Obsidian, but fully in the cloud

For everyone who has asked their AI for "something like Obsidian, but in the cloud, with Claude integration."

Short answer

Obsidian has no cloud version: Sync copies your vault between devices and Publish posts read-only pages, but the app itself always runs locally. The closest cloud equivalent is Hjarni: the same plain-Markdown notes, folders, and wiki-links, hosted with a web app, mobile apps, and a built-in MCP server, so Claude and ChatGPT read and write your notes from any device. Import your vault as a ZIP; export it back anytime.

	Hjarni (cloud)	Obsidian + Sync
Where notes live	Hosted in the EU; export the whole base as Markdown anytime.	Local files on each device, mirrored by Sync's encrypted copy.
Browser access	Full web app. Any machine with a browser is your vault.	None. Every device needs the Obsidian app installed.
Claude & ChatGPT	Built-in MCP server with OAuth. Works from Claude and ChatGPT on web and mobile.	Community plugins or a local MCP server, reachable only while your machine is on.
Wiki-links & folders	Yes: Markdown notes, folders, tags, and wiki-links.	Yes: the reference implementation, plus graph view and plugins.
Upkeep	None. Sign in and connect.	You maintain the vault, the plugins, and any AI plumbing.

Why there is no Obsidian web app

Obsidian is local-first on purpose: your vault is a folder of Markdown files on your machine, and the app that reads it runs on that machine. Obsidian Sync keeps an encrypted copy so several devices stay in step, and Obsidian Publish puts a read-only copy of chosen notes on the web, but neither is a cloud workspace you can open in a browser. That design is also why hosted assistants struggle with it: Claude on the web or your phone has no way to open files on your laptop, so AI access means wiring up plugins or a local MCP server and keeping the machine that holds the vault switched on.

What moving to the cloud actually buys you

A hosted vault turns "my notes" from a folder on one machine into an endpoint everything you use can reach. In Hjarni that means a web app in any browser, iOS and Android apps, and a built-in MCP server that Claude and ChatGPT connect to with a one-time OAuth approval: no plugins, no machine left running at home. Ask Claude to save a note from your phone, refine it later from a browser at work, and both touch the same Markdown. Folder-level AI instructions and shared team folders come with it, which a folder of local files cannot do.

Keep the parts of Obsidian that matter

What people actually refuse to give up is rarely the local disk. It is plain Markdown, folders, and wiki-links. Those carry over. You import your vault as a ZIP and folders, wiki-links, front-matter, and attachments come across intact. And the exit stays open: export the entire knowledge base as a ZIP of Markdown files anytime, and drop it straight back into an Obsidian vault if the cloud turns out not to be for you. Hosted is a choice about where the files live, not about who owns them.

When to stay local

If you work offline, love the plugin ecosystem, lean on graph view or Dataview, or have a hard requirement that data stays on your own hardware, keep Obsidian: it is the best local vault there is, and self-hosting your AI memory is a legitimate choice. There is also a middle path: keep Obsidian as your local editor and sync Hjarni notes into your vault, so the cloud copy is what your AI reads while the vault stays your writing desk.

Sync moves your vault between your devices. The cloud takes it off your devices entirely, and puts it where your AI can reach it.

Stay local with Obsidian if

›You work offline or need data on your own hardware
›Plugins, graph view, and Dataview are core to your system
›You enjoy running and tuning the setup yourself

Move to the cloud if

›You want your vault in any browser, with nothing to keep running
›You want Claude and ChatGPT reading and writing your notes from any device
›You want Markdown you can export back to a vault anytime

Give your AI a memory

Common questions

Obsidian in the cloud questions

Is there a cloud version of Obsidian?

No. Obsidian is a local-first app with no web version: Obsidian Sync copies your vault between devices, and Obsidian Publish puts a read-only copy of chosen notes online, but the app itself always runs on your machine. The closest cloud equivalent is a hosted Markdown knowledge base like Hjarni: the same plain-Markdown notes, folders, and wiki-links, served from the cloud with a web app and a built-in MCP server.

Can Claude read my Obsidian vault?

Only through community plugins or a local MCP server, and only while the machine holding the vault is on. Claude on the web or your phone cannot reach files on your laptop. A cloud-hosted vault with a built-in MCP server is what lets Claude read and write your notes from any device, with a one-time OAuth connection instead of plugins.

How do I move my Obsidian vault to the cloud?

Zip the vault and import it into Hjarni. Folders, wiki-links, front-matter, and attachments come across, and the notes stay plain Markdown. From then on the same notes are readable and writable by Claude, ChatGPT, and any other MCP client, from a browser or the mobile apps.

Do I lose Markdown ownership by moving off local files?

Not if the cloud tool keeps notes as plain Markdown you can export. Hjarni stores every note as Markdown and exports the whole knowledge base as a ZIP of Markdown files anytime, so you can move back to a local vault whenever you want. Hosted is a choice about where the files live, not about who owns them.

Isn't Obsidian Sync already 'Obsidian in the cloud'?

Sync stores an encrypted copy of your vault to keep devices in step, which is different from a cloud app. There is still no browser access, no hosted endpoint an assistant can call, and every device needs the Obsidian app installed. If what you want is your notes reachable from any browser and readable by Claude or ChatGPT, you want a hosted knowledge base, not device sync.

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