Switching from Obsidian?
Keep your markdown.
Lose the setup.
Obsidian gave everyone a local-first, plain-text vault — and then asked them to assemble the rest. Cambium takes the same markdown files and makes the connected part automatic, on the phone first.
- Obsidian vault import
- Markdown in, markdown out
- Offline-first
- No credit card to start
What changes
The vault, without the assembly.
Everything below ships today. Your notes stay plain markdown throughout — the whole point of leaving one app is not being trapped in the next one.
Bring your vault as-is
Import a folder of markdown files and keep your structure. Nothing is rewritten into a proprietary format, and you can export the whole thing back out whenever you like.
Built mobile-first
The phone app is the point, not a companion. Write on the move, read offline, and pick up on another device without assembling a sync setup yourself.
Links you didn't have to make
Cambium reads what you wrote and suggests related notes with a one-line reason. You approve the ones that make sense — the graph grows without manual backlinking.
Search by meaning
Find the note you half-remember by describing it, not by guessing the exact words you used. Exact-phrase search still works offline.
Sync that's just on
Your notes move between your signed-in devices as part of the product. There is nothing to configure and no third-party service to wire up.
Nothing to assemble
No plugin list to curate, no theme to maintain, no setup that breaks on update. Fewer knobs on purpose — which is a real trade-off, see below.
Which one is for you
Obsidian is genuinely good.
Stay with Obsidian if…
You want total control and a workspace you can shape endlessly. Its plugin ecosystem is the best in the category and it is free for personal use — two things we are not going to compete with. If you enjoy tuning your system, or your workflow depends on specific community plugins, you are already in the right place and should stay.
Switch to Cambium if…
Your vault has become a project you maintain rather than a tool you use — most often because capturing on your phone is awkward, or because the links never got made and the graph stayed thin. Cambium is the narrower bet: bring the same markdown, get mobile capture and automatic connections, give up the knobs.
Questions from Obsidian users
- Can I import my Obsidian vault into Cambium?
- Yes. Cambium imports a folder of markdown files and keeps your notes in markdown, so your vault comes across as-is rather than being converted into a proprietary format. You can export everything back to plain markdown at any time.
- Is Cambium free like Obsidian?
- No. Obsidian is free for personal use and Cambium is a paid subscription. If price is the deciding factor, Obsidian wins outright and we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. Cambium starts with a free trial and no credit card so you can decide on the product.
- Do my notes stay in markdown?
- Yes. Markdown in, markdown out. Portability is the point — your notes should never be trapped in one app, including ours.
- Does Cambium work offline?
- Yes. Notes are stored locally so you can read, write, and search without a connection. Changes sync across your signed-in devices once you are back online.
- How is the AI linking different from manual backlinks?
- You write normally instead of remembering to link. Cambium suggests notes that relate to what you just wrote and gives a one-line reason for each, and you decide which suggestions become real links. Nothing is added to your notes without your approval.
- Does Cambium have plugins?
- No, and that is the honest trade. Obsidian's plugin ecosystem is its biggest strength; if your workflow depends on community plugins, Cambium will feel restrictive. It is built for people who want the connected-notes result without maintaining the machinery.
Bring the vault. Keep the markdown.
Import what you already wrote and let the connections make themselves.
Obsidian is a trademark of its respective owner. Cambium is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Obsidian.