Logseq vs Obsidian - Which to Choose? 

Logseq is completely open source. It means that if maintenance is dropped by the current people, other may fork it and my data will still be usable. For personal usage, this is what I need.

I actually use both. Logseq is my go-to app for my fleeting notes, planning and when I'm in research mode. When I'm ready to put those notes into my own words, that's when I switch to Obsidian... I also use Obsidian for my long-form writing.

I tried to use Obsidian, adding outliner and journaling plugins but it didn work because Obsidian doesn't work well with block units. In my Logseq's journal, I start a paragraph(a.k.a. block) for each client/team meeting during the day and write the name of the client/meeting on it (it automatically recognize the name and links it to my client's page), then I write indented bullets bellow for each comment or task. Latter on, I can go to the backlinks section in each client's page where I can see not only the journal's paragraphs lines with the links, but also all the child indented comments and tasks, and I can actually edit them there (This is called transclusion, i think). So i have an automated report by client, project, team or whatever just by looking at the backlinks. Obsidian doesn't inherit the paragraphs indented rows and you cannot edite them right there in the backlinks. That's a deal breaker for me. I wish Logseq had the beautiful UI of Obsidian or Roam or Capacities.

Absolutely fantastic video! Really helped me decided which I wanted to use, thank you!

I was almost converted to Logseq by the fact that it can do queries and annotate PDFs out of the box. And then I discovered that it doesn't adhere to Markdown standards as much as Obsidian does. That alone was unfortunately a deal breaker for me. Part of the whole point of using a markdown based system was that it's future proof and should Obsidian ever stop being developed, I can move my data to a different app. Even with Logseq having the advantage of being opensource, if the devs stop working on it and no one else picks it up, having non-standard markdown beneath it all is going to screw users over.

I’ve never heard of either of these things im not sure why I clicked on the video but you have such a calming voice I just ended up staying the whole way through!😭😭

Really glad that this video was in my recs. Please keep making videos, you're truly good at this! I've just recently switched from notion to obsidian and I'm still getting used to it. I read about logseq but never tried it, maybe I should

I used obsidian for ages and it worked well.... but never really felt seamless. I am a writer by occupation so I need short and long form writing. I tried moving my longform to Obsidian but the cost was a big factor. Finally settled my zettelkasten in Logseq after realising that I am a outliner note-taker by trade. Also - as I am neurodivergent while some plugins are nice, having unlimited customisation made me more focused on customising than note taking. It became overwhelming. I am also someone that uses emojis and colours. Logseq has an easier way to also handle metadata, querying and ways of displaying files. By that I mean even showing the folders at the side was annoying to scroll instead of just a basic search - without showing you all the files. I know features are still in Beta but as someone who primarily takes their laptop with them when they are 'doing writing' I know it serves my purpose. I outline in Logseq but when I am doing my actual article writing - I use Scrivener which is much easier to manage, store and add metadata that is there but not in your face and has so many buttons and whistles that it is distracting.

The most underrated feature is that you don't need to think where to put notes given the underlying calendar date, blocks and backlinking there is a record and that's really powerful. Don't make me think philosophy just works.

Thanks for making this

I'd love it if you could make a video comparing obsedian vs capacities? This was great

I had Obsidian for some time and struggled to even use it. It was just another note taking app with benefit of markdown. When I learned about LogSeq, I took off like a rocket from day one and it became among the most used and useful application I've ever used. With little bit of exaggeration I wonder, how could I had lived and work without it before 😊

Thanks for this. Interestingly, it convinced me that I’m best off sticking with Obsidian, which underscores your balanced comparison.

Love the work you have done on Logseq, best content on this topic on RU-vid. It's a pleasure sitting back and letting you pass your information on. Well done :) As a suggestion, I would really like to see a further in-depth video with examples specifically on how you go about categorising your pages and tags. For instance a way to keep things easily referencable after taking 6 months worth of notes from different meetings and different projects. Just a thought ! Otherwise keep up the great work

I mostly write wiki notes and configuration notes to remember how to do things and how I did things. For example, what is the command to restart a Unix daemon? Or, what options did I select when installing an application? That way if I need to do it again, I’ll remember my choices.

Nailed it! 🔨I liked your viewpoints and takeaways. I am thinking about using a hybrid of the two as well myself. LogSeq seems like a good replacement for burning one's eyeballs out in MS WordPad. 😂 And if it can run from an Obsidian folder (or vice versa who knows) it's a win-win for shifting personal data away from proprietary cloud notes. 💪

You're never going to find the perfect tool. You're going to use what's hot today and switch to what's hotter tomorrow. My biggest problem with content praising these tools is that the channels are 100% dedicated to them.

I have both on my computer to test i choose but logseq seems do laggy and sometimes does not responding for couple od seconds, like frozen. Anybody have this problem?

I tried Obsidian but I always come back to Logseq. I gravitate towards the time-stamping style of Logseq

I like your frank candid and balance summary of these 2 popular solutions logseq is open source, there for for me is the win but like you say, some folks might just prefer obsidian but it is not free for commercial use, so that is a deal breaker for me as I use it for integration into other systems, like CMS for web site and app creation the block edit with 'bullets' for everything took me by surprise when using logseq however I found you can highlight and export blocks as long prose very easily then it all fell into place using blocks like in this 'outliner' pattern starts to make prose like objects you can move about, which finally made it click for me and then use the plugin 'bullet threading' makes this a joy the lack of plugins for me is actually a win over obsidian as I keep these to a bare minimum as privacy and security is key for me

Thanks for this thoughtful video. I have been an Obsidian user for a while, but I dislike that it is closed source. Learning how Logseq is focused on outlining and is open source are two very compelling features for me.

Thanks for the recap Alan! As an OG of both apps, I agree. LogSeq's strongest feature is its daily journal. And it fits to write and let the app do the organizing for you. And for those who like to organize everything manually using tags and folders, Obsidian is best for you. What tips the scale for me is friction. There's too much friction to write in Obsidian's daily journal. And for me no matter how awesome Obsidian is (I, do, think it's awesome), I just don't write on it. And when I don't write, I can't organize anything on it 🤷🏻‍♂ I'd love to give Obsidian a second chance. I think it has the potential to be an awesome app for personal project managing app, if it has less friction. I'd like to know for Obsidian power-users (especially project managers) out there. How do you write on its daily journal everyday?

Subscribed! Great content and very well delivered!

Excellent video that takes the time to really highlight the strengths and weaknesses of both. While I'm obviously skewed to Logseq that doesn't mean I would highly recommend Obsidian to a lot of people. For me it's the open source license and outliner feature that are deal breakers. This doesn't mean I don't look with envy to the speed and robustness of Obsidian. I think a large set of questions stem from the fact that they are so close that people can't really make a good on the spot decision. But as long as you don't use linking to blocks too much it's pretty easy to switch between the two.

Adam, I'm so grateful to have come across your channel. Very structured and well explained videos with professional quality. Tried obsidian for a few months but watching your videos helped me understand why it didn't feel natural to me. All about the concept of 'friction' that you speak about. LogSeq aligns much better with how I work and take notes. Atomic blocks that can be referenced from anywhere. I'm a developer so hope to add some plugins myself or contribute to LogSeq in my free time. Once again, I truly appreciate your videos greatly. I wish you all the best for this channel! Please set up buymeacoffe or equivalent as I'd love to support your work.

Which Camera do you use?

Using local storage is a deal-breaker for me. I use many devices and syncing is not an option because when I stop using one device, I can't predict which device I will be using next. I wish there was a cloud option.

LogSeq for meeting and daily notes - pen and paper “replacement”. Obsidian for long form. For anyone else that cares, vi-mode/bindings in Obsidian are far better. Edit: I guess I could’ve actually watched the video before posting as we’ve redundantly said the same thing…

Your channel vs Other program reviewing channels - I choose yours 99% of the time.

I love daily journal and outline-first approach. So surely Logseq

I've been considering Obsidian due to multiple issues ive had with data not syncing well via icloud with mobile devices. But overall I prefer Logseq's take on this.

I feel like if they can both do what the other does without much configuration at all really, then it just comes down to which is better, right? And to me it is clear that the one with more polish, features, pluggins and performance is Obsidian. The only, but very valid, reason I see to use Logseq is if you are a open source absolutist, which hey, fair.

I use Obsidian to write and Logseq to think; Notion to archive. I love them all. A superior thing of Obsidian for me is the Vim Mode - even though I am not a developer. When I discovered Vim it was the most natural way of typing. Thats why I use Obsidian for writing text.

I wish there was a neovim plugin for logseq

3:30 But Logseq, unlike Obsidian, does not have a standard template for creating extensions. So having it is half the case. 😅

Bro literally said 🥚

After inserting the picture, move the mouse over it and the picture will turn white. Is there a way to cancel this function? Very inconvenient to view

Obsidian, non-free, not open source, it's off the list from the start. That puts Logseq ahead, but Logseq against Joplin, Logseq falls behind on some features and capabilities.

THX EGG

If pages and long-form content was easier in logseq, I would love logseq more for my uni work ... the graph really doesnt work for me making notes for uni and trying to organise pages is hard because there are no folders or places to put them (and putting them in 'favourites' is not what thats for) and yeah, theres the 'content' fold out menu but it gets in the way ... Id go to obsidian because it can do the bullet points the same way but I prefer the way logseq has all its PDF stuff seamlessly built in. Its getting to the point I may just return to doing text files or set up a personall wiki on my server?!?!

The right answer is to use BOTH :)

I can longer tell the diff between pkm and plain note-taking apps

The speed of obsidian after a bunch of notes is why its my main driver

Meanwhile I use Notion

3:59 7:37

So 'MD' is 'MD' and both O and LS can be pointed at the same 'starting "folder" or "vault"... so if I used LS to highlight some PDFs - locally stored - and opened the note file in O - do I get garbage?

You need to check trillum and joplin

5:53 TO 6:53

2:25

I prefer that logseq is open source I prefer obsidian's style, If I could have obsidian open source, I would choose obsidian over logseq. I'm put off by logseq's default theme of solarized, I just don't like it.

I use arch lin.. sorry i meant ema... i mean obsidian

Logseq, unlike Obsidian, distorts Markdown extremely much, so you should not even stutter about any Future proof. I remind you that links to blocks will remain just sets of characters when exporting. Therefore, if you want to have access to notes in 5-10 years or more, then only Obsidian and so on that is stored in normal markdown files.

When talking about plugins please also try to compare from a mobile user's perspective. On Android, logseq is just barebones.

I do love my logseq

logseq works alot like our brain, its easier for me to organize since I'm such a scatter brain and a visual learner

I prefer Notepad

Definitely Vi, I mean LogSeq

i use both now but i dont think any difference. seem even use logseq is also find as the mobile speed is faster than obsidian much. and i still looking for reason why need to use both. as i used obsidian before but seem this two tools so similer currently

One more vote for Logseq

your pronunciation of logseq makes my brain ache

focus on content instead self

If you have every heard of the two packages and just want the insight, jump to 8:25 and you save yourself 8.5 minutes of blahblah