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Tool review — Clippers & Capture · Updated

Obsidian Web Clipper Review (2026)

Clips pages as Markdown into local Obsidian vaults

Free

Visit obsidian.md ↗

What is Obsidian Web Clipper?

Obsidian Web Clipper is a free, open-source browser extension from the makers of Obsidian, the local-first note-taking app. It captures web pages — full articles or highlighted selections — converts them to Markdown, and saves them directly into a local Obsidian vault, so your clips live as plain files on your own device rather than on a company's servers. A template system with variables and filters formats clips automatically (articles, recipes, papers, or custom layouts) and can auto-apply per site, pulling in meta tags and Schema.org data. An Interpreter feature lets you use natural-language prompts to capture and shape page data. Available for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari (including iOS/iPadOS), Brave, Arc, Orion, and Vivaldi; the MIT-licensed code is actively maintained on GitHub with over 5,000 stars.

Key features

Where it saves to

Local Markdown files (Obsidian vault)

Pricing

The extension is completely free with no tiers, paywalls, or premium features, and the code is open source under the MIT license. Obsidian itself is also free for personal use; you only pay if you opt into Obsidian's paid services like Sync, which the clipper does not require since it saves locally.

Best for

Obsidian users who want web articles, research, and highlights saved as plain Markdown files they own. Also suits privacy-conscious researchers who want clips stored locally instead of in a cloud service.

Pros

  • Completely free and MIT-licensed open source, with active development (1,000+ commits, 5.1k GitHub stars)
  • Saves to local Markdown files you fully own — no vendor lock-in or cloud dependency
  • Powerful templating with variables, filters, and per-site auto-apply rules
  • No data collection or usage metrics, per Obsidian's privacy policy

Cons

  • Only saves into Obsidian vaults — useless if you don't use the Obsidian app
  • No built-in cross-device sync of clips; syncing your vault requires paid Obsidian Sync or a DIY setup
  • Cross-browser settings sync and annotation tools are still on the roadmap, not shipped

Alternatives to Obsidian Web Clipper

Evernote Web Clipper

Clips pages and highlights into Evernote notebooks

Free clipper; Evernote ~$14.99/mo

Joplin Web Clipper

Clips pages into open-source Joplin notes app

Free; Joplin Cloud from €2.99/mo

FAQ

Is Obsidian Web Clipper free?

Yes. The extension is completely free and open source under the MIT license, with no premium tier. It saves locally, so it doesn't even require Obsidian's paid Sync service.

Does Obsidian Web Clipper work with Firefox?

Yes. It's available for Firefox (including Firefox Mobile), plus Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Orion, Vivaldi, and Safari on macOS, iOS, and iPadOS.

Where does Obsidian Web Clipper save content?

Clips are converted to Markdown and saved locally into your Obsidian vault as plain files on your device — nothing is stored on external servers, and Obsidian says no usage data is collected.

Can Obsidian Web Clipper save to Notion or other apps?

No. It is built specifically to save Markdown into local Obsidian vaults. Since the output is plain Markdown files, though, you could import them into other Markdown-compatible tools yourself.

Where Obsidian Web Clipper fits

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