Summary and recommendation
Obsidian does not support enterprise SSO or SCIM provisioning on any plan. As a local-first note-taking application, Obsidian is designed for individual use with files stored locally as plain-text Markdown. While Obsidian offers optional cloud sync for $8-10 per user per month, this requires individual subscriptions and provides no centralized management capabilities. There's no way to provision users, manage access, or integrate with enterprise identity providers like Okta or Entra ID.
This architecture creates significant challenges for IT teams trying to manage Obsidian usage at scale. Without centralized provisioning, you can't automate onboarding/offboarding, enforce compliance policies, or maintain visibility into who has access to what data. Each user must manage their own subscription and account, making it impossible to ensure consistent security posture or handle employee lifecycle events systematically. For organizations needing knowledge management with proper governance, Obsidian's individual-focused model creates unmanageable gaps.
The strategic alternative
Obsidian has no native SCIM. Automate offboarding, user access reviews, and license workflows across every app, including the ones without APIs. We maintain the integration layer underneath. You focus on judgment, not plumbing.
Quick SCIM facts
| SCIM available? | No |
| SCIM tier required | N/A |
| SSO required first? | No |
| SSO available? | Yes |
| SSO protocol | N/A |
| Documentation | Not available |
Supported identity providers
| IdP | SSO | SCIM | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Okta | Via third-party | ❌ | No Okta integration. Obsidian is a local-first app without enterprise SSO capabilities. |
| Microsoft Entra ID | Via third-party | ❌ | No Microsoft Entra ID integration. Obsidian is designed for individual use with local file storage, not enterprise identity management. |
| Google Workspace | Via third-party | ❌ | No native support |
| OneLogin | Via third-party | ❌ | No native support |
The cost of not automating
Without SCIM (or an alternative like Stitchflow), your IT team manages Obsidian accounts manually. Here's what that costs:
The Obsidian pricing problem
Obsidian gates SCIM provisioning behind premium plans, forcing significant cost increases for basic user management.
Tier comparison
| Plan | Price | SSO | SCIM |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core App | Free | ||
| Sync (per user) | $8/month (annual) | ||
| Publish (per site) | $16/month (annual) |
Pricing structure
| Plan | Price | SCIM |
|---|---|---|
| Core App | Free | ❌ |
| Sync (per user) | $8/month (annual) | ❌ |
| Publish (per site) | $16/month (annual) | ❌ |
Note: The core Obsidian app is completely free and works offline. Sync and Publish are separate per-user/per-site subscriptions for cloud features.
What this means in practice
IT admins face a completely decentralized model:
For a 50-person team wanting cloud sync, you're looking at 50 separate $8/month subscriptions ($4,800/year) with zero administrative oversight.
Additional constraints
Summary of challenges
- Obsidian does not provide native SCIM at any price tier
- Organizations must rely on third-party tools or manual provisioning
- Our research shows teams manually provisioning this app spend significant hidden costs annually
What Obsidian actually offers for identity
No Enterprise Identity Management
Obsidian is fundamentally designed as a local-first, individual productivity tool. There are no enterprise identity features:
| Feature | Supported? |
|---|---|
| SAML SSO | ❌ No |
| OIDC SSO | ❌ No |
| SCIM provisioning | ❌ No |
| User management | ❌ No |
| Group management | ❌ No |
| Centralized admin console | ❌ No |
How Obsidian Actually Works
Core app: Completely free, runs locally, stores notes as Markdown files on your device. No account required.
Optional cloud services:
Each user must individually subscribe to Sync if they want cross-device access. There's no way to centrally provision, manage, or pay for a team.
The Reality for IT Teams
Obsidian isn't an enterprise application—it's personal knowledge management software that happens to be used by knowledge workers. You cannot:
This is by design. Obsidian prioritizes individual privacy and local data control over enterprise manageability.
What IT admins are saying
Obsidian's local-first architecture creates unique challenges for IT teams trying to manage enterprise deployments:
- No centralized user management or enterprise SSO capabilities
- Each team member requires individual Sync subscriptions ($8-10/month per user)
- No visibility into who's using the app or how data is being shared
- Local file storage makes data governance and backup policies difficult to enforce
Obsidian is great for individual use, but it's not built for enterprise management. We can't centrally provision users or enforce security policies.
The lack of SSO integration means we can't include Obsidian in our identity management workflows. It's essentially shadow IT even when we approve it.
The recurring theme
Obsidian's design philosophy prioritizes individual control over enterprise manageability. IT teams must treat it as personal productivity software rather than a managed business application.
The decision
| Your Situation | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| Individual researchers or knowledge workers | Use Obsidian directly - it's designed for personal use |
| Small team sharing notes occasionally | Manual file sharing or consider team-focused alternatives |
| IT team needing centralized user management | Skip Obsidian - no enterprise identity capabilities |
| Organization requiring SSO/SCIM compliance | Use Stitchflow with enterprise note-taking alternatives |
| Teams needing real-time collaboration | Consider Notion, Confluence, or other collaborative platforms |
The bottom line
Obsidian is a powerful local-first note-taking tool, but it's fundamentally designed for individual use without any enterprise identity management. For organizations that need centralized provisioning and SSO capabilities, Stitchflow can automate user management for enterprise-ready knowledge management platforms that actually support team collaboration.
Make Obsidian workflows AI-native
Obsidian has no native SCIM. We build complete offboarding, user access reviews, and license workflows across every app, including the ones without APIs.
Technical specifications
SCIM Version
Not specifiedSupported Operations
Not specifiedSupported Attributes
Plan requirement
Not specifiedPrerequisites
Not specifiedKey limitations
- No enterprise SSO/SAML
- No SCIM provisioning
- Sync is per-user subscription
- Local-first architecture
- No real-time collaboration
- Individual subscriptions required for Sync
Documentation not available.
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Obsidian
Obsidian has no native SCIM. We still automate end-to-end workflows across every app, including the ones without APIs.
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