Canvas by Obsidian

Obsidian Canvas is a spatial organization and brainstorming tool integrated within the Obsidian software suite. It was designed to provide users with an 'infinite canvas' interface, allowing for the visual arrangement of notes, images, and other media in a non-linear format. The system focuses on data longevity and interoperability through the 'JSON Canvas' open standard.

Developed by the team at Dynalist Inc., the tool reflects a philosophy of local-first data ownership and privacy. While the brand originated in Canada, its manufacturing—in the form of software development and cloud distribution—is conducted globally. The brand has gained significant popularity in the personal knowledge management space for its flexible, markdown-based approach to data visualization.

As of 2026, the brand remains under the independent ownership of its original creators. By maintaining an open-source specification for its canvas format, the company ensures that users are not locked into a single ecosystem, allowing the spatial data to be read and edited by any supporting software across different platforms.