Pick the tool for the writing you do.
Every app here is good, and several are excellent. This page says plainly where each one is stronger than Siriel and where Siriel is stronger. You don't have to give anything up to try it: Siriel opens the same folders and writes plain files, so it can sit right next to the app you already use. If you write newsletters, posts, scripts or books, and want AI that proposes rather than replaces, it's worth a try.
| Siriel | Obsidian | iA Writer | Ulysses | Bear | Notion | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Storage | Markdown files in your folder | Markdown files in your folder | Markdown files in your folder | Own library; external folders optional | Own database | Notion's cloud |
| Built-in AI editing | Word-level diffs, per-change accept | Community plugins | None, by design | Grammar and style check | — | Notion AI |
| Model choice | Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, CLIs, Apple, local | Depends on the plugin | — | — | — | Hosted models only |
| Ask your notes, with checked citations | Yes, with consent per vault | Community plugins | — | — | — | Yes, over your workspace |
| Live preview | In place | In place | Styled source and preview | Styled source | In place | Rich text |
| Links, properties, bases | Obsidian-compatible | Yes | Partial | — | Links and tags | Own databases |
| Plugins | None; custom prompts and briefs | Thousands | Templates | — | — | Integrations |
| Platforms | Mac | Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android | Mac, Windows, iOS, Android | Mac, iOS | Mac, iOS | Web and every platform |
| Price | Free | Free; Sync and Publish paid | One-time purchase | Subscription | Free; Pro subscription | Free tier; AI on paid plans |
From each product's public information as of November 2026. Products change quickly; if something here is out of date, please tell us.
Siriel vs Obsidian
Obsidian is the reason a lot of people keep their notes as Markdown at all, and Siriel
is built to share a vault with it rather than replace it. Open the same folder in both;
wikilinks, properties, callouts, embeds and .base files are read the same
way, and Siriel writes nothing Obsidian can't read.
The difference is what each is for. Obsidian is a toolkit for thinking, endlessly extensible with plugins, graphs and canvases. Siriel is narrower on purpose: a writing room with an editor in the margin. Its AI is built in and reviewed as diffs, with no plugin to choose, configure or trust.
Choose Obsidian if
you want plugins, a graph view, canvases, mobile apps, or a setup you can bend into anything.
Try Siriel if
you write things to publish from that vault, short or long, and want AI review that shows every changed word, with no plugins to maintain. Use both on the same folder.
Siriel vs iA Writer
iA Writer is a beautifully focused writing app with a principled stance on AI: it won't write for you, and it marks text you pasted from one. Siriel shares the respect for the writer's own words, and draws the line in a different place. The model may propose, but nothing reaches your page that you didn't see as a diff and accept.
Siriel also does more around the writing: a vault of linked notes, properties, live tables and boards, a 30-day history for every note, and read-aloud.
Choose iA Writer if
you want no AI anywhere near your text, or you need Windows and Android as well as Apple devices.
Try Siriel if
you'd like a second reader on demand, in your control, and one place to organise everything you write.
Siriel vs Ulysses
Ulysses is a long-standing favourite for writers on Apple devices, with excellent sheets-and-groups organisation, writing goals and publishing straight to blogs. Its text lives in its own library by default, synced through iCloud.
Siriel keeps everything as plain Markdown files in a folder you can see in Finder, costs nothing, and gives you full-document AI review with your choice of model, including ones that run on your Mac. To publish, it copies your post ready to paste into Substack, Beehiiv, Ghost, WordPress or Medium, rather than sending it for you.
Choose Ulysses if
you want to publish straight to WordPress, Ghost or Medium without a paste, and want a polished iPhone and iPad companion today.
Try Siriel if
you want open files, no subscription, and an editor's notes on your draft.
Siriel vs Bear
Bear is lovely for quick notes, with tags, a fast search and a gentle design. It keeps notes in its own database rather than as files you can open elsewhere.
Choose Bear if
you capture lots of short notes across your Mac and iPhone.
Try Siriel if
you're writing pieces to publish, from a post to a chapter, want them as files, and want help revising them.
Siriel vs Notion
Notion is a shared workspace: documents, databases and wikis for teams, with AI across all of it. That power comes with your writing living on Notion's servers, as blocks rather than files, and with the AI running on models Notion chooses.
Choose Notion if
you're writing with a team in real time, or your work lives in shared wikis.
Try Siriel if
the writing is yours, you want it on your own disk, and you want to choose who ever reads it.
Try it on your own vault.
Siriel is free and opens the folder you already have, alongside the app you use now. If it isn't for you, your files are exactly where they were.