localmd and Obsidian AI plugins, and when to use which

Last checked 2026-09-17

Short answer. These are not rivals, and this page will not tell you to leave Obsidian. An Obsidian vault is a folder of Markdown files, and localmd is a web page that opens a folder of Markdown files — so the two work on the same notes, and you can use both. The difference is where the AI comes from. In Obsidian you assemble it: pick community plugins, install them, give each its keys, and in some setups install a coding agent for them to drive. In localmd the agent is part of the page, along with a PDF and EPUB reader whose citations click back to the exact paragraph. Both are free; localmd is open source (MIT).

Side by side

	Obsidian + AI plugins	localmd
Your notes	Markdown files in a folder	The same — it can open your existing vault
Install	The Obsidian app, then each plugin	Nothing. It is a URL
Where the AI comes from	Community plugins you choose and configure — for example Copilot for chat and agents, Smart Connections for related notes	Built in: one agent that reads, searches, writes and links
Keys and accounts	Per plugin: your own provider key, a plugin's paid plan, or an existing Claude Code or Codex install, depending on the plugin	One place: your own provider key
Local models	Supported by several plugins	Not something we have verified, so not something we claim
PDFs and EPUBs	Depends on the plugin	Indexed by paragraph; answers cite the paragraph and clicking opens it, highlighted
Changes to your notes	Depends on the plugin	Always a diff you approve; an ask-first mode writes nothing until you say yes; git underneath
Plugins, themes, canvas, the rest of the ecosystem	Thousands	None of that — localmd has skills and MCP servers instead
Works offline	Yes, fully, without AI	Reading, writing and search yes; the agent needs a connection
Mobile	Yes	Not yet
Browsers and platforms	Desktop and mobile apps	Chrome or Edge on a desktop (why)
Source code	Obsidian is closed; plugins vary	Open, MIT

The plugin facts are from each project's own README, read on the date above. Plugins change quickly — check the ones you use.

Using both on the same vault

Open your vault's folder in localmd and nothing is converted or moved. It understands [[wikilinks]] and backlinks, and it does not impose a layout: an existing folder keeps its structure, and the agent files new pages according to how you already organize things.

What it adds to the folder is a .localmd/ directory holding document indexes, and whatever notes you ask the agent to write. Obsidian ignores the first and shows the second like any other note. Citation tokens such as [[1:b14-3]] are plain text in Obsidian; they become clickable when the note is opened in localmd.

A common split: write and organize in Obsidian as you always have; open the same folder in localmd when you want to read a book or a stack of papers into the vault, with citations you can follow back.

When Obsidian's plugins are the better answer

You want AI inside the editor you already spend the day in.
You want a local model, fully offline.
You are on a phone, or on Firefox or Safari.
You enjoy tuning the setup. Many people do, and the ecosystem rewards it.

When localmd is

You do not want to be the integrator — choosing plugins, wiring keys, keeping them working across updates.
Your material is mostly PDFs and EPUBs, and you need citations that land on the paragraph.
You are on a machine where you cannot install software, but you can open a URL.
You want every change the agent makes to arrive as a diff you approve.

What "local" does and does not mean here

Your files stay in your folder either way. With localmd, the text the agent reads is sent to the model provider you configured, under your own key. There is no localmd server in between, but a hosted model is still someone's API.

Try it without setting anything up

The demo opens with no folder and no key: three linked notes, a real 43-page paper with working citations, and a small free model allowance for a few questions.