Cancelling Obsidian Sync Saves About ¥10,000 a Year: Would You Notice the Day Your Reason for Syncing Disappeared?

Good morning, this is まさきん.

The other day, I cancelled the paid sync for my note-taking app. Back in my spring review, I’d decided to “keep it because it’s cheap.” This is less about the price and more about how long it took me to notice that the way I use it had changed, so I’m leaving it here as a note.

This reflects information at the time of publishing. Please check the official site for the latest terms.

In spring, I decided to “keep it because it’s cheap”

This April, I analyzed all our fixed costs at once. At the time, Obsidian Sync was around ¥490 a month. My verdict: “Keep it since it’s low-cost.”

There was one more reason. I’d considered switching to syncing with Git, but I felt there was a risk of things breaking. So I figured it was worth paying a little for stability.

As decisions go, I think it made sense at the time. But that “keep” had nothing built in to prompt a later review.

My statements showed charges in the ¥800s three months in a row

While looking through my card statements in my budgeting app, a charge with a familiar name caught my eye. July was ¥843, August ¥820, and September ¥800. That’s about 1.7 times what it was in spring.

The difference is only a few hundred yen a month, so if I’d seen just one month, I might have let it slide. Only by lining up three months side by side did I think, “Wait a minute.”

How I confirmed it was a recurring subscription

Small charges on a statement can also be one-off purchases. So first I checked whether it was a recurring charge. What I did was simple.

1. In the budgeting app, line up charges from the same merchant month by month
2. Check whether it appears three months in a row
3. Check whether the amounts vary only a little
4. If all three hold, treat it as a “recurring subscription”

This time, the amounts stayed in the low ¥800s, with little variation. If it’s the same price range three months running, it’s safe to call it a recurring charge.

The fact that the amount isn’t exactly the same each time might make it a bit easy to miss. If you search for an exact amount match, it may not show up.

I don’t know why the price changed

Honestly, I can’t tell from the statement why the price went up.

The prices on the official site are listed in US dollars. So the amount billed in yen can move with the exchange rate. That might also explain why it differs by a few dozen yen each month.

That said, a jump of 1.7 times feels hard to explain by exchange rates alone. I think the surest way to see your plan and what you’re billed for is the billing history on your account page. The official help also says you can view invoices under “Billing” in your account.

What I felt mattered here wasn’t pinning down the reason but the plain fact that “the price had changed.” My spring decision rested on the assumption of about ¥490.

My reason for needing sync had vanished in September

If it were only about the price, I might have ended with “Well, ¥800 is fine.” The deciding factor was elsewhere.

In early September, I’d moved the master copy of my notes to Notion. I’d switched to not editing directly in Obsidian anymore. In other words, the very reason to sync Obsidian between my phone and computer had disappeared.

I was the one who changed how I worked. Yet in my head, I hadn’t connected that to the sync subscription. I’d been treating the tool migration and the fixed-cost review as two separate things.

Lining up the assumptions behind “keep” again

I put my spring decision and the September situation side by side in a table.

Laid out like this, all three assumptions had changed. The worry that “switching to Git might break things” doesn’t matter if I stop syncing altogether.

At work too, the reasons for continuing an initiative change over time. Maybe the longer something has been running, the more it’s worth writing down the reasons and checking them.

Checking Obsidian Sync pricing on the official site

Before cancelling, I checked the current pricing on the official site. There are two plans: Standard and Plus.

All prices are shown in US dollars. The amount billed in yen depends on the exchange rate and your card company’s conversion. The payment page also said that payments via PayPal are processed in Canadian dollars. It also warns that your card company may charge a foreign transaction fee.

If you’re just syncing a few notes, Standard is probably enough for many people. In my case, though, I no longer needed sync at all. So I chose to cancel rather than downgrade.

What I checked on my phone before cancelling

I cancelled on September 24. Before that, I only checked whether I was actually using sync on my phone.

1. Check in Obsidian on my phone whether I’m using sync
2. If not, don’t set up a replacement sync
3. Cancel Sync from the account page
4. Note the cancellation date and the final billing date

Since I no longer needed sync, I didn’t sign up for a paid replacement either. I cancelled with no substitute.

The official help says Sync subscriptions are managed from your account dashboard. Cancelling is also done on that account page. It’s safest to assume that just deleting the app won’t stop the subscription.

What happens to your data after cancelling

My biggest worry was whether my notes would disappear. Here’s what I could confirm in the official help.

Knowing my local files would stay put was reassuring. On the other hand, it’s best to assume the server-side data disappears after a month.

In the case of a refund, it says the remote data is deleted immediately. Refunds are said to be available within 7 days of purchase, but how your data is handled is a separate matter.

Free ways to sync

I stopped syncing altogether. But I imagine some people want to keep syncing while keeping costs down. The official help lists methods other than Sync.

• iCloud: syncs between iPhone/iPad and Mac
• OneDrive: listed for use on Windows and Mac
• Syncthing: syncs directly between devices without the cloud
• Git: not automatic; you push and pull manually

If you use iCloud on iPhone, it seems you need to be careful where you put your vault. The guidance is to put the vault inside the “Obsidian” folder in iCloud Drive. Google Drive is said to be officially unsupported on iOS.

Git is the method spring-me was worried about. The official help also says it requires manual operation, so it might be a bit of a hassle if you’re not used to it.

Common mistakes and pitfalls

Looking back on this, here’s where I think it’s easy to trip up.

• After deciding to “keep it because it’s cheap,” there’s nothing that prompts you to recheck the price
• Thinking about tool migrations and subscriptions separately
• The amount varies slightly each month, so it’s hard to notice it’s the same charge
• Recording it as “done” on the day you file the cancellation
• Leaving things alone without knowing the server-side data disappears after a month

The first three applied to me. The fourth is something I’ll be careful about from here.

I previously wrote about a subscription I thought I’d cancelled that kept charging me. The idea is to count it as done “on the day the next charge doesn’t come.” This one is still at the “cancellation filed” stage, so I plan to check my October statement to confirm the charges have stopped.

Check before you start

Here’s a summary for anyone thinking about cancelling a sync service in the same way.

• I lined up my statements to see whether the same merchant appears 3 months in a row
• I wrote down why I decided to keep it at my last review, such as in spring
• I checked whether those reasons still apply
• I checked whether I actually use sync on my phone
• I confirmed local files remain on my devices
• I scheduled a check of my card statement on the first billing date after cancelling

I think the second and third are especially important. If you know the assumptions you had when you decided to keep it, it’s easier to tell whether they’ve fallen apart.

Note the assumptions even for subscriptions you keep

The lesson this time comes down to one thing: “keep it because it’s cheap” has nothing to prompt a review when the price or your usage changes.

So I’ve decided to write down the “assumptions” even for subscriptions I decide to keep. For example, like this.

If even one assumption falls apart, it goes on the review list. I wrote about the overall review process in how to get started reviewing fixed costs. When you switch tools, the perspective in my post on finding duplicate subscriptions may also help. In a sense, Notion and Obsidian were a duplication of roles this time too.

FAQ

Q. Will cancelling delete my local notes too?

According to the official help, local vaults on your devices aren’t affected. What goes away is the remote vault on the server. Just to be safe, I think it’s reassuring to check your local files before cancelling.

Q. How long does data stay on the server?

It’s said to be kept for 1 month after the subscription ends, including version history. The guidance says that if you resume within a month, there’s no effect on how you use it. After that, it’s best to assume it’s gone.

Q. Why does the yen amount change every month?

I think it’s because the official prices are in US dollars. The yen amount billed may move with the exchange rate and your card company’s conversion. In my case, I couldn’t tell the reason for the price increase from the statement alone.

Q. Can I get a refund?

According to the official help, you can get a full refund within 7 days of purchase, no questions asked. However, if you’re refunded, your remote data is reportedly deleted right away. The process is done from the billing screen in your account.

Q. Are there free ways to sync?

The official help introduces iCloud, OneDrive, Syncthing, Git, and others. If you use iCloud on iPhone, there seem to be rules about where to put your vault. It’s probably best to choose whatever works with your combination of devices.

Q. Does sync stop right away when I cancel?

I filed on September 24, and it’s set to stop from October. I haven’t yet confirmed that the next charge won’t come. I plan to check my October statement to make sure the charges have stopped.

Q. Which is cheaper, Standard or Plus?

Standard is cheaper, at US$5 a month billed monthly. Plus is US$10 a month billed monthly, but gives you more vaults and storage. If you pay yearly, the monthly price goes down for both.

Official sources I referred to

• Obsidian Sync(Obsidian 公式サイト)
• Pricing(Obsidian 公式サイト)
• Plans and storage limits(Obsidian Help)
• Obsidian Sync Frequently asked questions(Obsidian Help)
• Refund policy(Obsidian Help)
• Introduction to licenses and payment(Obsidian Help)
• Set up Obsidian Sync(Obsidian Help)
• Sync your notes across devices(Obsidian Help)
• Local and remote vaults(Obsidian Help)

Summary

In pure numbers, this is about ¥820 a month, ¥9,840 a year. Still, what made me notice wasn’t the price so much as the fact that “my reason for needing sync had disappeared.”

Once you decide to “keep it because it’s cheap,” nothing prompts you to revisit it. Maybe it’s exactly the things you decide to keep that deserve a one-line note of your assumptions.

I’ll check my October statement to see whether the charges have really stopped. If you have ongoing subscriptions, why not try writing down the reasons you decided to keep them?

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