Obsidian vs Fantastical
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Obsidian is the better app overall, scoring 9.3 to 8.9. Obsidian wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Fantastical on 1.
Writers, students and researchers building a long-term personal knowledge base
Busy Apple users juggling work and personal calendars
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Obsidian | Fantastical |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Productivity & Notes | Productivity & Notes |
| Category rank | #2 of 13 | #6 of 13 |
| Developer | Dynalist Inc. | Flexibits |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | — |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
Common questions
Is Obsidian better than Fantastical?
Obsidian is the better app overall, scoring 9.3 to 8.9. Obsidian wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Fantastical on 1.
Which is cheaper, Obsidian or Fantastical?
Obsidian: Free app; Sync from $4/month and Publish from $8/month, billed yearly. Fantastical: Free basics; Flexibits Premium is $6.99 a month or $56.99 a year on the App Store. On value for money, Obsidian scores higher.
Do Obsidian and Fantastical work on the same devices?
Only Obsidian runs on Android, Linux.
Which is more private, Obsidian or Fantastical?
Obsidian scores higher on privacy (9.7/10). The App Store label says no data is collected, and there are no ads or tracking. Notes are local files on your device, and the optional Sync service is end-to-end encrypted by default.
Strengths and weaknesses
Obsidian
- Notes are local files that stay yours forever
- Fast and fully usable offline, with no account needed
- Free for personal and commercial use
- Steep learning curve with many setup choices
- Official sync and publishing are paid add-ons
Obsidian keeps your notes as plain Markdown files on your own device, so you own them outright and they work offline. Backlinks, graph view, Canvas and Bases, which now includes table, list and kanban views, turn a folder of notes into a connected knowledge base, and community plugins cover almost anything else. The app is free for any use. The catch is the learning curve, and official sync costs extra.
Full Obsidian review
Fantastical
- Add events by typing a normal sentence
- Polished apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows
- Works with Microsoft 365 and Google accounts
- Most power features need the subscription
- No Android phone or tablet app yet
- Microsoft 365 users must switch to Graph sync
Fantastical lets you add an event by typing a normal sentence with the who, what and when, and it fills in the rest. Around that you get the DayTicker, Calendar Sets, tasks from Todoist and Google Tasks, Openings and Proposals for scheduling, weather, and AI that turns forwarded emails and screenshots into events. Most of the best parts need Premium, and Android phones aren't supported yet.
Full Fantastical review
