shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Welcome to Quartz 5?

Quartz is a fast, batteries-included static-site generator that transforms Markdown content into fully functional websites. - quartz.jzhao.xyz

Depends. Excellent free pick if you live in Markdown or Obsidian and can run a terminal. Skip it if you want no-code hosting, managed publishing, or vendor support.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 14 public sources, mostly official docs plus social posts; no independent review platforms found.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Open source

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Obsidian note publishers
  • Personal blogs and digital gardens
  • Developers wanting Markdown sites
  • Self-hosters avoiding paid sync subscriptions

Not for

  • Non-technical users wanting a no-code website builder
  • Teams needing managed hosting and support SLAs
  • E-commerce or dynamic app requirements
  • Anyone unwilling to touch and a terminal

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Upgrades pull from upstream via npx quartz upgrade; local customizations can conflict and need manual merging.

medium

No security page exists — you rely on community patching, not vendor commitments.

medium

Self-hosting means your hosting costs, maintenance, and breakage are yours alone.

low

Migrating away means exporting raw Markdown; themes, components, and graph features don't transfer.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free and open source; turns Markdown into functional websites
  • Publishes notes as self-hosted sites with Obsidian-style graph view
  • Obsidian-flavored Markdown compatibility built in
  • Batteries included: plugin and component system, comments via Giscus
  • Called a great free alternative to Obsidian Sync

Cons

  • Install and upgrades run through npx and a terminal
  • No managed hosting; you handle deployment and uptime yourself
  • Deep customization requires writing React components
  • No official security page or paid support channel

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/21/2026 - 9 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x5review x3security x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 9

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free and open source, zero licensing cost.
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Install via npx; needs Node, Git, terminal.
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Plugins, components, graph view, Obsidian compatibility.
  • Support quality: 2/5. Discord and GitHub community only, no paid support.
  • Security posture: 2/5. No published security page or process found.
  • $0 Price Free, open source on GitHub
  • Yes Free tier Entire product is free
  • v5.0.0 Latest version Docs footer shows © 2026
  • Self-hosted Deployment Official hosting guide provided

Pricing

Open source

$0

  • Full static-site generator
  • Self-hosted publishing
  • Community support via Discord and GitHub

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Posters on X and LinkedIn praise Quartz as a free way to publish Markdown and Obsidian notes as self-hosted sites.

“Turns your markdown notes into a self-hosted site with Obsidian-style graph view”
Peter Mekhaeil, X
“Great alternative to Obsidian Sync.”
vivek (@0xStateMachine), X
“This was built entirely using Quartz 5.”
Muhammad Salaar, LinkedIn
Full analysis

Based on 14 public sources, mostly official docs plus social posts; no independent review platforms found.

Free, open-source Markdown-to-site generator, great for Obsidian users — but you must self-host and use a terminal.

Methodology

Based on 14 public sources, mostly official docs plus social posts; no independent review platforms found.

Sources

  1. official
  2. Installation guidequartz.jzhao.xyz
    official
  3. Obsidian Compatibilityquartz.jzhao.xyz
    official
  4. official
  5. Communityquartz.jzhao.xyz
    official
  6. security
  7. review
  8. review
  9. review

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