Aero Markdown vs Obsidian: reading project files or building a vault?

A reader and a note system answer different questions

A project folder asks: what do these documents say, how do they connect, and where is the requirement I need? A personal note collection may ask: what have I learned about this subject, which other notes mention it, and how will I organize it over the next year?

Aero Markdown focuses on the first job. It opens the existing folder, renders the page and keeps its files and headings nearby. Obsidian provides a broader environment around notes. The right choice depends on whether that surrounding system is part of your work or simply something you would configure before reading a README.

Both work with local files. Describing one as local and the other as inherently cloud-based would be misleading. A vault is a folder containing notes and related configuration; Obsidian’s vault documentation explains that model.

Features compared

Scroll sideways to compare both apps →

The 1.14 release notes are important here: Obsidian can open individual files outside a vault and preview Markdown with Quick Look. An older comparison that says it cannot do either is no longer useful.

What changed with external-file support?

Obsidian’s external-file workflow removes an old objection to using it for occasional documents. The release notes describe local assets resolving relative to the file and tools for navigating the document and its links. They also say the latest installer is required for the new support.

The remaining decision is about the environment you want to keep open. If Obsidian is already where you organize ideas, reading a repository document there may be natural. If the documents belong to a project rather than a continuing note collection, a focused reading window may better match that session. Neither choice requires importing the text into a cloud library.

Aero Markdown is intentionally narrower. It does not provide a replacement for Obsidian’s knowledge-management features, and its optional editor is not the main pitch. That narrower scope should be useful to you in practice; it is not automatically an advantage for every reader.

Markdown links and vault syntax are not interchangeable

Obsidian supports both [Architecture](architecture.md) and wikilinks such as [[Architecture]]. Its internal-link documentation explains how to choose the Markdown format when interoperability matters.

Aero Markdown follows ordinary relative file links. It does not claim to reproduce Obsidian-specific wikilinks, embedded notes, plugin output or Bases. A vault with those constructs may therefore need a different reading path from a repository built around standard links.

Before switching, inspect a representative set: one simple note, one note with attachments and one with special syntax. Do not rewrite an entire collection just to try a viewer. Work on a copy and keep the original structure intact. The guide to reading Obsidian files explains how to identify the portability boundary.

Reading plans and specifications from agents

A coding agent’s plan is often part of a repository, beside its README and decisions. Aero Markdown keeps that project context visible and watches the document already open. If it changes on disk, the page reloads at the current heading when there are no unsaved edits. A new file still needs an explicit open action or a supported local hook.

The practical distinction is between keeping a project’s documents together and collecting insights from that project into a note system. You may need both. Read the plan in its original folder, then keep your own notes in Obsidian if that is where they belong. A reader does not have to become the permanent home for everything you learn.

Cost and a decision you can make today

Obsidian’s pricing page lists the app as free without sign-up, with optional paid Sync and Publish. Those services are not prerequisites for reading local Markdown. Aero Markdown has no account or sync service. Aero Markdown is $14.99 USD, one-time, for a lifetime Aero 1.x license for one Mac. Download and checkout are not available yet.

Keep Obsidian when the value comes from your note system or when its current external-file workflow already does the job. Consider Aero Markdown when you want to open an ordinary documentation folder and stay with the rendered pages. The useful question is what you want around the document, not whether the document is local.