Notion vs Obsidian for Developers: Different Tools, Different Problems

Notion is what engineering teams use for shared knowledge. Think API documentation, feature specs, sprint planning, incident post-mortems, onboarding docs. It's collaboration-first. Multiple people edit simultaneously, comment on specs, link databases of features to tickets.

Engineering managers use it for roadmaps, OKRs, and team processes. Startups run entire tech teams on Notion - documentation, task tracking, decision logs all in one place. It's less about personal learning and more about team coordination. The collaborative workspace approach fits how modern dev teams work.

Obsidian is what devs use for personal knowledge. Learning notes on new frameworks, code snippets with explanations, technical interview prep, solution archives for problems you've solved. It's intensely personal. Your vault grows over years - React notes from 2020 connect to architecture patterns from 2023.

The graph view shows how concepts link together. Senior devs with 10-year Obsidian vaults have insane reference material. It's not for team docs or project management. It's for building a technical knowledge base that lasts your entire career.

Notion handles technical documentation well. Code blocks support syntax highlighting for basically every language. You can create API endpoint tables with databases, embed Postman collections, link to GitHub repos. The page structure makes navigation intuitive - overview page with nested pages for each API section.

Collaboration means multiple engineers can update docs simultaneously. Version history tracks changes. For internal API docs or technical specs that the team maintains together, Notion works smoothly. The catch? Export is messy if you ever need to migrate.

Obsidian docs are markdown files. Plain text with code blocks. You can version control them with Git, grep them from terminal, edit with any text editor. No vendor lock-in. The downside? No real-time collaboration.

For personal documentation or solo project docs, markdown files are perfect. For team docs that multiple people edit, it's clunky. Some engineering teams do put Obsidian vaults in Git repos for shared docs, but it's not designed for that. Merge conflicts in markdown are annoying.

Notion can be a personal wiki, but it's not optimized for it. You create pages, link them together, maybe use databases to track topics. It works but feels like overkill. The collaborative features don't help when you're solo.

Performance degrades with massive personal vaults. I've seen devs with years of Notion notes struggle with sluggishness. Export and portability are concerns - if Notion changes pricing or shuts down, moving that knowledge elsewhere is painful. It's usable for personal knowledge but not ideal.

This is what Obsidian was built for. You take notes on every framework, library, and concept you encounter. Backlinks connect related topics automatically. Graph view shows your knowledge structure - how frontend concepts link to backend, how design patterns appear across languages.

Years later, you search for 'that caching solution I used in 2021' and find it instantly. The local markdown files are future-proof. Obsidian could disappear tomorrow and your vault still works in any text editor. For long-term technical knowledge, this approach is unbeatable.

Notion works for learning notes. Create a page for a new framework, add sections for concepts, code examples, gotchas. The toggles let you hide complexity until needed. Embed YouTube tutorials, link to docs. It's visual and organized.

The downside? No spaced repetition, no way to surface old notes for review. Your learning notes just sit there. You won't naturally revisit things you learned months ago unless you deliberately search for them. It's passive storage, not active learning.

Obsidian with plugins becomes a learning machine. Spaced Repetition plugin turns notes into flashcards. Dataview creates dynamic queries ('show all notes tagged #to-review that I haven't seen in 30 days'). Your learning notes become an active system.

Study a new framework, take notes, link to related concepts. The backlinks remind you how this connects to stuff you already know. It's optimized for learning and retention, not just storage. Devs serious about continuous learning gravitate toward Obsidian's approach.

Notion shines here. Shared wikis for engineering practices, sprint planning boards, incident runbooks, design doc templates. The whole team works in one workspace. Comments thread on specific blocks for discussions. @mentions notify people.

Permissions control what contractors or stakeholders see. For distributed teams, having one source of truth matters. The collaboration is smooth - no merge conflicts, no syncing issues. If your dev work involves lots of coordination, Notion handles it better than any local-first tool.

Obsidian has zero team features. It's local markdown files. You could put a vault in a Git repo and have everyone clone it, but that's janky. No real-time editing, comments, or notifications.

For personal notes that stay personal, this is fine. For team documentation, it's a dealbreaker. Many devs use Obsidian for personal learning and Notion for team stuff. The two tools complement each other instead of competing.

Notion integrates with GitHub, GitLab, Figma, Linear, Jira, and other dev tools. Embed GitHub PRs in design docs, link Linear tickets to feature specs, pull Figma designs into planning pages. The API lets you build custom integrations.

Some teams automate incident documentation or changelog updates via Notion API. For teams that want their docs connected to their tools, Notion plays nice. It's designed to be a hub, not an island.

Obsidian has community plugins for Git integration, GitHub sync, code execution, and more. You can run code snippets directly in notes (Python, JavaScript, etc). The dataview plugin queries notes like a database. Terminal integration lets you run commands from notes. It's powerful if you're willing to configure plugins.

The catch? It's all community-driven. No official integrations, just what developers have built. For tinkerers, that's perfect. For people wanting plug-and-play, it's extra work.