If I want a basic personal wiki - is Obsidian my only choice?

Vote for Obsidian : can be as baaaasic as you need. File format (markdown ) is totally software-agnostic so you can just bring your notes to a different system (or read them on your regular computer) later instead. 100% local storage, by default completely free, but you can pay for sync if you want it synced to your phone and don't want to hack a workaround. If you don't need features, just don't use them. Links are more helpful than you'd think but completely optional. Omnisearch plugin is great for improving on Obsidian's search functionality.

You can use syncthing to for continuous sync across devices.

Isn't it a single file? How does that play with an LLM? Or haven't you tried?

Take a look at Zim (aka Zim-Wiki). It's sort of wiki-like, a series of files you write in a markdown dialect (there's an editing bar). Files are in a hierarchy that can be as deep as you want, you can link backward and forward, put tags in the text and (if you can't remember where you put something) use context searches to find words or phrases. You can add tables, embed pictures, link to websites. There are plugins, but not too many. It's not as ambitious or as complex as notion or obsidian and so much easier to learn and make a part of your daily life. One killer feature for me is that all Zim files are text files, stored on my machine in the place I want to put them. Hope this helps.

Absolutely agree. There is one thing that is not true. You can't use iCloud to sync your vaults with iPhone. Apple mobile apps are sandboxed so Obsidian app will not be able to read files that are stored in iCloud app. But you can still read .md files manually. Obsidian sync is the only way you can do it properly in Apple ecosystem. With Android it is possible to use Syncthing.

I don't care about the graph that Obsidian has or interconnecting. I just want the notes there and be able to search for them. Obsidian suggestions: Disable the graph view Don't create links (just use the built-in search) Store your Obsidian Vault on iCloud Drive (free sync between your iPhone & Mac!) iCloud notes: (thanks to u/spirolking for pointing out the app sandboxing!) Create a new Vault in Obsidian for iPhone & enable iCloud Sync This creates an authorized iCloud sync folder. If you have an existing Vault on your computer, just relocate the files to the iCloud folder! This is Mac-only (iCloud Drive for Windows is not real-time & can corrupt Obsidian FYI). Use OneDrive if you need a free iOS & Windows sync solution! Obsidian is very simple: It uses nested folders It uses text files (markdown .MD files with human-readable formatting code) You can attach files by embedding (duplicates the file into your Vault folder) This means: All of your stuff is private You can choose how to sync it to other devices (or not!) Everything lives in one place No crazy databases or anything to break or maintain - just sub-folders & simple MD text files! Fully searchable! If you want to expand the functionality, there are over 4,000 plugins! Here are a few good ones: If you want a more advanced search, try the Omnisearch plugin If you like to sketch mindmaps, try the Excalidraw plugin! The Editing Toolbar adds some basic Microsoft Word-style features (bold, italic, etc.) The Importer plugin can vacuum in Apple Notes, OneNote, etc. Highlightr lets you add marker-style highlights on lines of text So you can basically use it as a minimal, zero-complexity notes app, or build it out to suit exactly the features you want! If that sounds like too much, an even more basic option is Simplenotes, which is like a cross-platform version of Apple Notes!

I use Notion . I've been using it for years, I don't like the way they push AI features but there'd be a significant time and effort cost to moving systems. Notion is still a powerful option.

Obsidian is great--I've used it for years. It's hardly your only choice though. There are a ton of apps in this space these days.

If having the graph view in obsidian is that much of a concern for you, you can just turn it off. You can also just create markdown files in a folder.

You can totally use obsidian without those features, but considering that inter-linking is what makes something a wiki, I’d recommend you give it a go. The graph you can easily just ignore if you don’t find it useful. There’s also a really good plugin to give you a view of your folders and notes in the same split-pane style OneNote has, called Notebook Navigator.

Notion?

I previously got recommended ”Joplin” which replaced Evernote for me when they stopped being free. Open source, available on iOS, android and PC. So if you are into building your own notebook style wiki But maybe you didn’t like the notebook style at all? To me it’s all about how you catalogue it all. I still struggle to get it perfect. But also happy and proud with my digital knowledge temple

Amplenote

I'm a big UpNote fan. Great value as well.

UpNote is great because it’s a one time fee. The sub has some templates available for tracking medical information. If you’re looking for more of an obsidian experience without all the setup, try capacities.

Notion is also nice, but it's always something, you try to make better... Nowadays, I just add everything to My Google drive and ask NotebookLM

I love Tiddlywiki! It’s free and highly customizable and syncs across devices and web. Downside is it isn’t user-friendly, it takes a fair bit of effort to get good at it. But it was worth it to me to do that. I’ve got over 10 years invested, and I’m happy to report that I currently get more out of it than I put into it.

I use notion. I love the AI feature, the way I can set it up and make it remember everything I want it to from a brain log.

Probably going to be unpopular among this crowd, but... Confluence. For individual/family use it is relatively cheap. It's simple to use. It is highly available and accessible from anywhere. No headaches. No massive learning curve. Is that enough for you? It sure is for me.

Try eMacs. Open source and people’s wiki from thirty years