Compare
The open-source, self-hosted Obsidian alternative built for teams
Last updated September 9, 2026
Obsidian is a beloved local-first markdown app — your notes are plain files you own, with an unrivaled plugin ecosystem and graph view. But it is built for one person: closed-source, no real-time multiplayer, no built-in AI or MCP, and Obsidian Publish is a hosted service you cannot self-host. tela does not ask you to give up the folder. It exposes every space as a WebDAV tree, so you can mount it — or bisync it with rclone — and keep working in Obsidian against the very same .md files your team edits in the browser.
tela vs Obsidian, at a glance
| Feature | tela | Obsidian |
|---|---|---|
| Your files stay yours | Two-way — mount /dav/ as a folder of .md files with any WebDAV client, or bisync it with rclone | Plain .md files in a folder on your disk — the original of this idea |
| License | Open source (AGPL-3.0) | Proprietary / closed-source |
| Self-hostable | Yes — self-host free, plus a free cloud tier | Local app; Publish is hosted, not self-hostable |
| Real-time collaboration | Yes — real-time multiplayer on documents and spreadsheets | No — single-user; async vault sync |
| Team controls | Organizations, groups, per-space roles, invite by email, Google/Microsoft/GitHub sign-in; per-org SSO on Enterprise | No — single-user product |
| Ask your docs (AI) & MCP | Built in — ranked full-text always, plus semantic Ask that cites its sources (self-host brings its own model) | None official (community plugins) |
| Publishing to the web | Publish a whole space to the open web — no-login reader, clean /handle/space URLs, RSS and a sitemap | Obsidian Publish — a paid hosted service |
| Generate docs from your code | Yes — Atlas builds a cited, coverage-checked wiki from git repos and Jira | No |
Why teams switch to tela
- You do not have to leave the folder behind. Mount your tela spaces as a vault of .md files — any WebDAV client will do, and rclone bisync merges both directions server-side — so your local editor and your team's browser are working on the same files, not on a copy.
- Real-time multiplayer with organizations, groups and per-space roles; Obsidian is single-player with async vault sync.
- Open-source and self-hostable — including the published surface: flipping a space public gives you a no-login reader with RSS and a sitemap, where Obsidian Publish is a paid hosted service you cannot run yourself.
- AI and agents are built in, not assembled from community plugins of varying license and maintenance — and Atlas generates a cited wiki from your repos and Jira.
When Obsidian is the better choice
For a single user's personal knowledge base, Obsidian is hard to beat: local-first and offline by default, an enormous plugin library, the graph view, canvas, and total control over a folder of files on your disk with no server in the loop at all. tela's sync is a network mount, not an offline-first local app — lose the connection and you are working on a cache. For solo PKM or a personal digital garden, stay with Obsidian.
Frequently asked questions
Is tela a good Obsidian alternative?
Yes. You do not have to leave the folder behind. Mount your tela spaces as a vault of .md files — any WebDAV client will do, and rclone bisync merges both directions server-side — so your local editor and your team's browser are working on the same files, not on a copy. tela is open-source (AGPL-3.0), self-hostable, and markdown-native, with a built-in MCP server so AI agents read and write your docs.
Can I self-host tela and connect AI agents to it?
Yes. Self-host tela for free (AGPL-3.0) or start on the free cloud tier. Its built-in MCP server lets agents like Claude search, read and write your wiki directly, on tools scoped by the token you give them.
When is Obsidian the better choice?
For a single user's personal knowledge base, Obsidian is hard to beat: local-first and offline by default, an enormous plugin library, the graph view, canvas, and total control over a folder of files on your disk with no server in the loop at all. tela's sync is a network mount, not an offline-first local app — lose the connection and you are working on a cache. For solo PKM or a personal digital garden, stay with Obsidian.
Try tela
tela is an open-source (AGPL), self-hostable team wiki. Self-host it, or start on the free cloud tier at telawiki.com. See the MCP server docs for connecting your agents, or compare tela with other tools.
obsidian.md — pricing + license (verified 2026). tela facts current as of September 9, 2026.