Notion vs Obsidian // Databases vs Dataview

[@deeplearnit]

I switched from Notion to Obsidian recently. With Obsidian, I spend less time creating the perfect system and can really focus on the content of my notes. Still, the Notion databases are a great way to organise our work and the Obsidian Dataview plugin looks very interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@nicolevdh]

I get that! There's something about Notion that made me focus on how things looked more than the content.

[@1blenderman]

@@nicolevdh That's kind of where I'm stuck. I love the layout of Notion. It looks so good, whereas Obsidian just looks like boring text on a page. I get the obvious benefits of Obsidian, but struggling to make the move...

[@nicolevdh]

@@1blenderman Try both! :) And when you try Obsidian, install themes that you like. If you still don't like how it looks, use Notion, honestly. I know I was saying that it was a time sink for me... but you also have to be excited to take notes, and that's probably more important than anything else!

[@somerandomchannel382]

use both obsidian for free sprawling thoughts notion to solidify thoughts into a real memory bank notion templates ae really good 👍

[@cabinjackalope]

This was really interesting to me because when you were explaining I totally thought "oh, Obsidian seems like a better option," but when I actually sat down and compared, I found that Notion made a lot more sense for me and my note-taking style. :) Plus I love the cute customization options that (for the time being) Notion just has more of. Just shows how everyone's brain works differently! Thanks for the neat and comprehensive video. Now if only Notion had a thought-web template.......

[@nicolevdh]

Haha, funny how that works! Well, I'm still happy you figured out what's best for you. Notion is a great tool and is definitely the better looking of the two out of the box. I'm sure you'll be happy with it!

[@jokerfangteo]

Notion has been trying to develop its funtions just by making itself real “all-in-one”; it now has markdown, backlink page, API and more. just need to improve speed to get perfect for me

[@svenhermeling6105]

@@jokerfangteo Though the all-cloud based approach is incredibly annoying and an absolute no-go from my point of view. Guess it really depends on your priorities!

[@OrangeUp]

@@abelbermudezmunoz2263At least, if the dog pulls your laptop away you still have all your data. 🐕

[@GrosPointRouge]

As a PhD student I prefer Notion because of the ability to embed anything and the multiple integrations with other plateforms (GitHub, overleaf, slack, etc). It took me a week to build my perfect PhD page but it was totally worth it. Inside that page I also have a mind map/ “brain” view of my literature review since I embedded my Litmaps profile. In addition, collaborating with my supervisors is extremely easy via my notion page.

[@nicolevdh]

Fair enough! As an engineer I am already collaborating in GitHub, so I prefer Obsidian. If you're happy with what you're using, there's no need to change it.

[@UNLouise]

Aren’t there plugins for all this? But I do agree, inviting people to a Notion-page for collaboration is extremely straight-forward and easy.

[@choanlpoto]

And when notion will go down you will lose all your brain. When with obsidian you own your data.

[@hurmaes]

if it's alright with you, would you mind sharing examples of your PhD page?

[@salvab13]

Dude share that shiet

[@hugocast]

You have a gift to explain things in a very simple and relatable way. Thank you for this amazing video 🙏

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you, Hugo! That's so nice of you to say, and I really appreciate it. Grateful for your encouragement. :)

[@hugocast]

@@nicolevdh Happy to encourage! I am geeking out with Dataview now :)

[@georgeww600]

@@nicolevdh I agree with Hugo. After watching the video, my first question was, "Who was that masked woman?" Then when I looked at your site, I asked myself, "Where do I sign up?" I signed up. Your price is too low. Your content is worth more to me. I've been on OneNote for 2 years. Dabbled in Notion, looked at Obsidian, and had the same reaction as the first 2 commenters had. This is the first time I discovered you. Thank you so much. George

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks so much for the support, George! You are too funny. :) I'm just glad to help!

[@superjuliracing]

when you started creating custom “variables” and sorting the data automatically, I was sold a thousand times over. this honestly seems more flexible than Notion? in the way it can be modified on the fly, seemingly disparate data can be connected over time, etc. way too cool!

[@nicolevdh]

Yay! That's exactly what I think! Notion can handle custom parameters as well, but you can't include a note in multiple "views" unless you put absolutely everything in a single database to begin with... which I found was unnecessarily inflexible and slow. Glad you agree about the cool factor!!

[@karenlepage-mindfulmaker]

Can’t you just add global tags to notion for this same functionality? I have a spiderweb brain but it likes folders, so I’m always torn between these two apps.

[@fcf8269]

You brought up a very good point which is "how is your brain working". Your way to do things bottom to top is basically impossible to grasp for me; because I cannot conceive to make a note about something without knowing what that "something" actually is for. So in my case, I don't think in terms of taking notes and arrange them later; I think like I have a topic I want to take notes of, so I already know what is going to be as far as "category" before I even put my pen on the paper (metaphorically speaking). When you structure your thought before you start to work, you focus on what you want to do. This is what engineers and other people usually do before starting to work. While for creatives, the approach of Obsidian make more sense: you get an idea, have no clue what is all about so you jot it down and go from there. Eventually you need to retrieve that idea and tie it to other ideas; which is simplified by adding tags, so everything is interconnected and you can query that idea easily from the ton of items you have in your backlog. So in the end it is basically a matter of how does your brain work in the end, and what kind of work are you doing, when you sit down and decide to take a note of. For some, the rigid approach of structured thoughts from the beginning like Notion is much more akin to them, while for others, the freedom to think about anything at a later time, and focus on the moment of that thought you jot down, is more akin to them.

[@ninajowkar3871]

"What if you just want a list of everything that you did in 2021?.... Then Notion would struggle with that" Nope. You just create a master list, then use linked databases and filters. Or you can group the master list by year. That way you have a nice and clear list of what you've done in each month. And that's what I really love about Notion. You can just pull up the same data and set it to view however you want. You can also create relations between two separate databases. That way things stay connected. However. As you've mentioned, it's all about finding the tool that matches the way you think. But we also have to keep in mind that one is to manage tasks, projects, and team collaborations. The other is a text-based system to store text-based content. Hence, why both of them serve different purposes and are built in entirely different ways.

[@mattural20]

Can’t wait for your Dataview deep dive! Your explanations are clear as a bell, which is much appreciated even to this dev.

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you, Matthew! Glad that came across clearly! :)

[@lm2jag]

Same here! And I love how simple you've made your Obsidian videos. Haven't dove into the rest of your content yet, but I will

[@nicolevdh]

@@lm2jag Thank you, Lynn! Sweet of you to say! :)

[@joshuawilliams8079]

How do you think Notion’s ability to link pages, blocks and databases compares to obsidian? I haven’t seen anyone discuss this. Most channels act as if notion can’t link content. Idk why? Is it that inconvenient?

[@demirmahir]

Nicole, thanks for all the Obsidian videos you have made. I watched and re-watched many of them and they really helped me get to know the program well and develop my own workflow. I have your Obsidian playlist bookmarked :) Your content is spot on, the videos are very well thought trough, shot and presented. The delivery is very natural and relatable. I like that your videos don't have all that PKM and productivity ideology included. I feel many of the KZbin creators dealing with Obsidian are obsessed with it and it's really irritating when I hear another Zettelkasten mention. You deal with the practical side of productivity. Halfway trough this video I thought of writing a comment that maybe a blog post dealing with the dataview practicalities would be nice, but you already thought of that and are making videos about it. Can't wait :) Thanks again and keep up the good work.

[@nicolevdh]

Wow! I'm so touched. I'm really happy you've found them useful, and that you've hit the nail on the head about all the rhetoric around highly structured PKM systems. I need something that works with messy notes that are only as structured as I have time for. :) Yes, I have so much to say about Dataview! I may write a blog post instead if I can't fit it into a video. Thanks so much for the encouragement! I really appreciate it.

[@BIMvoice]

This is exactly the same way I feel about Notion since the first day I used it, but I just could not define it: you always feel that something is missing, and that your system is not good enough, and you allways try to make it better. The long story short, instead of focusing on what you must do, you waste so much time learning about the system and the software itself. I'm sad I did not discover this earlier, but at the same time I am happy I discovered it now, and I will use it from now on! Great videos about Obsidian, thank you very much for your efforts, you are doing an amazing job!

[@nicolevdh]

I'm so glad it wasn't just me! :) I also felt like with Notion, I had to get the structure right from the beginning... otherwise I'd have to restructure it how I wanted later. At least with Obsidian I was up and running quickly, even if I AM still incrementally tweaking things. At least the foundation is already there. Thanks for the kind words. :)

[@JohnVanderbeck]

Notion's Databases are supposed to be their headline feature yet every single timeI try to use them I want to jump out a window. What /I could do in 5 minutes in Google Sheets often takes me hours or days to figure out in Notion, and that's if I'm lucky and it is doable. Often times what I want to do isn't even doable! I use Notion because it gives me the ability to mix text and tables and links in a wiki style that lets me organize everything but I feel like I'm fighting it more than I'm using it. Definitely looking for something - heck anything - else at this point so going to try Obsidian. I've used it a bit for plain text notes but that's about it.

[@jenellecarter]

As a long-time Notion user, I've been itching to get a better system for quick notes and the more free-flowing thoughts and ideas that I have, and trying to figure out how Notion and Obsidian would fit into that. I wasn't wanting a comparison of features, just a better idea of how I should approach knowledge management between the two systems, so this video was exactly what I was looking for - thank you! I will add that Notion's relational database features work well to structure and link ideas after the fact, as in your "everything I did in 2021" example. This is very much possible, but can be cumbersome and frustrating, which is why I've been looking more into Obsidian. Thanks for your helpful comparison and insights! I really appreciated your approach to this topic. Well done :)

[@GoMiashPrivate]

I really like that your videos are short but chock-full of great info. I am learning a lot, thanks Nicole! When I was trying to learn Notion, it occurred to me that instead of just using the tool, I have to design a data model, tables (databases, relationships), and an application. What I wanted to do was just to store and organize my notes, not design my own app. So I turned to other tools and found (and really liking) Obsidian.

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks for the encouragement! Glad you're liking the videos. Welcome to the Obsidian community! I sympathize with wanting to go back to the simplicity of taking notes. :)

[@bobmonsour]

That’s the best description of the Notion v Obsidian differences that I’ve heard…top-down v bottoms-up. I recently bailed on Notions and now I have a better idea of how to approach Obsidian for my personal use. Thanks…and you’re really really good at this!

[@andreasw5925]

I like the way you’re presenting! After discovering obsidian your videos were very helpful and motivated me to just start using it. I love it and can’t imagine how I managed things without it before. It was a mess of notes over different tools

[@nicolevdh]

Yay, I'm so happy I was able to help you! I had the same experience as you, in that it's hard to think of how I managed to remember things or learn things before Obsidian. I was using so many separate tools. It's such a relief to use just one that does everything I need. Welcome to the Obsidian community!

[@concretec0w]

Great little toe dip into Dataview. I’ve used notion for a couple years and switched to obsidian in Jan 22. I’m fairly technical and that’s helped a lot. Obsidian tbh has been harder to wrap my head around than notion as it’s far more open in terms of flexibility. Notion is great for building a system for beginners as it’s limitations can help decision making, however like you allude to it sucks when you want to add unplanned functionality. Obsidian, as scared as a blank page can initially be, is light years ahead of Notion purely because you really can build any system in it. I’m excited about it’s potential and the fact that my data is my data makes it all the sweeter. Thanks for your vids, they will help build our community and open data movement

[@nicolevdh]

I agree that Notion is easier for beginners. Its structure is way more familiar, and its UI is definitely more user-friendly. I can understand being daunted by Obsidian initially-- it's so open-ended that you kind of have to create a framework for yourself! Thanks for watching!

[@graydhd8688]

As a dreadfully scatter brained creative type, Obsidian seems perfect as a tool to help me string my many interests together in a way that's free flowing like I am. This vid made it crystal what the best option is for the way I think and process information. Thanks so much for sharing this perspective!

[@acrossover]

thanks for this short but deep, insightful explanation of differences between those 2 tools. the best comparison I have ever seen and saves me a lot of time from further reviewing other comparison videos. thank you again.

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you so much, Tian! I appreciate that and I'm happy it resonated with you. :)

[@dragokamenov6768]

the need to have a "predefinied filing system" is exactly why I've always struggled with note taking. Especially the fact can a note can belong to multiple categories. Seems like Obsidian is the way to go for me, thank you very much for your insights!

[@nicolevdh]

Happy I'm not the only one! Glad I could help. :)

[@btyoung2k]

This video was pivotal in me switching to obsidian a couple years ago. I have been using it consistently over the past 2 years and haven't looked back!

[@nicolevdh]

SO nice to hear this sort of long-term review. :) Happy I could convince you to use Obsidian and even happier that it's been worthwhile for you! Thanks for thinking to let me know.

[@lubiday_]

Thank you so much for the video! It was well structured and i like how you show examples of each program. I also like your voice - it has a very calming effect :)

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks! I'm glad to provide you some calm. :) Happy you liked the video as well!

[@anarosaamorim3851]

Nicole is not only a great teacher, a great communicator, but the sound of her voice has also a calming and encouraging effect. I feel more intelligent just by watching the videos. 😂

[@nicolevdh]

Wow, thank you so much! :) That's nice of you to say! I'm happy to have that effect on you.

[@anarosaamorim3851]

@@nicolevdh Your channel is my favorite "geek" channel, Nicole. Thank you for creating such good content. Very informative, clear explanations, great topics. I hope more people discover your channel and subscribe.

[@Cosmos0000]

For the longest time I kept going back and forth between them. Just recently I've found a happy medium and am using them both. Essentially, I'm using Notion to catalog and collect information from books, videos, articles, etc because I love sticking them in lists/tables/galleries. It's basically my raw info archive. Then I use Obsidian to take notes on them so I can take full advantage of Obsidian's tagging feature. So far so good. :) Also, your graph view is beautiful. I look forward to the day mine starts looking like that :D

[@jorduuh4162]

Best soft soft tutorial for beginners on KZbin! I'm an absolute beginner and all the other tutorials I've found on KZbin have been so

[@hfortenberry]

In Notion, you don't have to know where you want to put things. Why can't you just create an "_Incubation" or "_Unsorted" folder(s) at the top to hold your notes that you don't know yet where to put them? You can decide later. And you can just use the Wiki feature to get the hyperlinked/interconnectivity in Notion.

[@dominikkulczynski8221]

Thank you so much for your video. I started with Notion 2 years ago and was excited about the structuring possibilities. Unfortunately, Notion often got in my way because I had to change the whole folder system because I liked another one better. I've been using Obsidian for 2 weeks now and I'm thrilled. Your videos help me a lot to get along with this quite special program and to get a foothold. I wish I had known before that my chaotic brain does not get along with the rigid folder structure of Notion...

[@wickednailsrylee]

Omg SO glad I found your video after not vibing with the Notion videos I’ve been watching. I don’t need to be more meticulous to be better at project management jobs - I need to encourage my brain to be more creative and stop fitting into boxes while still finding a way to organize it all. Thank you!!!!!

[@MondSemmel]

This was a fantastic video to illustrate the differences between these tools, and how different people might use them. Some look at Notion's hierarchical page-in-page structure and find it limiting; for me it feels organized. Some look at Obsidian's interconnected graph view and consider it freeing; for me it looks like chaos and makes me want to scream. It's great that there are tools which can accomodate the different ways in which people think!

[@smoocher]

This is an outstanding video for comparing Notion with Obsidian + Dataview. Thank you for creating and uploading this. I switched to Obsidian several months ago and would have loved to have found a video like this. I learned by poking around and experimenting, which in itself is helpful, but you do a great job showing how the two systems compare which will undoubtedly help people decide which of the two great services is best for them.

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you so much! I learned the same way you did, and thought maybe I could save others some of the back and forth about which tool I should use. I'm happy to know you agree.

[@hellosofy]

This is exactly the video I needed! I started with Obsidian a few weeks ago and I was wondering what can I do with Dataview - now it's crystal clear. Thanks Nicole!

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks, Sofia, really glad that helped you!! Welcome to the Obsidian community!!

[@InalmadaDada]

Thank you so much, you saved me a lot of time !

[@nicolevdh]

I'm so glad to hear that! Thanks so much for the support. <3

[@ТафинцеваАнна]

Thank you so much for such great, vivid and substantial comparison.

[@MsMochaman]

Nicole, thanks so much for all you do and for this video. Years ago I thought I had found the perfect tool -- Notion -- after playing around with so many others like The Brain and DevonThink, among so many more. I put off using Obsidian because I am not a programmer and I thought the complexity would slow me down. What actually slowed me down is exactly what you were describing in this video -- in Notion having to know what you want at the very start. Add to that the desire to over-customize, over-add tags, over-organize, and spending hours making changes that really kept me from doing what I wanted to do. Obsidian is kind of down and dirty, and I love it. I make a note, if there's a connection I connect, if I want to categorize something I add a tag. I'm still in the process of learning and falling off the bike, but your videos are my training wheels and they make it less painful and much more enjoyable. Plus, you infuse joy without "over hype" and faux excitement.

[@nicolevdh]

Yay! I'm so happy to hear that, William! What a great comment. I love what you said about loving how down and dirty Obsidian is. I agree. I think there are also rabbit holes you can go down with it, but I think in general it does a better job of getting me to just ignore the fluff and get to writing. I'm happy my passion for it comes through-- I've always loved this stuff so it's so cool I get to share it with others who do, too!

[@shaunnasworkshop]

You've sold me on Obsidian! I've probably watched a dozen vids on it and your explanations really made it click.

[@Jykinturah]

I'm glad I found this, was trying to find a new way to organize and take notes that wasn't so structured like Notion so I think Obsidian is exactly what I was looking for!

[@I_am_Dash]

I'm just starting out with notetaking and organizing. You're video helped convince me that Obsidian is the right choice. Thank you for making these wonderful tools accessible to the less tech-savy. You're an absolute delight!

[@GoodMorningButch]

Love the explanation and how clearly you present the different functionalities and the logic behind them! As it happens, this only makes me happier to be using Notion, I feel uncomfortable when my notes lack structure personally, I like to know where to find things and for them to stay put lol

[@nicolevdh]

Obsidian can actually be used the same way Notion is used; it's just that it doesn't insist upon it and is more flexible. :) But fair enough! When you find something that works already, it can be even more trouble and effort to switch to something else.

[@OrangeUp]

I‘d wish my file structure on my computer stayed put 😂

[@lucasnakase1217]

So basically Notion is designed for more organized and direct people, who already have all or part of their project in mind. People with a greater focus and who know how to better manage their time and ideas. Obsidian would be the opposite, despite having excellent functions for connecting notes and ideas together, the main focus is that it is excellent for disorganized and indecisive people. So instead of wasting time deciding the entire structure of the project before it even starts (something very difficult for people like me, with ADHD), we can simply throw the idea out there and think later how to structure it, not to mention that we can use the same idea or topic in different structures, be it work, personal life, hobbies because the App it self can do it easily for us. I loved the video, it was very enlightening!!

[@reesr]

I really enjoyed this! As someone who struggles with organization, finding an app that can help me store information in a way that is familiar to me has been a struggle. I eventually actually found Notion and Obsidian before even finding this video, but found Notion better to use. I find this interesting because I have ADHD, and my thoughts are often weirdly interconnected, so I initially thought that Obsidian's more brain-like structure would work better for me, yet Notion's organization turned out to be exactly what I needed in order to keep things stored. The problem for me is that if I am given an opportunity to do something later, I will never end up doing it. So the idea of not putting my thoughts into a category immediately means I will *never* categorize them, meaning I'll end up with a terrible jumble. So being forced to categorize by Notion actually helps me, and then being able to search and have linked databases allows me the connectivity that I need. Also, it's been PERFECT for running my D&D games.

[@nicolevdh]

Hey, whatever works for you! Notion is still a great app that I would recommend, and it has a cool team behind it. Lots of TTRPGers using Notion as well! Happy you found something you like. :)

[@MarcoCarag]

Wow, the first half of this video perfectly encapsulated my way of thinking, and why Obsidian is better for it. The half dozen or so videos I watched prior that explicitly did that comparison didn't do nearly so straightforward a job. I'm binging your videos because you've done a great job of really maintaining a "how my brain works" perspective, even when in tutorials. And your production quality is excellent. Thank you for it!

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you so much, Marco! I'm very glad you liked this and other videos. I always try to make it straightforward and relevant to how I actually think (and maybe how others like me think), so thank you for appreciating that. :)

[@artofworkflow]

You put a lot of care and thought into your videos, and it really shows - thank you! Trying to wrap my head around dataview 😵 This is a helpful step 🙏 Thank you, Nicole!

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you so much for noticing!! I really appreciate it. It does take a long time, but I enjoy it!

[@artofworkflow]

@@nicolevdh It comes through loud and clear! Do you offer one-off paid consulting? I am wrestling with a particular structural question and am thinking it makes more sense to simply have someone smarter tell me either "Yes, you're crazy" or "No, that would work well"

[@lafe]

I'm just moving into Obsidian from Notion and other note taking apps. This video was super helpful, thank you so much!

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! Welcome! <3

[@dongdongchen2945]

感谢作者，获益良多。目前俩个工具都在使用中。 对我来说，notion就是一个轻量版excel和团队协作工具。obsidian才是笔记和写作工具，真正的第二大脑。 translate by google： Thank you to the author. Both tools are currently in use. To me, notion is a lightweight version of Excel and a team collaboration tool. The obsidian is the note-taking and writing tool, the true second brain.

[@nicolevdh]

I totally agree! Notion is still better for teams, but Obsidian is better for me. :) Translated by Google: 我完全同意！ Notion 对团队来说仍然更好，但 Obsidian 对我来说更好。 :)

[@tomasanthony559]

You continue to deliver super content on PKM. I love the way you think and analyze things. Thank you so much for sharing your insights - they are great and reflect exactly my thinking too! It is rare in this time of the Attention Economy to find someone like you who delivers so much in such a short period - via KZbin!

[@nicolevdh]

Tomas, you are a gem. You support me everywhere and it does not go unnoticed! I appreciate you, a lot!

[@Dampfaeus]

That was a great comparison. Keep in mind that it bearly scratches the surface on both tools, especially with the wide variety of plugins in Obsidian. For example, there is the tasks plugin for extensive task management (including query code especially for tasks, i.e. "tasks not done due after today due before in one week"). Or a plugin to give you notion-like database functionality. Or todoist integration, if you wanted, etc.

[@hot-pink-beast]

Omg this is the exact video I needed to watch - I can still see how Notion might be better for specific databases I’d want to keep but I’ve been trying to find the best way to use Notion as a real planner/calendar/personal database for years and I always get frustrated bc almost all systems have this rigidity of needing to build top down. Downloading obsidian immediately and super excited to see how I can build a system that actually works w the chaos of my brain so I don’t have to rely on a spurt of motivation for an organization overhaul every few months that starts from scratch

[@nicolevdh]

Hey Elyse! I'm glad I had a video on what you were looking for! It sounds like we're on the same page about top-down tools and I totally understand the frustration! I'm excited you found Obsidian-- here's hoping it's as good for your use case as it has been for mine! :)

[@SAUSLeadership]

Really well done! I watched many videos on the justification, and you said “Bottom-up”. I need both for my book and content creation. Thank you!

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you! I love that aspect of Obsidian and the thinking process it encourages as well. Glad to help!

[@niqbal81]

great video with clear explanation! I have used both, Obsidian has absurd learning curve which means, spending far more time perfecting how something may look or feel rather than concentrating on the note itself. There are basic things that it still cannot do but it is powerful in many other ways. Notion on the other hand is far quicker, stays away from hindering your thought process. I loved your video especially cause it happens to be the difference between SQL and NoSQL

[@Jacob011]

This is exactly the kind of overview I needed - the database vs. dataview. I'm definitely more in the camp of Obsidian then. Started using Notion a bit but haven't delved into it much, seemed way too complex.

[@Andy-un5wq]

Revisiting this a few months after making the switch from Notion to Obsidian. I have found Obsidian to be so much more practical and it has really increased my organization and productivity. Thanks for getting me started!

[@nicolevdh]

Glad to hear that, Andy! My experience was the same as yours, and I'm really happy that I got you going. Welcome to the Obsidian community, yay!

[@mibmub7660]

I've recently discovered Obsidian and your channel. I love the concept of connecting things and growing a system. I'm just uhh... anxious (I guess) about not knowing where everything is, the fact of having an unorganized mess scares me😅. I know that's not what obsidian is encouraging with it's bottom to top approach, but I need the structure... *Starts panicking over how my brain works*

[@nicolevdh]

Haha! I still consider my notes to be organized and structured; they're just not structured into folders. Each note can be linked to more than one overall topic, which can't happen with folders. I add the structure using links, higher-level notes (for example, a page that has all my main topics of interest, or a page called "Languages" that has a link to my "Swedish" note), and visual maps of content. I wouldn't worry about getting it exactly right the first time - maybe try it out, and if it doesn't work for you, Obsidian can handle folders too. :)

[@techlitindia]

Dataview concept, mind blown 💡 this is what I exactly wanted.. Good stuff Nicole. Thanks !

[@ianpatterson]

Great video - I’ve been using Obsidian for over 6 mo now, and whilst I never got into Notion, I share why you like Obsidian. It’s really about how to bring structure to unstructured data - and obsidian does that brilliantly as you get across with your example. Thanks !

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you, Ian! "Bringing structure to unstructured data" is a good, succinct way to put it. :)

[@ToddBryantsr]

Thank you. This is the first video that has made the benefits clear to me. I appreciate you!

[@cwchristien]

Thank you for your sharing, it help a lot when I confused in how to choose the right tool in different situation.

[@nicolevdh]

Happy to help you choose, Chris!

[@carlosalbertomujicaarizmen7589]

wow, I was impressed about how you manage to create tables within Obsidian, I changed obsidian to Notion recently because the iCloud Drive sync wasn't working on my devices. Great video BTW

[@RoltChen]

Databases with relations in Notion are great and can help to build nice clean system of notes. But I encountered with the speed issue in Notion. I'm building my database with 8 relations and couple of formulas and the database is already lagging. Do you have experience with the speed in Obsidian?

[@8catsugar]

Recently just discovered Obsidian! As a chaotic thinker, it really helps that I can just create a note and then come back to it later on when I understand where I can apply it. I loved Notion as well but I would just easily get overwhelmed with its structure/formatting. Overall it's just great that there are different tools for different types of thinkers!

[@thelonespeaker]

You made me switch to obsidian! Your examples are concise and you are very articulate. Thanks very much 😊

[@nicolevdh]

Yay! Welcome to the Obsidian community! Thank you so much for watching. I'm happy you joined us. :)

[@bjorningewesterheim5094]

Hi Nicole! Thank you so much for your effort in making these videos. Obsidian is new to me, but in combination with the data view, it is simply amazing. There are so many uses for this! Learning this setup right this minute. Subscribed.

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you so much, Bjorn! Happy you're exploring Obsidian (and Dataview). Welcome to the Obsidian community!

[@linkingyourthinking]

Nice job articulating the foggy areas in a way that really puts them into focus!

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks for the comment! I refer people to your videos when they have more detailed questions about getting started with Obsidian. :)

[@Saturn2888]

Dataviews solve my problem. The problem is, Notion and Obsidian are two completely different applications. Notion is centered around note-taking and collaboration whereas Obsidian looks like a documentation tool. I'd love to be able to use Obsidian like Notion; in the browser and collaboratively.

[@dogfood411]

Great video, Nicole, thanks for laying out the differences! I'm switching over from Notion to Obsidian now and getting all that content over is harrowing, but I'm already loving how much easier it is to get from note to note.

[@nicolevdh]

Oh, YES, that's a big thing too! Are you already using the Quick Switcher core plugin to be able to CMD/CTRL+O and open notes?

[@dogfood411]

@@nicolevdh I'm not, but am looking at it now! I still like to put notes in folders, so it would be nice to default that without having to right-click the folder, add note, then back to the keyboard. I love keyboard shortcuts.

[@nicolevdh]

@@dogfood411 You can do this with the Quick Switcher to! CMD/CTRL+O and then type `folder/newnote` and that will create a note within the folder you specified. :) I love my keyboard shortcuts!

[@dogfood411]

@@nicolevdh Gobsmacked! You're the best, thanks!😲

[@nicolevdh]

Happy to help! :)

[@chucko1732]

Great video! I just got SilentNotes to capture thoughts and tasks during the day and remembered that I'd downloaded Obsidian quite a few months ago and hadn't done much with it. This is the second video I found comparing Notion vs. Obsidian (a friend in the gaming industry recommended I look at Notion) and it was quite helpful. I'm looking forward to checking out your other Obsidian videos!

[@nicolevdh]

Hi Chuck! Glad you liked the video! I don't think you can go wrong with either Obsidian or Notion. I like both and would still recommend them both. Good luck figuring out which one you'd like to use! :)

[@dsuthapong]

I LOVE how you explain things so simply!

[@nicolevdh]

Yay! :) Thanks, Darin! Happy you enjoyed this video.

[@myanimationchannel]

This is exactly what I was hoping to learn, thank you so much for sharing!

[@nicolevdh]

Glad to hear that Brittany! Happy you liked the video!

[@LuisVegaTheNetworkVlog]

Hello Nicole, thanks for your videos! I have a question, which app did you use for the explanation at 6:18 ? thanks

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks for watching! I used Obsidian, of course! ;) Also used the Excalidraw plugin: kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6Ouo4upftyVd8k

[@ap6471]

I tried it year ago. Didn't like it maybe my approach were wrong. But now your explanation has inspired me once again. I'll try it now. Thanks

[@nicolevdh]

I don't think your approach was wrong! :) I think Obsidian could definitely be more user-friendly than it currently is. When I first used Obsidian, I didn't get it either. You might also like this video on plugins that changed my mind about Obsidian: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWjOhaekbsqgprc

[@AcidDynamics]

I'm glad I've found this channel. Incredible insight! Thank you for this.

[@nicolevdh]

Glad to help! Thank you for watching. :)

[@TiensHands]

Thank you so much! I am glad I found this video. I was wanting to start a second brain in notion. But after seeing your videos, Obisidian will be way better to store and retrieve everything in my life! Now on to installing Obsidian :)

[@nicolevdh]

Yay! Happy that helped you make a decision either way. Good luck with getting started with Obsidian! Hope it's as good an experience as mine has been. :)

[@randalfmajere7239]

Very very nice point of view, this is a great insight to help people choose: I have been using Notion for a few months in a very no-professional way (I keep track of my interests, notes, project drafts...) but I am very curios in exploring Obisidian, and your "key view" is really helplfull to approach the tool in the write manner. I thing that Thiago Forte did something similar to yours (grouping possible users of this kind of tools in: Architect, Gardener and Explorer), but this video is very effective. Thx

[@nicolevdh]

I haven't personally found those distinctions useful. A few people other than Tiago have also tried to group users of each tool into "personas", but I can't help but think they're pretty arbitrary. I think you can be an "Architect", etc., in both tools. I prefer to make distinctions based on features, and then encourage people to try out both and see what they like better! That's what it comes down to, ultimately. But anyway, I'm happy if those roles have helped you, and thanks for watching! :)

[@randalfmajere7239]

@@nicolevdh Yap very intersting your approach, I'll keep it in mind, thx

[@maxim8388]

I had several attempts switching from Notion to Obsidian. Two times were real pain, since I wanted to use the Obsidian as is. But finally I have discovered the power of plugins, especially the dataview. It changes everything! Now I have pages generated automatically. Pages that summarize all my notes, projects and other stuff by tags and much more. I am still in process but now I really start realizing how easier is it to save a note in Obsidian. Just open and type anything. Put tag "inbox" if you are not sure where to put the note, otherwise I have notes, projects, profiles, etc.

[@nicolevdh]

Absolutely! The Obsidian plugin ecosystem is a game-changer! There are sooo many plugins out there, so it's likely there's something there for everyone. Huge part of why I love Obsidian too.

[@bogdanmarcu135]

Wow, this is the first video that made me understand the advantages of Obsidian over Notion. Awesome, thank you!

[@nicolevdh]

Happy to help! :)

[@knittingnovice]

I haven’t used notion for very long and have liked what others have made using but now looking at obsidian, I’m thinking of trying it out. It does seem to work like my brain works. Thank you for a wonderful video and explanation

[@nicolevdh]

Hi Catherine! I think it's definitely worth a try, since it's free. I TRY to be balanced, but I do have very specific use cases that others might not, so I'd always recommend you give it a go yourself. :) Thanks for watching!

[@andirivarola]

I love "The Expanse," too. So glad added it to your list of TV Shows as an example. Great explanation about what Obsidian is. It really helps to explain it to others that have no idea what it is.

[@nicolevdh]

I've never actually watched The Expanse, but I've read the books (I read faster than I can watch). Happy that example resonated with you though! :D

[@andirivarola]

@@nicolevdh I'd love to read the books. I'm obsessed with the series. I've watched the entire thing several times.

[@nicolevdh]

I recommend it! Hey-- maybe you can read the books and I'll watch the series. :D

[@andirivarola]

@@nicolevdh LOL. Great idea.

[@Jon_dog]

For anyone trying this in 2024, the Obsidian layout has changed and Dataview now cares about data types. For example without defining date as a number, 2024 will be a string. So either click on the symbol next to the date field and set it to number or make it like the person example and put quotes around the text you are searching for ```dataview TABLE date as "Date" where contains(date,"2024") ```

[@hedeon1979]

But dataviews in Obsydian require the user to know the syntax and how to make queries. Lack of GUI makes it completely unusable for non-programmers regardless of how their brains work.

[@Dustinmrr.mp4]

Makes sense 😂 I'm here on this Video because I wanted to use Obsidian, however, I am completely overwhelmed 😂 I have no idea what to do on Obsidian and I think I go back to Notion 👀 😂

[@evanjoyal9540]

You did such a great job explaining the differences. This is how I wouldve explained it if I used obsidian as well. However I still think notion is probably better. Having intentionality with how you organzie data is a true skill and I think not having that skill in obsidian would lead to less productiveness. I feel like I am able to learn more by chunking knowledge into my brain by being intentional about how I set it up in notion. While the nodes graph looks cool in obsidian... and it does kind of look like a neural network.. that doesn't mean it is actually more effective. Synpases are placed in the brain in chunks and in proximity of each other for efficiency, it's not a model of how learning works. I feel like not having a good grip on how to organize content will just lead to things getting messier, since you would... have to go back and search through all these notes to add tags to them. Obsidian does seem better for someone who has no idea what they want to build and just wants a place to put down notes randomly. But I think the real learning comes from actively understanding how to dichotomize content.

[@nicolevdh]

Glad to hear it! I appreciate the support! :)

[@SuperBeanson]

Your videos on Obsidian are briliiantly informative, thanks

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you! Glad to hear it. :)

[@dirkvoltaar]

Hi Nicole, I discovered your channel independently of Sly Flourish, but really awesome that you are there. Really looking forward to your Dataview video. I can see that it is immensely powerful, but I'm a bit daunted by the syntax etc.

[@nicolevdh]

Awesome! Sly Flourish is the best! I totally understand you about Dataview. I stalled on it for far too long because I was overwhelmed by the syntax and general usage.

[@watchingvideosnow]

Thank you! Your delivery is perfect, I am excited to try Obsidian now ❤️🧠

[@watchingvideosnow]

...and that final Obsidian sentence, almost pitch, was wonderful!! #serendipity

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks! I'm very happy you liked it. Welcome to the Obsidian community as well! :)

[@watchingvideosnow]

@@nicolevdh Thank you! ❤️

[@paulflute]

wow.. thank you.. Ive NEEDED this for many decades and tried a few times but the whole 'making a database' thing just never happened.. I love the idea of actually having one but i have a hyperconnected superfluid for a brain so they changed on each line.. this looks like ti will finally help me to cross pollinate my creative worlds.. sooo exciting...

[@paulflute]

downloaded and going.. and each thign i needed to know next was your next video in the Queue so thank you for that.. way wya wya too much for me to understand tonight so I'll have to watch them on 1/4 speed.. remember when you are teachign code to non coders you really need to tell us every key.. i remember trying to show my mum how to use an iPad.. a lot of patience required.. thanks.. ;9)

[@SAS_786]

Thanks Nicole, I have used Notion for most things and find it's information management style intuitive and easy to understand, but it's good to know there is an alternative out there which may be more suitable for other types of knowledge aggregation. Good video, Thanks !

[@nicolevdh]

Glad you liked it! I definitely think Notion is ahead of Obsidian in some fronts, most notably user-friendliness. Still a great tool! It's great that there are many tools out there for different needs and different preferences.

[@Gunzo54]

Great work, very insightful, I speciailly find the concept of dataview very exciting

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you! Glad you liked the idea of dataview.

[@falconerd343]

Thanks for the good overview of the two systems. =) I keep most of my notes in Evernote. But it's an almost perfect digital analogy for the piles of papers on my desk. New stuff gets put on top, and then slowly gets buried until it gets fossilized. I tried playing with Notion, but got overwhelmed by the need to write a project proposal to decide on the database structure before I can actually put content in. Then after on-boarding a little bit, write another project proposal to modify the database structure. Oh, and then start a project to format the pages... Obsidian sounds like it might help keep relevant stuff available while not needing to hand-carve the box it's going into.

[@lovepreetlal4830]

For who want to use notion: It's possible to cross reference pages in notion between folders and also in databases, you can't move pages between folder because it's not necessary if you just cross link.

[@melusine826]

Update - you can do relationships now in notion, like having a property/reference table in excel and then can just dump in one database and set up views

[@LearningToLinka]

Something that helped me make the switch to obsidian was realising that the way I organise files eg on iCloud didn’t match how I was trying to organise them on notion. I’m a dump everything into downloads and search for what I need type person, not a crest a folder for everything and have a meticulous naming system for my files type person. Using tags,links and now this video helping me jump into the data view plugin just matches how my brain naturally works in a way that notion never did. I found I was always hunting for the “perfect” database or note style and would get annoyed when I needed certain categories for some notes eg wanting a web link that I wouldn’t for others within a data base. I don’t need the textbook page on a database entry for a website, but if they’re all part of learning a certain Korean grammar point, I’m going to have that field sitting there anyway and it just got too cumbersome and confusing for me so I ended up just..not taking notes because I couldn’t work out a system. In obsidian, I’ve already taken so many notes in just a few days even though I don’t really know what I’m doing. But every day I learn a new skill or new piece of markdown and the notes from that day onwards have extra data or connection added to them.

[@youngamy]

Very helpful from the mindset and technical aspects. Easy to understand your specific example. Thanks a bunch! Just a sidenote that I think the syntax has changed, perhaps with a newer version of Obsidian? This is the syntax which worked for me: ```dataview TABLE type as "TYPE" where date=2022 ```

[@nicolevdh]

Hi Amy! No, the syntax has not changed-- both your version and mine have always worked. The reason I prefer to write: `where contains(date,2021)` is because I have notes where I put more than just the year in my date. For example, my version will work even if I have `[2021, 2022]`, whereas your query will work only if the date is exactly equal to `2022`. You could modify this further-- if you typically write `date: 2021-11-01` for example, you could use the line: `where contains(date,"2021")` and that will yield even more results. It all depends on how you like to annotate your notes! :)

[@travisbragg6276]

Very concise comparison. Clear and helpful.

[@nicolevdh]

Happy I could help! Thanks!

[@buximam]

I would create different workspaces in Notion for Personal, Work and Freelancing, for example and there you don't need to take about KZbin. In Obsidian, how would you find the page out of a jungle to add date late? In a few pages, sure.. you can add the property and see it in a dataview plugin in a different page. I am still struggling to choose one. Can anyone answer this please? I am more inclined towards Notion but I also see how Obsidian can be faster with note taking. What I am looking for is: - Quick thoughts, knowledge that I gather during my day to day work connected to a bigger topic. - Track my tasks that I need to do today, this week and later. - Track my goals that are associated with my tasks. - The knowledge is also mapped with tasks and goals. So, for me it's not only about task management but also knowledge base that I need to create but as fast as possible.

[@pedrockc]

Thank you so much for this video and the Dataview for Beginners, as a non-programmer this has been super helpful. Also do you mind sharing what light theme are you using? It is very comfortable to the eye, I have a pretty annoying astigmatism and is hard to find good non-dark themes

[@cryptosleuth3597]

Great breakdown of the differences thank you!

[@nicolevdh]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching. :)

[@svennirusl]

you can have one page in three folders in Notion, you just use a link. And earlier today, I decided that I would just use one database for everything in Notion. This view of Obsidian sounds interesting, although somewhat daunting. In some ways, things sound native to obsidian that are hacks and adaptations in Notion. But I suspect I'm best served in Notion for now, waiting for the moment where I grow out of it. I've been trying this api stuff in Notion, and it's always so limited. You have amazing tools... that can only interact in a very limited fashion. I hope I end up in Obsidian.

[@irgam81]

This was IMMENSELY helpful, thank you.

[@lupiewarriorx3]

You got me sold on Obsidian. Thank you!

[@nicolevdh]

Thank YOU for watching, Kendra! And welcome to the Obsidian community. :)

[@shyneray250]

Thanks a lot for making this comparison video. You are right that Notion forces us to think way too ahead!!

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks, Shyne! Hope that helped shed some light on the differences, whichever way you go!

[@verquo]

Thanks for the content, Nicole. Very useful.

[@KrlDngr]

This was incredibly informative. Thank you very much for laying this out in such an easy way to grok.

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you, Karl! Glad to help! :)