feature is a full web editor for the vault: live preview, wikilinks, tags, backlinks and search at app.nodranotes.com, with Canvas files read-only.
- Every account starts in Managed mode: encrypted in transit and at rest, recoverable by email, and Nodra's server keeps an escrow of your keys, so it can read your notes.
- Private mode is end-to-end encrypted and on every plan, Free included.
- Edits that don't overlap are merged; when they do, Nodra keeps a conflict copy instead of writing conflict markers into your note.
Getting started shows the setup, How Nodra protects your notes explains the two modes, and Obsidian in a browser compares the other ways to reach a vault from a browser.
Use one sync per vault
Whatever you choose, sync each vault folder with one tool. Obsidian's help warns against syncing the same vault through two services at once, and Nodra refuses to start when it finds signs of another sync on the folder: two tools take each other's copies for your edits and create duplicates and conflicts. To move from one to another, turn the old one off for that folder first.
How we compared
Each row was read from the provider's own pricing page, documentation or README on 3 October 2026, and each row links its sources. Prices are shown as the provider states them, in its currency. A — means the page we checked did not state that fact; we did not fill it from memory or from third-party reviews. If something here is out of date, write to legal@nodranotes.com and we will correct it.