Comparing Logseq and Obsidian 

Logseq is free to use and sync in all device.

@@vaevictis3905 true but to my knowledge doesn't have offline functions...

@@DannyHatcherTech I love Obsidian too, but now Logseq with the beta android app is more then enough for me. ✌️ Love your vids tho! 😉

@@DannyHatcherTech Eh? What have I missed here? Logseq is mainly an application to be used offline. There's a browser version, but that can access local data.

If you embed blocks the child blocks are not visible in obsidian

Thanks Steve, there is science behind it which is one of the reasons I changed, alongside them being fun to make 😁 Will be sharing the educational science behind the decision in an upcoming video at some point.

True! Very entertaining.

It's insufferable.

The feature isn't unique I don't think, but see it in logseq I am unsure about.

I kind of like that Logseq won't let you have folders haha. They say logseq forces you to work in a particular way where as Obsidian is more flexible.

Don't know 🤷‍♂️

Not sure why as they are very similar in feature set, but we are all different

because logseq doesnt use folder

​@@MuhammadArnaldobut you also don't need to use folders in your Obsidian Vault. You van even disable the core folder plugin if you want to

Ah thankyou! I couldn't find anything in the discord about it 😁

Thank you for this, I was about to comment I cannot live without aliases 😅

That workflow does make sense! The fact they are both markdown is massive.

@@DannyHatcherTech that it is! 👍

How do you get rid of bullet points from Lq when you open the file in Obsidian?

@@goranstoja you either manually remove each or use the hotkey. Highlight all sentences and push the hotkey 😁

@@goranstoja I haven't really found a way to do that, to be honest!

Interesting perspective. Tha ks for sharing. They were a big question for me until I realised I didn't need any. I only use 4 because of really specific things.

This was my biggest appeal. Love obsidian but Logseq interests me because quite a few of the features I like are integrated in the core app without the use of plugins.

@@CCV334 I don't think community plugins are needed at all to work in Obsidian. The core plugins give you flexibility but again not all are needed.

@@DannyHatcherTech Some of these "core plugins" were community plugins one time =) It's really cool, that community can develop such natural things for app.

can't agree more

Very good points. Tasks in the notes app, logseq is certainly more useful! Queries have never found a place in my workflow 🤷‍♂️ Thanks for sharing your thoughts 😁

this may be a dumb question but what do you use queries for? what's their function?

They are essentially filtered searches. 😁

There's often some layout / organizational element (ex: show specific attributes of the results in a table), but yep they are effectively filtered searches.

Yeah, exactly the reason I went for it. Just mimics how I feel to start with, then a couple days later....

As far as I know, the developers of logsec are already working on a pro version.

I am not in that situation so can't comment much apart from my belief in that you should pick the tool that works for you 🤷‍♂️😁

How can they enforce these license requirements though?

Aha I feel you. The beginning of this video was me when I first heard about the tool 😅

@@DannyHatcherTech I need your advice on managing PDFs in Obsidian. As part of my work, I have to read and store research reports and docs and I just store each research pdf on its own note while the attachments live in their own folder. This feels highly inefficient way of doing this.

@@spoiledsponge4511 That sounds similar to me. I have a page in obsidian for my notes from the PDF and then store the PDF in a folder that is in the vault so I can open the pDF in obsidian if I want. Most of my PDF work is in adobe acrobat so it more there for a quick check rather than work. My obsidian publish shows it in the summary pages.

@@DannyHatcherTech Thanks for sharing. I think I would have eventually arrived at this solution but it's good not having to reinvent the wheel. Thanks for sharing. Really appreciate it.

@@spoiledsponge4511 took me a while to figure it out but it gives me all the features I want from obsidian and the storage of my PDFs.

Everyone has their preferences 😁

Short and snappy this one. I personally like to keep them in one place as much as I can but everyone works different.

This sounds perfect for you. My workflow sounds very different as all the positives you bring up are negatives to me 😅 I only use a couple of community plugins, the core plugins I see as setting options 🤷‍♂️

- yes block refrencing is still good for logseq(but the way to create block reference is better in obsidian according to me) -there is a(like 3 plugins depending on your need) plugin for task management(very good one) -what's wrong with having different plugins for different functionality you can have any one when you need it you don't need all of them. It's like making your own system and not having anyone to send you a prebuilt system -Obsidian also has a tabs plugin(tip download pane relief to quickly switch between tabs with just a hotkey very quick and swappy) - also there are many css which you might like better like masonry mode. -obsidian has almost negligible issues(and I think none for you to be bothered and if exists then tell it we will get it sorted) - can be done in obsidian you can open as many graphs you want. - I think obsidian will also work on it but this time logseq will win creating it first - the pdf is the feature which has forced me go to try logseq again 5 times(yes there are plugins in obsidian for that also but, the logseq one is better) Both of them are great apps, and I think if logseq would be more stable it must have been better. 👍

@@lakshaymission548 Great comparison! Pane relief plugin and plugins for task management were what I needed. You are almost convinced me to switch 😄. At least I will try Obsidian again considering your comment 👍🏻👍🏻.

Wait, the Russian Cyrillic problem was on obsidian or loqseq?

Certainly, stick with something that works for you!

When you say outliner I assume you refer to mouse drag and drop features?

@@DannyHatcherTech, sorry, I’m referring to bullet pages, which yes can be dragged up and down in a section.

@@MacAutomationTips ah, I use keyboard shortcuts to move points up and down. I don't use bullets all the time but do the same with them.

@@DannyHatcherTech , yeah the bullets remind me not to use Logsec for long form writing. I also use the keyboard shortcuts but when my hand is already on my trackpad, I use the drag function. I also tried Obsidian about year or so go, but I felt too cluttered. I'm going to stick with Logsec for a while. The journal feature is great for fleeting notes and program on projects.

@@MacAutomationTips stick with what works !

Yep, my life sometimes when I find a new shiny thing aha.

Not sure what you need to trust as all files are local? I am also unclear what you mean by 'where to import md files'

I agree. Being block based has some pro's but for me there are too many con's 🤷‍♂️

Completely agreed!

Yeah it is much better now. Been 2 weeks since surgery 😁 Logseq is a great tool and it will always come down to personal preference 😅

I assume you are referring to the spaced reptition plugin which has made massive strides since this video was made.

@@DannyHatcherTech don't get me wrong, I wasn't criticizing your video, but the difference now in flashcards support 😊

I am curious what you mean by work?

@@DannyHatcherTech I mean literally using it at work for work related content. Company's, clients, co-workers, project management, ect.

@@jeroenophetweb5891 ah I'm with you, makes total sense and I would do the same thing.

@@jeroenophetweb5891 I want to use logseq at work too, but I am very concerned about data privacy. Can you please provide details on why it is safe to use logseq at work?

Privacy is something I am not familiar with apart from local files as I work from home. I will leave it to those that know 😁

I am now using Morgen instead of todoist but similar function. All sources are in obsidian except pdf articles which are in zotero.

😁

Glad I could shed some light on the comparison 😁

Glad you enjoyed it. I love talking to myself 😅

As I don't use logseq I am not sure - sorry.

Thanks for such a great comment. I did notice you mentioned the assests folder. You can have images go to that folder in Obsidian by default in the files & links settings. The core of Obsidian is adding features that remove the need for community plugins but adding a community plugin isn't the end of the world of course. Many of the community plugins go beyond what Obsidian could do on it's own due to development power. 🤷‍♂

@@DannyHatcherTech Hi Danny, thanks for response. As you have tried both and are firmly in the Obsidian camp, that’s your preference. I think both programs have their strengths and weaknesses. Using Logsec for one day had a couple of features I enjoyed that seemed to solve some of the irritating things of Obsidian. One that I did not mention before was spellcheck inbuilt in core of Logsec, and I was having difficulty in getting the plugin to work in Obsidian. I've decided to fence sit at this point and am building a Folder/Vault that I'm linking both Logsec and Obsidian to. I'll have to change some of the methods I use in Obsidian to make that work but I think that both programs have their strengths so worth seeing if using them combined works or if it makes one shine out over the other. I may re-post later here after I've tried. I do find it interesting that 2 completely different programs of a similar nature can integrate at all, I suppose that is the beauty of the markdown filetype and the graph database backend. As long as the coding syntax does not clash too much then you can use both. I've got to setup 2 hotkeys one for Obsidian and one for Logsec so that I open the appropriate program to work on a note. One thing I liked in Obsidian was the folder subdirectories to order my files, which Logsec doesn't have on first glance, so I need to do a refresh on the database to find those files in subdirectories (or maybe not use subdirectories?). An ongoing learning experience. Thanks for your video, it has prompted me to explore the two programs more thoroughly. kind regards

Totally understandable. As someone in my notes app most hours of the day I have had plenty of time to fiddle 😆

Could you be more specific with your thoughts? The backlinks in Obsidian are shown with minimal or maximum context wherever you want. I don't see how that makes it a mess. Maybe we are linking in different ways, but I don't see anything that logseq can link which Obsidian can't so am unsure where you uses come from.

I don't know but you can bulk delete files so know you can in the file plugin (core).

I am not familiar with the commercial licensing. Not sure why you need/dont need a license for commercial use.

I wouldnt want everyone to agree. Glad you found it enjoyable 😁

Sounds good to me.

No. I think tools on tech would be a better person to ask.

there a couple zoom is the one I was referring to hear.

That is correct. In the Obsidian discord there is lots of discussion about the source code and developer tools etc for community plugins but I don't know enough to comment to much 😁

Great comment and I 👍

@@DannyHatcherTech Sidenote: I've used zim-wiki for the past few years. Hope there'll soon be a dedicated import option for obsidian. - Discovered obsidian only about one week ago and was totally blown away.

@@mechadense not heard of zim wiki before. The obsidian Community probably have a solution. If you can change the file type to md your gold 😁

@@DannyHatcherTech Only advantage of zim-wiki over obsidian is that it's open source. Otherwise it's inferior on many fronts. Zim does have an md export option (says pandoc md). But it's somewhat different from obsidians md format it seems judging from my first try. Maybe I try going over html, or I wait, or I try writing a converter myself worst case.

@@mechadense I use pandoc to turn md files to docx files so I would imagine there is a transfer that works there somewhere.

I think Bas spoke about Org mode in the recent live stream. Is that the new edit like text option?

RemNote to my knowledge is similar to Logseq with better flashcards. Obsidian beats both for most my use cases. 😁

Awesome 👌

Thanks 😁

I am biased, but I think Obsidian has more features, a larger community of support and more flexibiility when it comes to uses for the tool. Especially with the semi-recent addition of canvas.

@@DannyHatcherTech I think I figured some stuff about Obsidian so I can actually start using it, and I found out that Logseq and Obsidian can be used at the same time on the same vault thing, so I will be trying to use both interchangeably to see what I am more comfortable with

@@gravityshark580 sounds good. The apps use different languages so some things wont transfer directly but all basic text will. A vault is just the main folder in Obsidian.

Yeah, I use the mobile app everyday

Loqseq Android is in beta already. Open source over closed source anyday

Thank you

😁🧡

When you say load slowly are you referring to the cache load screen or the syncing load? Obsidian needs to have the files 'loaded' so it can search appropriately. I have tested vaults with 100,000+ files with ~10,000 words in each with no issues.

@@DannyHatcherTech Yes, l am referring to the cache load screen, which takes around 15 seconds to load. I understand that this may not be considered slow for some users, but it is adding friction to my note-taking process. I also wanted to try out Obsidian Sync for those +35k files, but I was taking a long time to sync, so I stopped that for the meantime.

@@jorge210594 hmm, might be worth asking in the discord about it. I know it can take a couple seconds but 15 is longer than I have experienced.

@@DannyHatcherTech Thanks for the recommendation. Those 100k vaults you have work with only take around 2 seconds to load?

@@jorge210594 I haven't tested it recently. It is a test vault, my actual vault isn't that large.

Thankyou 😁

Not sure what you mean by Obsidian stealing notes as notes are local storage for both. The only way Obsidian can change your notes without you is a community plugin which you allow access by turning off safe mode, or sync which the developers don't have access to. Logseq and Obsidian are not entirely compatible when updates are pushed by either side so it could be conflict there but all community plugins have limitations as they don't stay up to date with the core version often. I can't say much more on that but the benefits for Obsidian far outweight the benefits of Logseq for me.

Copying and reading your notes is probably the more apt term. They are suggesting that because Obsidian isn't open source that there is no guarantee that they're not sending and reading the notes you make over the net. Whether that as a potential privacy issue matters is up to the individual.

Wouldn't that require an upload of some kind which is either through sync/remote pushing of files...

@@DannyHatcherTech Not sure what you mean but Obsidian has plugin system. Once the plugin is installed, it is very easy for it to pull any payloads. If you look at the AppImage, it is running without any restrictions, as far as I can tell.

@@codingblues3181 that is the community plugins, which you don't have to use. There is Internet fetching for features but nothing out of the ordinary for an app from what I can tell. The othe community plugins are checked by the Obsidian team.

Thankyou 😁

I am not sure if Open source is a good thing or not. it seems to make development challenging as the tool grows with different developers starting and stopping.

@@DannyHatcherTech Good point. This is my first day using logseq I use emacs and obsidian. Not as intuitive as obsidian. Will have to mess with it more later to figure things out, for now going back to emacs. I was looking for a good knowledge based app that supports org files. Logseq looks promising. Thanks for the video.

​@@DannyHatcherTech But Obsidian is built, a lot, around plugins, so is not the same at the end ? But it's a nice way to learn more about javascript. I've already started today (again). Notion has an advantage in the achievement of tools. e.g around markdown. And that's doing a lot of hidden enhancements. In obsidian this is quite a mess and you spend a lot of time. It reminds me Blender 3D, which is open source. the system of shortcuts in Obsidian is excellent. I will try to do a plugin to put together all the main operation on markdowns under ctr [1-9] and shift ctrl [1-9]. Maybe in few months.... for the moment I could do it with 2 plugins and a lot of tricky manipulations.

I use 2 plugins, maybe 3 in future. 1 I rarely use. Most my use cases are in the native app.

@@rytif I use lots of community plugins now but my main use is all core plugins. There is no crux community plugin for me. They just help here and there.

Glad I could help!

Thankyou. Shorter than normal but still included everything

Backlinking is done in the same way to my knowledge, and I don't like block referencing at all so the logseq referencing doesn't aid my workflow at all. That is me though.

There are a few different options. I use Zotero for my PDF management and use the Zotero integration plugin to import highlights. The annotator plugin does a good job inside the app.

@@DannyHatcherTech thanks I was expecting a quick reply from you. I do use Zotero for my academic papers. I had some trouble with annotator plug-in. May be you can share a video of yours. Request to make a detailed video for markmind plugin. It is paid but the fee is nominal

@@DannyHatcherTech Once you store a lot of PDFs on Zotero you will need to pay for it. Is there a work around. Or do you recommend to take monthly subscription of Zotero

@@DannyHatcherTech I still hope some day there will be a plugin for cross compatibility and I will be able to use both tools. Hoping a markmind detailed video from you soon. Thanks a lot

@@DrPuneetGupta there are some plugins working on that, I shared one recetly in a recap (cant remeber the name right now - note share maybe)

All apps work, just in different ways. I stuck with Obsidian due to the community, developers and customization.

@@DannyHatcherTech So far the app I've been able to get the most flow in my writing is Obsidian, but I've found Logseq to be quite interesting. It took me a while to begin to feel comfortable building my ideas in Obsidian in a way I never did in Notion or any other app, but what attracts me most about Logseq are the easy plugins. I found Obsidian's plugins very confusing.

@@thaissacosta2884 I don't use the plugins in obsidian, what do you want?

@@DannyHatcherTech I wanted to use the Hypothesis plugin in Logseq and on the Obsidian plugins page I didn't see anything like it. I'm not going to judge Obsidian's plugin area too much because I'm starting to look more into it now and for now I'm a very basic user.

@@DannyHatcherTech I have some folders in Obsidian and not just documents, this is the point that is stopping me from really trying to use Logseq. I guess I need to think that there will always be many apps for notes and I don't need more than one.