Rodeo vs Obsidian
Rodeo vs Obsidian
Obsidian keeps your notes as Markdown files on your own device and grows through community plugins. Rodeo is a shared workspace in the cloud, built for a team editing the same pages at the same time.
Free for up to 3 members · no card · import from Notion
The short version
When to pick each
Pick Rodeo if
- Several people need to edit the same pages at once, with comments, mentions and suggested edits.
- You want databases with board, calendar and timeline views, without a plugin.
- You want to share a page with a guest, or publish it as a website, from where you wrote it.
- You want AI that answers from your workspace, with citations to the pages it used.
Pick Obsidian if
- You want your notes as plain files on your own device, and nothing in anyone's cloud.
- You work alone and want a large plugin ecosystem to shape the app.
- You need full offline use. Rodeo keeps a local copy of pages you've opened, but it's a cloud workspace.
Side by side
Rodeo and Obsidian compared
Rodeo's column comes from the product and its help docs. For Obsidian, we only state what it's built around; check Obsidian's own pricing for current prices and plans. A dash means we couldn't confirm it.
| Feature | Rodeo | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free for up to 3 members. Paid plans from $3 or ₦2,500 per member a month, in dollars or naira. | See Obsidian's pricing page |
| Where notes live | Rodeo's cloud, hosted on Microsoft Azure | Markdown files on your device |
| Real-time co-editing | Yes, with live cursors | — |
| Databases with views | Yes, 7 views | Through plugins and Bases |
| Backlinks and graph view | Yes | Yes |
| Plugins | No plugin system; REST API, webhooks and MCP instead | Large community plugin library |
| Offline | Pages you've opened, synced when you're back online | Yes, fully local |
| MCP server for Claude, Cursor and other AI tools | Built in, OAuth-secured, works with your permissions | Through community plugins |
Switching
Moving notes from Obsidian
Step 1
Rodeo has no Obsidian importer yet, so start with the notes your team needs to share.
Step 2
Open a note in Obsidian, copy its Markdown, and paste it into a Rodeo page; headings, lists and code come across as blocks.
Step 3
Link pages with @ mentions; Rodeo builds the backlinks and graph from them.
Questions
Rodeo vs Obsidian, answered
Is Rodeo local-first like Obsidian?
No. Rodeo is a cloud workspace. Pages you've opened keep a local copy so you can keep writing through a dropped connection, and they sync when you're back online.
Can I use both?
Yes. Many people keep private notes in Obsidian and move what the team needs into a shared Rodeo workspace.
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