Okay so I’m a grad student working on my thesis and need to pick a note-taking app.
Tried Notion for a bit but it feels kinda slow?? And Obsidian looks kinda hard to learn?
My use case:
– Thesis writing (lots of long docs)
– Some coding notes for data analysis
– Need it to sync across laptop + phone
– Budget: literally broke student lol
Anyone who switched between these?? Which one actually worth the learning curve??
Halp pls
Full breakdown after testing all three for 6 months:
**Notion:**
Pros: All-in-one workspace, great templates, team collaboration
Cons: Can be slow with large databases, free tier limited
**Obsidian:**
Pros: Local-first (super fast), linked notes are game-changing, free forever
Cons: Steep learning curve, no built-in collaboration
**Craft:**
Pros: Beautiful UI, Apple ecosystem native, great for documents
Cons: Limited cross-platform, more expensive
**For thesis writing:**
I’d recommend Obsidian. The linked notes feature is PERFECT for academic writing – you can connect ideas effortlessly. Plus it’s free forever!
Happy to answer specific questions!