Writ
Writ next to Obsidian
Both keep notes as Markdown files in a folder, and both can open the same folder. Obsidian is the deeper tool. Writ asks less of you before the first sentence, and it is the one that is already open.
Side by side
| Obsidian | Writ | |
|---|---|---|
| Your files | Plain .md in a folder you chose. | Plain .md in a folder you chose. It opens the folder Obsidian wrote, as it is. |
| First run | Choose a folder, then settle the settings. | Opens on ~/Writ and asks nothing. Change the folder later if you want to. |
| Getting to it | Launch the app. | Already running. One hotkey over any app. |
| Links | [[Wikilinks]], backlinks, graph. | The same syntax. Backlinks in the Connections panel with the sentence each sits in; a graph of the open note or the whole folder. |
| Properties and tags | Frontmatter and #tags. | Read from the same frontmatter and the same #tags. |
| Plugins | Thousands, installed per folder. | None. Text transforms, rewriting and an MCP server are built in. |
| AI | Through community plugins. | An MCP server for the assistant you already use, and a chat pane over the notes you attach, on a local model or your own key. Both off by default. |
| Mobile and sync | Apps on every platform, paid sync. | Desktop only. Sync is whatever you do with the folder. |
| Rendering | Live preview and reading view. | Source beside the rendered note, or either alone. Also HTML, Mermaid and KaTeX. |
| Price | Free for personal use; sync and publish are paid. | Free. MIT. |
One folder, both apps
Point Writ at the folder Obsidian uses and the notes open from where they are. Links, aliases, properties, tags, callouts and embeds read as written. Writ skips .obsidian/ and never writes to it, so Obsidian keeps working from the same folder. The guide lists what carries over and what does not.
Where Obsidian is the better tool
Canvas, block references, templates, a plugin for anything, your phone in sync. Writ does none of it, and a note a plugin wrote shows the text the file holds.
Where Writ is the easier one
There is nothing to set up. The window is there on a hotkey, the note is a file from the first keystroke, and you never decide on a structure before writing. When you want a program to read your notes, it is one command from Settings, and you approve each program by hand.