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Research · head to head

Obsidian vs Suzy

Obsidian logo

Obsidian

Research

A powerful knowledge base on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Suzy logo

Suzy

Research

Enterprise consumer insights on an owned US panel, resold elsewhere through Cint

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Obsidian has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Obsidian sync is a paid add-on at $4 per month billed annually rather than part of the app; Suzy the proprietary Crowdtap panel is US only at around a million consumers with roughly 50,000 verified active monthly, and everything international is resold Cint supply, so the speed and verification argument that justifies the price applies to one market.
  • They diverge on capability: Obsidian covers Bidirectional linking, Suzy covers Suzy Insights.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Obsidian and Suzy actually diverge.

Attributes where Obsidian and Suzy differ
AttributeObsidianSuzy
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android
Founded2020Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Research).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Obsidian

  • Bidirectional linking
  • Graph view visualization
  • Markdown support
  • Local file storage
  • Plugin ecosystem
  • Custom CSS themes
  • Templates
  • Search and tags

Only in Suzy

  • Suzy Insights
  • Suzy Live
  • Suzy Audiences
  • Suzy Speaks
  • Video open ends
  • Advanced methods
  • Data Explorer
  • AI Decision Engine

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Obsidian

  • Local-first markdown note taking with no account requirednot Suzy
  • Linking notes into a personal knowledge graphnot Suzy
  • Syncing a vault across devices with end-to-end encryption on the paid add-onnot Suzy
  • Publishing a public site from a vaultnot Suzy
  • Extending the editor with community pluginsnot Suzy

Suzy

  • A US consumer packaged goods brand that needs concept testing back the same day because a packaging decision is due at the end of the week.not Obsidian
  • An insights department running an always-on brand tracker on a US audience without re-commissioning fieldwork every wave.not Obsidian
  • A team that wants quant screening followed immediately by moderated qual with the same respondents, rather than two vendors and two timelines.not Obsidian
  • A product team testing claims and price sensitivity with MaxDiff and conjoint on a panel they can go back to repeatedly.not Obsidian

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Obsidian

  • Sync is a paid add-on at $4 per month billed annually rather than part of the app
  • Publishing to the web is a further $8 per month per site
  • Commercial use asks for a $50 per user per year licence, though the vendor states it is not required
  • Collaboration is limited compared with a hosted notes tool, since the vault is local files first

Suzy

  • The proprietary Crowdtap panel is US only at around a million consumers with roughly 50,000 verified active monthly, and everything international is resold Cint supply, so the speed and verification argument that justifies the price applies to one market.
  • Customers have asked Suzy to build proprietary panels with native speakers in Germany, France, Japan, India and Brazil, which confirms those do not exist today; multi-market brands need a second vendor and lose the single-source comparison.
  • Reviewers report the panel skews female and millennial and falls short on Gen Z, male and various ethnic segments, and that niche or B2B audiences are hard to reach, so quota fills can be slow or impossible.
  • Reviewers also raise data trust concerns about respondent sourcing and vetting, including one naming bot responses and acquiescence bias, which is the standing risk of any single owned opt-in panel with repeat respondents.
  • Pricing is a sales-led annual commitment reported to run around $88,000 a year at the median with onboarding fees and per-seat charges on top, with no trial, no self-serve and no pay-per-response option, so there is no cheap way to validate fit.
  • Credits are pre-committed monthly against forecast activity with no published overage rate, so under-use is wasted spend and a busy quarter triggers an unbudgeted purchase.
  • Integrations are genuinely thin: there is no public integrations page and no public API documentation, and the only confirmed external data relationship is Cint, so expect to move data by export.

Pricing, plan by plan

Obsidian

Free
  • Obsidian Sync$4/month
    • Sync notes across devices
  • Obsidian Publish$8/month
    • Turn notes into a website

Suzy

On request
  • Suzy$undefined/year
    • Annual subscription with pre-committed monthly research credits
    • Credit volume set against forecast study activity
    • Onboarding fees and per-seat charges quoted separately

Which should you pick?

Choose Obsidian if

  • You need bidirectional linking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android.
  • You also want graph view visualization.
Obsidian review

Choose Suzy if

  • You need suzy insights.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want suzy live.
Suzy review

Questions people ask

Is Obsidian or Suzy better?
Neither clearly leads. Obsidian starts at Free and Suzy at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Obsidian or Suzy?
Obsidian has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Obsidian and On request for Suzy.
Does Obsidian or Suzy run on more platforms?
Obsidian runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android. Suzy runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Obsidian for free?
Yes. Obsidian has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Suzy starts at On request.
What is Obsidian best used for?
Obsidian is most often used for local-first markdown note taking with no account required, linking notes into a personal knowledge graph, syncing a vault across devices with end-to-end encryption on the paid add-on, publishing a public site from a vault. Of those, local-first markdown note taking with no account required and linking notes into a personal knowledge graph are not what Suzy is typically brought in for.
What can Obsidian do that Suzy cannot?
Obsidian covers Bidirectional linking, Graph view visualization, Markdown support, Local file storage. Suzy covers Suzy Insights, Suzy Live, Suzy Audiences, Suzy Speaks.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Obsidian: Is Obsidian free?

Yes. The core Obsidian application is 100% free for personal and commercial use with no limitations. You can use unlimited vaults and every core feature without payment.

Source
Suzy: Is the panel global?

No. Crowdtap, the owned panel, is US only. International studies run on Cint supply, which you could contract for directly.

Obsidian: What file format does Obsidian use?

Obsidian stores every note as a plain Markdown file. Because it uses standard Markdown instead of a proprietary format, your notes remain portable and can be edited with many other Markdown editors.

Source
Suzy: What does it cost?

Nothing is published. Third-party analysis puts the median contract around $88,000 a year with a range roughly $34,000 to $187,500, plus onboarding and per-seat fees.

Obsidian: Can I collaborate with others in Obsidian?

The core application does not include built-in team collaboration features. However, Obsidian offers optional add-ons and can be used with version control systems or cloud storage for collaboration.

Source
Suzy: Is there an API?

Nothing public. Suzy publishes no API documentation and no named connectors beyond Cint. Verify any integration requirement in the sales call before committing.

Suzy: What changed in April 2026?

Suzy repositioned as an AI Decision Engine with Intelligence and Impact modules, while headcount fell from about 230 to 186. Ask how the roadmap is now split between that and the classic survey and qual products.

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