Courier Simple, safe sync for Obsidian.

MacBook Obsidian plugin Live
iPhone Obsidian plugin Live
Your server
self-hosted · one small machine
Locked files only One small machine
PC Obsidian plugin Live
Home NAS courier-cli Live
  • Locked on your device
  • Updates as you type
  • No account needed
What you get
Obsidian plugin
desktop & mobile
Background tool
no Obsidian needed
Sync server
self-hosted
Desktop app
optional, paid

01 Privacy

End-to-end encrypted

Your device
Trip plan.md

Ferry at 9:30, Pier 2

Book the museum tickets

Back Saturday, 17:00

Exactly what you wrote

Locked before it leaves
Your server
The same note, as stored

8f3a 2c91 e4b7

0d55 91dd 0a7c

55e2 7b13 c4e1

No name, no words, nothing to read

How the encryption works

02 Setup

Three steps, and it's running.

Deploy service 203.0.113.7
Server address 203.0.113.7
Login password ••••••••
Deploy Courier
  • Prepare the server
  • Install Courier
  • Set up HTTPS usually two or three minutes
  • Start and check
Your sync key
Personal key ck_live_3f9a…8c21 Copy

Use it on every device you sign in.

Copied
Courier
Server address https://sync.example.com:8443
User key ck_live_3f9a…8c21
Connect
Synced
  • Reading list.md
  • Trip plan.md

Prefer a terminal? The same steps, by hand. Deploy guide

03 The desktop app

Look after the server without a terminal.

What the desktop app does

04 Headless sync

AI friendly

Sync keeps going with Obsidian closed.

How headless sync works

05 Pricing

Open source, complete, free forever.

The plugin, the background tool and the server, all open source — nothing held back. The desktop app is an optional extra.

Optional · paid

Courier Desktop

macOS, Windows and Linux
Early bird ¥14.9 One-time purchase · 2 devices · Lifetime updates · 14-day trial Buy

Pay on Afdian, then look for a private message with your licence key. In Courier: Settings → Licence → paste it.

  • Install
  • Status
  • Service upgrades
  • Key management
  • Backups
  • Headless sync
  • Migration

Read the docs

Questions

The questions people most want to ask.

Could I lose a note?

No. Every version you save stays on the server, so you can put a note back the way it was an hour or a week ago: pick that version in the plugin and restore it. If two devices change the same note at once, nothing is lost either.

What if I forget the vault password?

Then those notes stay locked. The key is made from that password on your devices and exists nowhere else, so there is no reset. Keep the password in a password manager, and get into the habit of keeping backups.

Do my devices have to be on at the same time?

No. A device that was off catches up the next time it opens.

Can a family share one server?

Yes. Each key has its own space and its own end date, and no key can read another one's notes — not even the person who deployed the server.