Sync between laptop and phone: 3 options

If we already have a working vault on the laptop and we’re thinking “how do I edit it from the phone” — there are three battle-tested paths. None is perfect, each has its own trade-offs. Pick after reading all three.

Why one “cloud” folder isn’t enough

The first instinct: drop the vault folder into iCloud Drive or OneDrive and “let it sync itself.” That doesn’t work well. Reasons:

• Speed. Cloud folders sync slowly and unpredictably. We edit on the phone, switch to the laptop — and the file isn’t updated yet.
• Conflicts. If we edit on two devices at once — we get files like note (conflict copy).md. The vault gets cluttered.
• Plugins and .obsidian/. Obsidian’s settings folder contains lots of small files that change often. Cloud services break them or sync them slowly.
• iOS. On the iPhone, Obsidian doesn’t play nicely with iCloud Drive outside its “official” location — sometimes the mobile app just doesn’t see the vault.

So below — three options that actually work. Each with a different balance between price, setup complexity, and control.

Option 1 — Obsidian Sync (official)

What it is. A paid service from Obsidian itself. We pay — they sync between devices through their servers, end-to-end encrypted (the key is only with us).

Price. About $4-8/mo depending on the plan.

How to set up. In Obsidian: Settings → Sync → enable → log in with our Obsidian account → pick a vault → done. On the phone — same thing. Download Obsidian iOS / Android, log in, turn on Sync — the vault appears.

Pros:

• Works out of the box, no fiddling.
• E2E encryption — Obsidian doesn’t see our files.
• Fast.
• 1-year versioning — we can roll back any file.

Cons:

• Paid (though $4-8/mo isn’t a disaster).
• Vendor dependency: if Obsidian ever shuts the service down — we’d need to migrate. Unlikely, but theoretically possible.
• Doesn’t replace GitHub backup — Sync and Git run in parallel, don’t conflict, but they’re separate things.

Who it fits. Those who want simplicity and are willing to pay a small fee for “just works.” Most people.

Option 2 — GitHub-based sync

What it is. The same private GitHub repository we set up in the backup article. Only now — we also install Obsidian + a git-compatible tool on the phone that pulls and pushes changes.

Price. Free (on GitHub’s free plan).

How to set up.

1. On the laptop — everything is already configured from the previous git article (Obsidian Git plugin, auto-commit every 10 min).
2. On iPhone/iPad — install Working Copy (paid one-time, around $20) or a-Shell (free, more complicated) for git on iOS.
3. On Android — simpler: the Obsidian Git plugin works there too.
4. In Obsidian mobile, we set up the same vault, but via a local folder that the git app syncs.

Pros:

• Free.
• Full history of all changes — we can roll back anything at any moment.
• The same backup we already made in article 3 — one solution solves two problems.
• Works without vendor lock-in.

Cons:

• Setting up the iOS side — the hardest of the three options. Working Copy has a learning curve.
• Conflicts happen if we forget to push from the laptop before opening on the phone.
• Not real realtime — we explicitly pull and push, or we set up auto-pull/push that adds a delay.

Who it fits. Those who already set up backup via git and don’t want to pay separately for Obsidian Sync. Willing to spend an evening on the iOS setup.

Option 3 — Self-hosted via Tailscale

What it is. The geekiest option. We have a separate little machine (an old laptop, Raspberry Pi, a $150 mini-PC from Aliexpress, a NAS) that holds a copy of the vault. The laptop and phone connect to it via Tailscale — a private VPN network visible only to us.

Price. Tailscale is free for personal use (up to 100 devices). Hardware — from $0 (an old laptop sitting at home) to $200 (a new mini-PC).

How it works technically. On the “server” (our old laptop) we run Syncthing — a free program that syncs folders between devices. Tailscale ensures our phone, our laptop, and our server can see each other even when we’re in a café, traveling, or at the office. Syncthing syncs the vault. Everything is encrypted, nothing goes out into the “big cloud.”

Pros:

• Full control. Our files — on our hardware.
• No monthly fees.
• Fast (direct device-to-device sync).
• We can add other services to the same server: photo backup, home media library, etc.

Cons:

• The hardest to set up. Linux, terminal, Docker — we’ll meet them at some point for sure.
• If the server goes down — no sync until we fix it.
• We have to think about hardware reliability: power supplies, drives, blackouts.

Who it fits. Those who either already have a home lab and these pieces are in place, or are ready to invest 1-2 days into learning and get full control. Don’t do this if we just want it to “work” — pay the $5/mo for Obsidian Sync.

Quick comparison

Parameter	Obsidian Sync	GitHub-based	Self-hosted Tailscale
Price	$4-8/mo	$0	$0-200 one-time
Setup complexity	Low (15 min)	Medium (1-2 h)	High (1-2 days)
Realtime sync	Yes	Almost (auto-pull every 10 min)	Yes
Control over data	Encrypted at Obsidian	On GitHub (Microsoft)	Full (our hardware)
iOS convenience	Excellent	Hard (Working Copy)	Good
Subscription dependency	Yes	No	No
Works offline	Caches, syncs on reconnect	Caches	Only if our server is on the same network

My choice — and why

Honestly — I use a hybrid. The vault backs up to GitHub (privately, free, year-long change history) — that covers the catastrophic scenarios from the previous article. Between laptop and phone — Syncthing over Tailscale (because I already have a home lab with other services on it).

If we don’t have that home lab — I’d start with Obsidian Sync. Yes, $5/mo isn’t zero, but it buys us an evening of free time we’d otherwise burn fighting Working Copy on iPhone. Time is more expensive.

The GitHub-based option is for those who refuse to pay for Obsidian Sync on principle and are ready to spend an evening on iOS setup. It works, but not “magically.”

Common mistakes

1. Trying to sync the vault via iCloud Drive or OneDrive. Don’t. .obsidian/ breaks, conflicts, slow. One of the three options above — and that’s it.

2. Enabling two sync methods at once. If Obsidian Sync, Git, and Syncthing all run in parallel on one folder — chaos with conflicts. One method for realtime sync, git separately as backup (they don’t conflict, because git doesn’t “sync,” it makes snapshots).

3. Not setting up conflict resolution. We edit a file on the phone, then on the laptop — the same file, not waiting for sync. Conflicts still happen. We build the habit: “opened the device → waited 30 seconds → started editing.”

What’s next

Now the vault works on two devices. Time to look at plugins — Obsidian has thousands of community plugins, of which we actually need 7-10. The rest are either marginally useful or just attention drains. I’ll save us the search.

If we don’t want to miss it — follow me on LinkedIn, I announce each next piece there.