Free Obsidian Sync: How to Sync Obsidian Notes Without Paying

If you are searching for free Obsidian sync, you probably want one simple thing: your notes on every device without adding another subscription.

That is reasonable. Obsidian itself is free for personal use, your notes are plain Markdown files, and a vault looks like an ordinary folder. It feels like syncing it should be easy.

Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is not.

The important detail is that “syncing Obsidian for free” can mean several different things:

• Using a cloud drive you already pay for
• Running a free peer-to-peer sync tool
• Using Git as a manual sync workflow
• Installing a community sync plugin
• Choosing a hosted Obsidian sync alternative with a free plan

Those options are not interchangeable. They differ in privacy, conflict handling, mobile behavior, setup work, and recovery when something goes wrong.

Is Obsidian Sync Free?

The official Obsidian Sync service is not free. Obsidian’s app can be used for free, but Sync is an optional paid add-on.

At the time of writing, Obsidian lists Sync at $4 per user per month when billed annually, or $5 per user per month when billed monthly on its pricing page.

That does not mean it is overpriced. Official Obsidian Sync is polished, integrated, end-to-end encrypted, and built by the same team that builds Obsidian. For many users, paying for the official service is the simplest and safest choice.

But if your search starts with “free,” you are probably optimizing for one of these:

• A small personal vault
• A student or hobby workflow
• Avoiding another monthly payment
• Open-source tooling
• Self-hosting or more control
• Testing whether synced Obsidian fits your workflow

For those cases, there are several free or lower-cost paths worth understanding.

What a Free Obsidian Sync Setup Still Needs to Do

An Obsidian vault is more than a folder of notes. It can include Markdown files, images, PDFs, canvas files, plugin settings, themes, snippets, and hidden .obsidian configuration files.

A good sync setup should handle more than upload and download.

It should help you answer questions like:

• What happens if two devices edit the same note?
• Does mobile sync work reliably?
• Are file paths and note contents encrypted before they reach a server?
• Can you recover an older version after a bad edit?
• Are large attachments handled predictably?
• Can you understand and fix a conflict when one happens?

Free tools can work well, but they often move more responsibility onto you. That is the real tradeoff.

Option 1: Cloud Drives

The easiest free Obsidian sync setup is usually a cloud drive: iCloud Drive, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or another file sync provider.

If you already use one of these services and your vault is small, this can be enough. You place the vault inside the synced folder, open it from another device, and let the cloud drive move files around.

The advantage is convenience. There is usually no new account, no special server, and no complex setup.

The weakness is that general cloud drives are not Obsidian-aware. They sync files, but they do not understand vault behavior. Rapid edits, plugin setting changes, mobile background sync limits, and conflicted copies can become frustrating.

Cloud drives are best for simple vaults, mostly single-device editing, and users who already trust the storage provider with their files.

Option 2: Syncthing

Syncthing is a free, open-source, peer-to-peer file synchronization tool. Instead of storing your vault in a central cloud service, it syncs files directly between your devices.

This is attractive if you want open-source sync and do not want a hosted provider sitting in the middle. For desktop-to-desktop workflows, Syncthing can be excellent.

The tradeoff is availability. Devices generally need to be online at the right time to exchange changes. Mobile setup can also be less straightforward than a hosted sync service, especially on iOS.

Syncthing is a strong free choice for technical users who understand file sync and want device-to-device control.

Option 3: Git

Git can be free, powerful, and transparent. It gives you history, diffs, branches, commits, and the ability to push your vault to a remote Git host or your own server.

For developers, this can feel natural. For everyone else, it can feel like turning note-taking into software maintenance.

The problem is not that Git is weak. The problem is that Git asks you to think in commits, pulls, pushes, merges, authentication, and conflicts. That is a good model for code. It is not always a good model for quick notes from a phone.

Git is best when you already want explicit version control and you are comfortable fixing merge conflicts yourself.

Option 4: Community Sync Plugins

Community plugins can bring more Obsidian-specific behavior than a generic file sync tool.

For example, Remotely Save lets you sync through storage backends such as WebDAV, S3-compatible storage, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box, pCloud, and others. Self-hosted LiveSync is a powerful option for users who want a self-hosted sync system with real-time behavior.

These tools can be excellent, but “free” depends on your backend. A plugin may be free while the storage service, server, domain, maintenance time, or self-hosted infrastructure still has a cost.

Community plugins are best when you want flexibility and are comfortable choosing or operating the storage layer yourself.

Option 5: Synch’s Free Plan

Synch is an open-source, end-to-end encrypted sync service for Obsidian. It is designed for users who want something closer to a hosted sync experience without the full price of the official service.

Synch has a free plan, so you can start syncing an Obsidian vault without paying. The current free plan includes:

• 1 synced vault
• 50 MB storage
• 3 MB maximum file size
• 1 day of version history

That is intentionally small. It is not meant to replace a large paid plan for a vault full of attachments. It is meant to make private hosted sync accessible for small vaults, tests, lightweight notes, and users who want to try the workflow before upgrading.

Synch also has a low-cost Starter plan for users who need more room: 1 GB storage, a 5 MB maximum file size, and 1 month of version history.

The key difference from basic cloud file sync is that Synch is built around Obsidian vault sync and end-to-end encryption. Your vault data is encrypted locally before upload, and the server should not be able to read your note contents. If you want the technical version, read how Synch’s end-to-end encryption works.

Synch is best for users who want free or low-cost hosted sync, open-source code, and an Obsidian-focused workflow.

Free Obsidian Sync Options Compared

Which Free Option Should You Choose?

Choose a cloud drive if your vault is small, you mostly edit from one device, and you already trust that provider.

Choose Syncthing if you want free peer-to-peer sync and are comfortable managing devices.

Choose Git if you already use Git and want explicit history more than automatic background sync.

Choose Remotely Save or Self-hosted LiveSync if you want a community plugin and are willing to configure storage or infrastructure.

Choose Synch Free if you want a hosted, end-to-end encrypted Obsidian sync alternative with an actual free plan and a simpler setup than self-hosting.

Choose official Obsidian Sync if you want the most polished integrated experience and the subscription cost is acceptable.

The Bottom Line

There is no single best free Obsidian sync setup for everyone.

The best choice depends on what “free” means to you. Free can mean no subscription, no hosted provider, no proprietary sync service, no infrastructure bill, or simply a free plan that works for a small vault.

If your notes matter, do not choose only by price. Choose the sync method that matches your privacy expectations, your devices, your tolerance for setup, and how much recovery history you need when something goes wrong.