# Obsidian vs Roam Research: Which Can You Vibe Code?

**Verdict: Roam Research is the easier vibe code** — 68/100 (Solid side project) vs 42/100.

| | Obsidian | Roam Research |
|---|---|---|
| Vibecodeability | 42/100 | 68/100 |
| Tier | Serious undertaking | Solid side project |
| Estimated effort | 3-5 months of serious part-time work | 2-3 weeks part-time |
| SaaS bill replaced | $5 - $15/mo (Sync/Publish add-ons) | $15/mo |
| Category | Productivity / Knowledge Management | Productivity & Knowledge Management |

## The case on Obsidian

Build a desktop subset or keep paying for the real app, because replicating Obsidian's multi-platform Electron architecture, CodeMirror live-preview engine, and zero-knowledge sync is a serious multi-month engineering marathon.

Hardest parts:

- Cross-platform file system performance when indexing and watching tens of thousands of local Markdown files without UI stutter
- Building a seamless Live Preview editor mode that toggles between raw syntax and rendered DOM nodes cleanly inside CodeMirror
- Zero-knowledge end-to-end client-side encryption (AES-256) for sync infrastructure
- Force-directed graph physics engine performing smoothly on mobile devices with thousands of interconnected nodes

Full report: https://vibeityourself.com/app/obsidian (markdown: /app/obsidian.md)

## The case on Roam Research

You can build a functional personal single-user clone of Roam's core block-based graph engine, but you will hit friction getting the bidirectional query engine and sub-millisecond editor tree rendering buttery smooth.

Hardest parts:

- Building a lightning-fast hierarchical tree editor where every single line is an addressable, transcludable block
- Maintaining instantaneous bi-directional link index updates across the entire database on every keystroke
- Rendering complex Datalog or recursive graph relationship queries without UI blocking or latency
- Handling real-time collaborative conflict resolution if synchronizing across multiple sessions

Full report: https://vibeityourself.com/app/roamresearch (markdown: /app/roamresearch.md)