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Synch is an Obsidian Sync alternative for end-to-end encrypted vault synchronization.
Synch is an independent community plugin and service. It is not affiliated with Obsidian.
Website: https://synch.run
Translations: 한국어 · 日本語 · 简体中文 · 繁體中文
Install
- In Obsidian, open Settings → Community plugins.
- Turn off Restricted mode, then select Browse.
- Search for Synchrun, select it, and choose Install.
- Enable Synchrun after installation finishes.
Features
- Near-instant sync: Synch checks for changes frequently so edits can move between devices almost immediately.
- Version history: Recover from accidental edits with encrypted history for synced files.
- Deleted file recovery: Bring back deleted notes and attachments while they are still kept in version history.
- Automatic conflict merges: When the same Markdown note changes on multiple devices, Synch automatically combines edits made to different parts. If edits overlap, it creates a conflict file so no content is lost.
How to use Synch
- Install and enable the plugin.
- Open Synch's settings in Obsidian.
- Sign in to a Synch account from the plugin.
- Create or connect a remote vault.
- Keep Obsidian open while Synch uploads local changes and downloads remote changes.
Synch syncs Markdown files by default. Images, audio, videos, and PDFs are also enabled by default. Other file types are disabled by default and can be enabled from the plugin settings. Hidden folders and hidden files are skipped, and you can exclude additional folders in settings.
When the same path is changed in incompatible ways on different devices, Synch keeps the conflicting content by writing a conflict copy in the vault instead of silently discarding it.
The plugin can use the hosted Synch Cloud API or a custom API base URL for a self-hosted deployment.
Self-hosting
You can run your own Synch server on a free Cloudflare account or on your own hardware with Docker/systemd, then connect the Obsidian plugin to it with a custom server URL.
See the self-hosting guides:
Disclosures
This section is provided for Obsidian developer policy review and for users who want to understand what the plugin does before installing it.
Account requirements
Synch requires a Synch account to use the hosted sync service. The account is used to authenticate devices, create and connect remote vaults, issue sync tokens, enforce storage limits, and manage service access.
Network use
Synch connects to the configured Synch API base URL over HTTPS and WebSocket
connections. For the hosted service, this is Synch-operated infrastructure. The
default hosted API endpoint is https://api.synch.run, and realtime sync uses
wss://api.synch.run WebSocket connections. The plugin uses network requests
to:
- Sign in and maintain an authenticated device session.
- Create, list, and connect remote vaults.
- Upload encrypted file blobs and encrypted sync metadata.
- Download encrypted file blobs and encrypted sync metadata.
- Exchange realtime sync messages over WebSocket connections.
- Read account, billing, quota, storage, and sync status.
Synch-hosted infrastructure uses third-party providers, including Cloudflare for hosting, storage, networking, databases, queues, and related infrastructure. Billing is handled by Polar.
Data sent to Synch
Vault file contents and file path metadata are encrypted on your device before they are uploaded. Synch stores encrypted blobs and encrypted sync metadata and is designed so that the hosted service cannot read your plaintext notes, plaintext file paths, or plaintext vault keys.
End-to-end encryption does not hide all operational metadata. Synch may process account information, vault identifiers and names, organization and membership records, local vault identifiers, blob identifiers, file sizes, storage usage, timestamps, sync cursors, session information, IP addresses, User-Agent strings, billing identifiers for hosted subscriptions, and similar operational metadata.
Local vault access
Synch reads and writes files inside the current Obsidian vault so it can sync selected vault files. It stores plugin settings with Obsidian's plugin data API, stores the device session token with Obsidian's secret storage API, and stores local sync state in browser IndexedDB.
Synch does not intentionally read or write files outside the current Obsidian vault.
Payments
The hosted service offers free and paid subscription plans. The current paid hosted plan is Sync Starter, available with monthly or annual billing. Payment processing and subscription management are handled by Polar.
Telemetry, ads, and privacy
The Synch Obsidian plugin does not include client-side telemetry and does not show ads. The hosted service may process operational logs and service metadata needed to run, secure, troubleshoot, and improve the service.
For details, read the hosted service legal documents:
Source code
Synch is open source under the MIT License. The source code for the plugin, hosted API, and website is published in this repository.