Nextcloud vs Obsidian: what their users struggle with
UI & usability is where they differ most: 7 of the 100 Nextcloud reports on file (all years) against 8 of the 32 Obsidian reports, each linked to where it was said. The table below counts only the recent reports.
Get started free with your email Open Nextcloud on Friction
| Nextcloud | Obsidian | |
|---|---|---|
| Recent reports compared | 38 | 23 |
| Recurring themes | 6 | 2 |
| Public source threads | 92 | 23 |
| Pain points | 29 | 17 |
| Feature requests | 5 | 2 |
| Workarounds | 1 | 2 |
| Switching reasons | 3 | 2 |
| Reports rated “Causes churn” | 3 | 0 |
Every count in this table is of open reports in the recent window (Nextcloud since 2023-11, Obsidian since 2023-11); older and fixed reports are not counted. The counts measure how much public discussion exists for each product, not which is better: a popular tool collects more reports.
Problems mostly raised about Nextcloud
- Photo backup is not reliable enough for backups · Mobile · Blocks work
- Notes app fails offline even for notes marked available offline · Mobile · Blocks work
- Docs for fixing a stuck maintenance mode are scattered and outdated · Documentation · Annoyance
- Redesigned calendar makes adding and editing events painful · UI & usability · Annoyance
- Play Store build of Android app cannot access all files · Mobile · Annoyance
Problems mostly raised about Obsidian
- Paid Sync is difficult to avoid on iOS · Pricing & plans · Annoyance
- Obsidian Sync fails to sync reliably · Reliability & bugs · Annoyance
- Running an Obsidian vault in a jail can break paths and lose state · Reliability & bugs · Annoyance
- Git plugin has erased history and notes · Reliability & bugs · Blocks work
- Cannot manually sort notes · UI & usability · Annoyance
Go further
Open Nextcloud and Obsidian in the compare tool to filter by area and severity, Nextcloud alternatives, Obsidian alternatives, or the state of workspace and files.
How the data is built. A theme is a group of reports about the same problem; unique means not matched to a theme on the other product.