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Octarine guide

Obsidian Sync alternatives: every way to sync a Markdown vault

Five ways to sync an Obsidian vault without the Obsidian Sync subscription — iCloud Drive and other folder services, Syncthing, and Git — with the setup and the failure mode of each.

By Rajat Kulkarni · Reviewed November 9, 2026

Obsidian Sync does two jobs at once: it moves your vault between devices, and it keeps every version of every note, end-to-end encrypted, for $4 per user per month. Both halves have alternatives. This guide walks each one, with the setup and the way it fails, so you can pick the failure mode you'd rather live with.

The short version: if you edit on one device at a time and mostly want backup plus access, any folder service is enough. If you edit the same note from two devices before syncing, you want something that merges — Obsidian Sync, or Git.

1. A folder-sync service (iCloud Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive)

Put the vault in a synced folder and the service handles the rest. Obsidian's own docs treat the vault as ordinary files, which is why this works.

  • Setup: move the vault into the synced folder, open it from each device.
  • Fails when: two devices edit the same note before syncing. Most services don't merge Markdown; they keep the newest file and drop a conflicted copy next to it. Some services also struggle with many small files, which a vault full of notes is.
  • Cost: usually a plan you already pay for.

2. Syncthing (no cloud at all)

Syncthing syncs folders peer-to-peer between your own devices, free and open source, with no server holding your notes.

  • Setup: install Syncthing on each desktop, share the vault folder.
  • Fails when: you need offline access on a phone — there's no supported iOS client, so this is a desktop-to-desktop (and Android) option. Conflicts are handled the same way as folder services: newest wins, with a conflicted copy.
  • Cost: free.

3. Git

Git syncs and versions at once: every commit is a snapshot of the whole vault, and a merge conflict is something Git flags instead of silently resolving.

  • Setup: git init in the vault, commit from a habit or a script, push to a private remote. Our Git sync guide covers the details.
  • Fails when: you want it invisible. Something has to commit, push, and pull — a person, a script, or an app with it built in. Merge conflicts need a human, though that beats silent data loss.
  • Cost: free with any Git host.

4. Stay with Obsidian Sync

For completeness: $4/user/month buys end-to-end encrypted sync, version history, and merging that's tested against the app itself. If your vault is your job and you edit from several devices a day, the subscription is cheaper than a lost note. Obsidian also works on iOS and Android, where self-managed Git is awkward.

5. An app with sync built in

If you're re-evaluating the app and not just the sync, Octarine keeps notes as the same plain Markdown files — an Obsidian vault opens as-is — with built-in Git sync (commit, push, and pull from inside the app), or you can leave the workspace in any folder-sync service. The tradeoffs are on our Octarine vs Obsidian page, including where Obsidian wins.

How to decide

  • One device plus backup: any folder service, or Time Machine.
  • Two or more desktops, no cloud: Syncthing.
  • Version history and flagged conflicts: Git, or Obsidian Sync.
  • Phones in the loop with no fuss: Obsidian Sync, or an app with sync built in.

Sources and review notes