How to use Obsidian in a browser: every option compared (2026)

Obsidian is an app you install: its own pages list Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android, and no web version. So when you need your notes on a work computer, a Chromebook or a borrowed laptop, you have to bring the vault to the browser some other way. There are five ways to do it, and they differ a lot in what you can do, how much setup they take and who can read your notes.

This guide compares all of them honestly. We make Nodra, one of the options, so we say where it fits and where something else fits better. Every fact about another product links to that product's own page, and was checked on 3 October 2026.

The short answer

• To read and edit your vault in a browser and have the changes land back in Obsidian: use a sync service with a web editor, such as Nodra or Quilden.
• To run the real Obsidian, plugins and all, in a browser: self-host it in Docker, if you can run and secure a server.
• To let people read your notes on the web: publish them with Obsidian Publish, Quartz or Digital Garden. You can't edit them there.
• If your vault is already in Git: edit the Markdown files on GitHub or GitLab in the browser.
• If your own computer stays on at home: reach it through remote desktop.

Every option at a glance

1. Quilden's own site, quilden.com, shows nothing without running its web app, so its row relies on its author's announcement on the Obsidian forum.
2. The Chrome Remote Desktop pages we read do not state a price.

Option 1: a sync service with a web editor

This is the only kind of option that gives you an Obsidian web app in the everyday sense: you open a website, sign in, read and edit your notes, and the edits sync back to Obsidian on your computer. Nothing is installed on the computer in front of you. It suits a work computer or a Chromebook best.

Nodra

Nodra is a sync service with its own web app. You install the Nodra plugin in Obsidian on a Windows, macOS or Linux computer, and your vault syncs both ways. Then you open it at app.nodranotes.com in Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari, with live preview, wikilinks, tags, frontmatter, backlinks, local search, tables, images and callouts.

Its limits, plainly:

• The plugin runs only in Obsidian on desktop. There is no Nodra app for iPhone or Android yet, and the plugin does not run in Obsidian on a phone.
• The web app is Nodra's own editor, not Obsidian: your Obsidian plugins and themes don't run there, and Canvas files open read-only.
• The plugin is not yet in Obsidian's Community plugins directory; you install it from its GitHub release.
• Paid plans open soon. Until then everyone is on Free: one vault, 500 MB.
• Every account starts in Managed mode, where Nodra's server keeps an escrow of your keys and can read your notes. Turn on Private mode for end-to-end encryption, on any plan.

Getting started with Nodra walks through the setup, and How Nodra protects your notes explains the two modes.

Quilden

Quilden is a newer plugin that, according to its author's announcement on the Obsidian forum, syncs a vault through GitHub with client-side encryption, keeps per-file and whole-vault history through Git, and includes a web editor for computers where you can't install software. We could not read the details on its own site, so check them there before you rely on it.

Option 2: run Obsidian itself in Docker

If you want the real Obsidian in a browser, with your plugins and themes, you can run the desktop app on a server and stream it to a browser tab. The best-known way is the linuxserver/obsidian image, which streams the app over the web on ports 3000 (HTTP) and 3001 (HTTPS).

• Pros: it is Obsidian, so everything works as on your desktop; you control the server; the image is open source.
• Cons: you need a server that is always on; the image's own documentation warns that the container has privileged access to the host and must not be exposed to the internet unless you have secured it, and it has no login unless you configure one; streaming a desktop app feels slower than a web page; and the vault on the server still needs its own sync with your other devices.

It is a good fit for people who already run a home server. For anyone else it is a lot of upkeep for a note-taking app.

Option 3: publish your notes as a read-only website

Publishing turns notes into a website that anyone with the link can read. It is the right tool to make a knowledge base or a digital garden public, and the wrong one to edit your vault from a work computer, because none of these let you edit in the browser.

• Obsidian Publish is Obsidian's official service: $8 USD per site, per month, billed annually, with optional password protection.
• Quartz is a free, open-source static site generator that turns Markdown into a website you host yourself.
• Digital Garden is a free, open-source plugin that publishes selected notes to Netlify, Vercel or GitHub Pages.

Option 4: edit the Markdown files on GitHub or GitLab

If you already back up your vault to a Git repository, for example with the Obsidian Git plugin, you can open that repository in a browser and edit the Markdown files there. On GitHub, press the period key on a repository to open github.dev; GitLab has its Web IDE.

• Pros: free, nothing new to sign up for, and full version history through Git.
• Cons: it is a code editor, not a notes app: no live preview of wikilinks, no backlinks, no graph. Your notes sit in the repository as plain text. Each edit is a commit that Obsidian only sees after it pulls, and two edits to the same note can end in a merge conflict you resolve by hand.

Option 5: remote desktop into a computer that runs Obsidian

A remote-desktop tool such as Chrome Remote Desktop shows your own computer in a browser tab, with Obsidian open on it. Nothing to sync and nothing to configure in Obsidian.

• Pros: the real Obsidian with your real vault; quick to set up.
• Cons: the computer at home must stay on and online; typing over a remote connection lags; and many workplaces block remote-desktop tools or forbid them by policy, which is exactly where you would need it.

Which should you choose?

On a work computer

You usually can't install software, and remote-desktop tools are often blocked. A sync service with a web editor is the most practical way to use your Obsidian vault on a work computer: sign in, edit, and remove the browser from your devices when you leave. Check your employer's policy before you open personal notes there, and prefer a mode in which the service can't read your notes if they are sensitive: with Nodra, that is Private mode.

On a Chromebook

A web editor works in Chrome as on any other computer. Nodra's web app works there, but the Nodra plugin needs Obsidian desktop on Windows, macOS or Linux, so the vault has to be syncing from such a computer first.

If privacy comes first

Choose an option in which your notes are encrypted before they leave your devices, with keys the provider never gets. With Nodra that means turning on Private mode, and you then look after an Encryption Password, a Secret Key and a Recovery Kit. Self-hosting in Docker keeps everything on your own server, but only if you secure that server well. Publishing is the opposite of private.

If you already self-host

The linuxserver/obsidian image gives you the real Obsidian with your plugins, under your control. Pair it with a self-hosted sync such as Self-hosted LiveSync or Syncthing so the vault on the server matches your other devices; our comparison of Obsidian sync options covers them.

If you only need to read

Publishing is simplest when the notes can be public. For private notes you only read, any of the editing options above works too.

FAQ

Is there an official Obsidian web app?

No. Obsidian's own pages list apps for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android and do not offer a web version. Obsidian Publish puts notes on the web, read-only.

How do I open my Obsidian vault online?

Sync it with a service that has a web editor and sign in to that service in the browser. With Nodra: install the plugin in Obsidian on your computer, connect the vault, then sign in at app.nodranotes.com and trust the browser.

Do my Obsidian plugins work in the browser?

Only if you run Obsidian itself, in Docker or over remote desktop. Web editors such as Nodra's are separate apps and do not run Obsidian plugins.

Can I use Obsidian on a work computer without installing anything?

Yes, through a web editor: your vault opens in the browser, and the computer keeps nothing installed. Bear in mind that a browser you sign in to keeps a copy of what it downloads, so use only computers you are allowed to keep your notes on.

Is it safe to open my notes on someone else's computer?

Only as safe as that computer. Malware on it can read whatever the browser shows. Use computers you trust, and remove the browser from your devices when you are done; with Nodra, that stops its sync at once, though what it already downloaded stays on it.

Can I edit my vault in a phone browser?

Nodra has no app for iPhone or Android yet, and its web app has not been tested in every mobile browser. If you mostly edit on a phone, the usual route is not a browser but Obsidian's own mobile apps, with a sync service that supports them.