Notes

Choosing notes for meetings, knowledge and visual work

Notes can be a long-term knowledge base, a record of a conversation, or context attached to a file. Start with where the note comes from and what you will do with it next.

Reviewed October 22, 2026 · Published by OY.Surf

A knowledge base

Obsidian keeps notes on your device and provides links, a graph, Canvas and community plugins, with optional Sync and Publish services. It fits writing and connected knowledge that grows over time.

A meeting record

Granola brings transcription, personal notes, calendar context, actions and meeting chat together. A meeting assistant solves a different problem from dictating a sentence into a note.

Notes beside visual files

OY.Surf keeps Markdown notes with visual work and includes local dictation. In Canvas, a note can supply prompt context to Generate or Edit. It is useful when the brief, reference and result belong together; it does not replace a complete meeting assistant or knowledge-management ecosystem.

Official sources and detailed comparisons

• Obsidian official documentation · Detailed comparison
• Granola official documentation · Detailed comparison
• OY.Surf documentation · Local and optional cloud processing

OY.Surf is free while in beta. Provider usage is separate. This guide does not establish equivalent quality, prices or a complete feature match. Check the current product documentation and try your own representative task.