Penzu
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Use the free tier if you want a simple, private online diary and keep your own backups.
New check
Comparison
Penzu vs Obsidian
Penzu and Obsidian both land on Depends.
Obsidian
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Buy it if you're an individual who wants a powerful, private, local-first knowledge base and will invest time learning it.
| Compare | Penzu | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Depends |
| Best for | Private personal journaling | Personal knowledge bases |
| Who it's not for | Teams or businesses . this is a personal diary, not collaboration software | Teams needing shared, out-of-box collaboration |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.³ | Private, local-first design with third-party audits, but the plugin ecosystem has attracted real malware abuse. |
| Support quality | Users ask if anyone still runs it | No direct support-quality evidence found. |
| Public sentiment | Long-term fans praise simple private writing, but recent Reddit threads question support, backups, and whether anyone still runs it.⁵ | Users love the flexibility and adaptability but frequently flag the steep learning curve, and some long-time fans are drifting away.12 |
| Biggest gotcha | Backing up and exporting entries is a recurring user pain; test exports before committing years of entries.⁶ | Malicious plugins have been abused to deploy malware; vet third-party plugins carefully. |
Pick Penzu when
- Private personal journaling
- Writers who want AES-encrypted entries
- Students and teachers keeping class journals
- Minimalist distraction-free writing
When Penzu is not a fit
- Teams or businesses . this is a personal diary, not collaboration software
- Anyone needing dependable support or painless data export
- Writers wanting photos, prompts, and rich media . Day One does more
- Privacy maximalists wanting modern zero-knowledge encryption
Pick Obsidian when
- Personal knowledge bases
- Privacy-focused note takers
- Writers and researchers linking ideas
- Markdown and plugin tinkerers
When Obsidian is not a fit
- Teams needing shared, out-of-box collaboration
- Casual users who just jot quick notes
- Anyone wanting a polished, zero-setup experience
- Orgs expecting hands-on vendor support
Sources
- Penzu homepagepenzu.comofficial
- Penzu Go Pro pricing pagepenzu.comofficial
- Penzu product security pagepenzu.comofficial
- Penzu App Store reviews (4.0/5)apps.apple.comreview
review
- Day One vs Penzu - Journal Appsitechguides.comreview
review
- Top Comtech Startups in Canada (1M+ registered users)startupblink.comnews
- Penzu Pro lifetime subscription dealstacksocial.comnews
- Obsidian Review . PCMagpcmag.comreview
- Obsidian Reviews . G2g2.comreview
- Obsidian Reviews . Capterracapterra.co.nzreview
- Obsidian Review 2026 . Lindylindy.aireview
- Obsidian: the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly . Original Mac Guyoriginalmacguy.comreview
- I've Grown Tired of Obsidian . MPU Talktalk.macpowerusers.comreview