The short answer
- Choose LuniNote if you want Evernote’s way of working without rebuilding it. Notebooks, stacks, nested tags and saved searches arrive as they were, and search reads your scans and PDFs.
- Choose Obsidian if you want notes as plain files on your own computer, and like to shape the app with plugins. It also has apps for phones today.
Last checked: 23 October 2026. We make LuniNote, so read this as coming from the maker. Facts about Obsidian come from Obsidian’s own help, price pages and repositories, listed under Sources.
Side by side
| LuniNote | Obsidian | |
|---|---|---|
| Moving from Evernote | The extension moves the whole account, or you import .enex files | The free Importer plugin reads .enex files |
| Checking the result | A report, notebook by notebook. Every attachment is checked against Evernote’s own fingerprint. | Not described in Obsidian’s docs |
| Notebooks and stacks | Both, as in Evernote | Folders. Stacks come back if you rename each file Stack@@@Notebook before import. |
| Nested tags | Yes, and the extension brings the nesting | Yes, if you rename each child tag to Parent/Child in Evernote before exporting |
| Saved searches | Yes, and the extension brings them | You can bookmark a search |
| Text Evernote read from scans | Kept and searchable | Not described in Obsidian’s docs |
| Reading scans and PDFs | PDFs including scanned pages, Office files, images | Not built in. Community plugins, on the desktop. |
| Search | Evernote’s search syntax | Obsidian’s own: tag:, path:, file: and more |
| Notes are stored as | Rich text: colors, fonts, highlights, tables with merged cells | Markdown files in a folder you own |
| Runs on | Chrome-based browsers on a computer. Firefox, phone and desktop apps in development. | Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, Android. No web app. |
| End-to-end encryption | No | For Sync, on by default. Files on your computer aren’t encrypted. |
| Web clipper | Chrome-based browsers. Firefox in development. | Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge and more |
| Price | Free during the open beta | Free. Sync from $4 a month, paid yearly. |
| Open source | AGPL-3.0. Self-host with Docker Compose. | No. The importer and clipper are. |
| Export | The whole account as ENEX, HTML, Markdown or JSON | Notes are already Markdown files. PDF per note on the desktop. |
Moving your notes
LuniNote has two ways in. The LuniNote browser extension moves a whole Evernote account without any files. Notebooks, stacks, nested tags and saved searches arrive, with attachments, dates, author, source address, location and reminders. It only reads from Evernote and changes nothing there. You can also import .enex files: each file becomes a notebook, and Stack@@@Notebook.enex rebuilds its stack.
Either way, you get a report. It lists every notebook with what Evernote listed, what is in LuniNote, and what didn’t come over. Attachments are checked against Evernote’s own fingerprint of each file.
Obsidian imports .enex files with its official Importer plugin. Each file becomes a folder of Markdown files. Obsidian’s help names two steps to take in Evernote before you export:
- For nested tags, rename every child tag to
ParentTag/ChildTag, because “Evernote export does not keep the tag hierarchy”. - For stacks, name each exported file
Stack@@@Notebook, and the importer builds a Notebook folder inside a Stack folder.
With hundreds of tags, the renaming takes a while. Obsidian’s docs don’t say whether the text Evernote read from your scans comes along.
Finding things
LuniNote uses Evernote’s search syntax, so saved searches and habits carry over: tag:, notebook:, stack:, intitle:, created:, todo:, resource:, “exact phrase”, - to exclude, any: and more. It reads the text in PDFs (scanned pages too), Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, and images. The text Evernote had already read from your scans is kept.
Obsidian has its own search words, such as tag:, path:, file:, line: and task:, plus regular expressions. Its help says it “only searches the contents of notes and canvases”. A PDF can be searched while it’s open, on a computer, but not from the search box. To search scans, you add a community plugin. The best known one, Text Extractor, is marked as unmaintained and works on the desktop only.
Working day to day
LuniNote keeps Evernote’s layout ideas: three panes, notebooks and stacks in the sidebar, List, Snippet and Card views, shortcuts, and about 45 keyboard shortcuts. Notes are rich text, like Evernote’s. Every change to a note is kept in its history, and the Trash is never emptied for you.
Obsidian opens a folder of Markdown files, called a vault. You link notes to each other, use nested tags with /, and bookmark files, folders and searches. Core plugins and a large set of community plugins add features. Because notes are plain files, any text editor can open them, and you can back them up any way you like.
Where Obsidian fits better
- Plain files. Your notes are Markdown files on your own disk, readable without Obsidian.
- Plugins. If you like to build your own system, Obsidian’s large set of community plugins gives you the parts.
- Phones. Obsidian has apps for iPhone and Android. LuniNote’s phone apps are in development.
Price and open source
LuniNote is free during the open beta, with no card. Paid plans come later; prices aren’t set. The app is open source (AGPL-3.0), and you can run it on your own server with one Docker Compose file. The hosted version adds the extension that moves a whole account.
Obsidian is free for any use, including work. Sync costs $4 a month paid yearly or $5 paid monthly, for one vault and 1 GB; Sync Plus is $8 a month paid yearly. Publish is $8 a month paid yearly. Obsidian is not open source; its importer and web clipper are, under the MIT licence.
Questions
Can Obsidian replace Evernote?
For many people it does, especially those who want notes as plain files and like to set things up with plugins. It works differently from Evernote: folders instead of notebooks and stacks, Markdown instead of rich text, and no built-in search inside scans. If you want Evernote’s way of working, LuniNote is built for that.
Can I import my Evernote notebooks and tags into Obsidian?
Yes, with Obsidian’s free Importer plugin, which reads .enex files. Each file becomes a folder and tag names come along. To keep the tag hierarchy, Obsidian’s help says to rename child tags to Parent/Child in Evernote before exporting. LuniNote’s extension brings nested tags without renaming.
How do I get notebook stacks in Obsidian?
Name each exported file Stack@@@Notebook.enex. Obsidian’s importer then puts the notes in a Notebook folder inside a Stack folder. LuniNote’s importer reads the same file names, and its extension brings stacks straight from your account.
Does Obsidian search inside PDFs and scans?
Not built in. Obsidian’s help says it only searches the contents of notes and canvases. Community plugins add text reading for images and PDFs on the desktop. LuniNote reads PDFs, scanned pages, Office files and images, and keeps the text Evernote had already read.
How much is Obsidian Sync?
Obsidian is free. Sync costs $4 a month paid yearly, or $5 paid monthly, for one vault and 1 GB. Sync Plus is $8 a month paid yearly. LuniNote is free during its open beta.
Is Obsidian open source?
No. Obsidian’s own release repository says it is not open source software, although its importer and web clipper are. LuniNote is open source under the AGPL-3.0, and you can run it on your own server.
Sources
All read on 23 October 2026.
Obsidian
- Import from Evernote (tag hierarchy and stacks) and the Importer plugin
- Search, tags, bookmarks, PDFs
- Text Extractor plugin
- Pricing, Sync, Sync plans and limits, Sync security
- Download (apps and web clipper browsers)
- obsidian-releases repository (“not open source software”)
LuniNote: Features, Import from Evernote, Pricing and the source code.