This is not a marketing page. It's a feature matrix with two kinds of marks: NOW (Bedrock has it today) and ROADMAP (it's planned, not shipped). Competitor cells are written to be fair — what each tool actually does well, not a strawman.
Before the row-by-row matrix, the honest summary: there are exactly three dimensions where Bedrock is the clear winner right now. Everything else is a tie, a roadmap item, or a place where another tool genuinely leads.
Rows are grouped: architecture & ownership (where Bedrock wins), features & content (where it's mixed), and collaboration & polish (where competitors often lead today).
| Dimension / feature | Bedrock | Notion | Obsidian | Craft |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARCHITECTURE & OWNERSHIP — the three Bedrock wins | ||||
| Architecture model | Local-first SQLite on device; cloud is optional |
Cloud-first Server-dependent, round-trips on page load |
Local-first Plain Markdown files on disk |
Cloud-first Proprietary sync, cloud-native |
| Data ownership | Yours, in your format SQLite + exportable JSON/Markdown |
Proprietary cloud Tied to Notion's storage format |
Complete Plain .md files, fully portable |
Proprietary Export formats are limited |
| Offline capability | Full, always 100% offline, all modules |
Partial Browser cache limits, frequent sync errors |
Full Local files, works offline natively |
Partial Requires explicit local cache download |
| No account required | Yes Use the app with zero sign-up |
No Account required to use |
Yes Open a vault, no account |
No Account / login required |
| One-click export | JSON + Markdown Entire workspace, clean, un-nested |
Limited Export exists but is lossy / not full fidelity |
Trivial It's just your files |
Limited Proprietary export formats |
| Speed / typing latency | Instant, local State write is local SQLite, no round-trip |
Moderate Cloud round-trip can add lag at scale |
Instant Local file write, no network dependency |
Fast Native rendering, low latency |
| Self-host / portable USB | Yes Portable .exe runs from USB, no trace |
No Cloud-only, no local self-host |
Yes Your files go anywhere |
No Cloud-first, proprietary |
| FEATURES & CONTENT — where Bedrock is mixed | ||||
| Block-based editor | Yes Drag-and-drop blocks, in-app today |
Yes, mature Refined block model, large template ecosystem |
No (raw Markdown) Plain text + plugins, not blocks |
Yes Rich page blocks, beautiful by default |
| Relational databases | Local SQLite, shipped Local SQL-backed databases exist today; multi-view polish is ongoing |
Strong Multi-view, relations, filters — broad but can lag at scale |
No native Requires Dataview / community plugins |
Basic Tables and lists, shallow relations |
| AI assistant | Aquiles AI, in-app BYOK or local Ollama; free 30/mo, Pro unlimited |
Yes AI features across the product, cloud-dependent |
No native Requires community plugins / external tools |
No No built-in AI assistant |
| Templates / workspaces | 6 one-click workspaces Startup, Agency, Consulting, Real Estate, Law Firm, SaaS |
Large Huge community template ecosystem |
No native Community themes / plugins, not one-click |
Beautiful Polished templates, award-winning look |
| Native calendar | Yes Day / week / month / agenda; .ics export |
Yes Built-in calendar, database-driven |
No native Requires plugins / external calendars |
No No dedicated calendar module |
| Chat / channels | Yes Channels, threads, reactions, replies; E2E-encrypted |
Yes Mentions, comments, collaboration threads |
No No built-in chat |
No No built-in chat |
| Files / attachments | Yes, hardened Store, preview, search; XSS-hardened; private vault |
Yes File blocks, cloud storage |
No native Files as separate Markdown / attachments |
Basic Limited file handling |
| Diagrams | Yes, local Mermaid flowcharts, sequence diagrams, mind maps — rendered locally, no uploads |
Yes Mermaid / embed, cloud-rendered |
No native Requires plugins |
No No dedicated diagram tool |
| People / team contact book | Yes Contacts build from your content; stays on device |
Yes Members, guests, permissions, workspace roster |
No No built-in people/contact system |
No No built-in people system |
| Analytics / dashboards | Yes, local Velocity, cycle time, completion, Chart.js — computed on your device |
Limited Database views can chart, but not a dedicated analytics module |
No native Requires Dataview / external tools |
No No analytics module |
| Universal search | Yes One ranked search across docs, tasks, calendar, projects, chat, files, databases, AI, people, diary |
Yes Global search across workspace |
Yes Quick open / file search, plugin-extensible |
Basic Spotlight-like open, limited cross-content search |
| Themes / accents | Yes 4 themes, 9 accents + custom, density modes |
Yes Themable, but heavy customization can feel like assembly |
Yes Themes + CSS snippets, large community theme ecosystem |
Beautiful by default Award-winning native design out of the box |
| Diary / daily notes | Yes, encrypted Private daily diary, AES-256, like everything else |
Yes Daily notes / journal via templates |
Yes Daily notes core to the workflow |
No No dedicated diary |
| COLLABORATION & POLISH — where competitors often lead today | ||||
| Real-time collaboration | ROADMAP CRDT sync (Yjs) is planned, not yet in the product. Team docs/chat exist; live co-editing of content is not. |
Strong Mature multi-user editing, comments, mentions |
Weak Awkward — needs third-party sync + plugins |
Yes Real-time cloud collaboration, polished |
| Multiplayer presence / cursors | ROADMAP Not yet built. Team awareness exists; live cursor / co-edition presence is planned. |
Yes Live cursors, active users, presence |
No No native presence |
Yes Live presence in shared docs |
| Comments / threaded discussion | Yes Threads, replies, reactions in chat; doc comments in progress |
Yes Comments, mentions, threaded discussion |
No native Requires plugins |
Yes Comments on content |
| Permissions / granular access | Team plan, partial Owner/admin/member roles + shared workspace permissions on Team plan; finer per-doc ACL is roadmap |
Strong Granular page/workspace permissions, guest access |
No native No built-in permission system |
Yes Share permissions, collaborators |
| Enterprise SSO / SAML | ROADMAP Not yet in the app. Available via the enterprise deployment service for AWS Bedrock engagements. |
Yes SSO / SAML on Enterprise plans |
No No native SSO |
No No native SSO |
| Mobile app | Android companion + PWA Android via Play + installable PWA shell; native iOS is roadmap |
Yes Mature iOS + Android apps |
Yes iOS + Android, local file access |
Yes Native iOS, polished |
| Plugin / extension ecosystem | Growing Webhooks (signed, with delivery history) + a REST API are real today; an n8n community node wraps that API, and there is an MCP endpoint for AI tooling. A big in-app plugin marketplace is roadmap |
Large Huge template + integration ecosystem |
Very large 1,000+ community plugins |
No Closed, no plugin system |
| Visual polish / design awards | Industrial dark, improving High-contrast dark, performance-focused; Apple-grade polish is an ongoing target, not yet awarded |
Modular, can feel cluttered Flexible but not award-winning-native |
Plain text default Requires extensive community themes to look polished |
Award-winning Native iOS/macOS design award winner |
| Setup friction / time-to-value | Near zero One click, no account, no config — usable in seconds |
Low Fast to start, but onboarding to power features takes time |
High High out of the box — themes, plugins, config needed to look good |
Low Beautiful immediately, minimal setup |
NOW = Bedrock has this today (v1.10.1). ROADMAP = it's planned and in active work, but not shipped yet. Blank competitor cells are written to be accurate, not to make another tool look bad.
Local-first architecture, data ownership + one-click export, offline capability, no account required, portable USB mode, instant local speed, Aquiles AI (BYOK or local), 6 one-click workspaces, local calendar, local chat, local diagrams, local analytics, universal search, themes + accents, encrypted diary.
Real-time CRDT collaboration (Yjs), multiplayer cursors / presence, finer per-doc permissions, native iOS, larger plugin marketplace, SSO / SAML in-app, deeper database view polish, comment threads on document blocks.
Notion: team collaboration breadth, mature block model, huge template ecosystem. Obsidian: 1,000+ plugins, pure Markdown portability, daily-notes power users. Craft: award-winning native visual polish, beautiful out of the box, strong iOS experience.
If you care about local-first architecture, data ownership, and offline capability, Bedrock is the clear winner today — and that's the honest claim this page makes. These are structural properties, not features that can be bolted on, which is why they're the right hill to win first.
If you care about real-time collaboration, team permissions, mobile breadth, or plugin ecosystems, Notion and Obsidian are genuinely stronger today. Bedrock's roadmap is explicitly chasing those gaps — but we won't pretend they're already here.
If you care about visual polish and a design-award look on day one, Craft still sets the bar. Bedrock's aesthetic direction is industrial dark, performance-first; the polish is real and improving, and we'd rather be honest that it's not yet Craft's league than overstate it.
