Quartz
Open-source static site generator that publishes your Obsidian vault as a digital garden
What is Quartz?
Quartz is a free, open-source static site generator that turns a folder of Markdown notes (especially Obsidian vaults) into a fast website with wikilinks, backlinks, graph view, and full-text search. It is used by people who want to publish a 'digital garden' or personal knowledge base without paying for a hosted platform. The differentiator versus generic SSGs is first-class Obsidian compatibility out of the box.
Markdown-native, local-first, docs, notes, and knowledge tools that are easy for people and AI agents to read.
See the full Markdown & Knowledge guide to compare more tools, buyer criteria, and related workflows.
Use cases to evaluate
Publishing an Obsidian vault as a public digital garden
Personal note site with backlinks and interactive graph view
Course/lecture notes site for students and teachers
Lightweight documentation site for a small open-source project
Fit to evaluate
Obsidian users who want to share notes publicly
Indie writers and researchers building a digital garden
Developers who prefer Markdown + Git over a CMS
Teachers publishing course material for free
Business fit
Right for you if you already write notes in Obsidian or plain Markdown and want a free, self-hosted public site with backlinks and graph view. Skip if you need a CMS, multi-author workflows, comments, or commercial support; Quartz is a single-maintainer OSS project you deploy yourself to GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, or Cloudflare. Worth it for technical users; non-developers will struggle with the Node/Git setup.
How to evaluate Quartz
Use this category when knowledge is scattered across chats, private documents, and tribal memory.
Confirm the exact workflow
Map Quartz to one concrete workflow first, such as publishing an obsidian vault as a public digital garden. Avoid buying before the owner, trigger, output, and success metric are clear.
Check category fit
Compare file portability, linking, search, permissions, and export options.
Compare practical alternatives
Shortlist Quartz against Obsidian, Logseq, Roam Research so the decision is based on fit, effort, and workflow ownership rather than brand recognition alone.
Validate cost and rollout effort
Free and open source (MIT license). No hosted tier, no paid plans; you pay only for whatever host you deploy to (GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, and Vercel all have free tiers sufficient for personal sites). Also confirm implementation time, support needs, and whether the easy setup matches your team.
Compare Quartz with alternatives
Use this quick comparison before booking demos or moving data into a new system.
| Primary workflow | Publishing an Obsidian vault as a public digital garden, Personal note site with backlinks and interactive graph view |
|---|---|
| Best-fit team | Obsidian users who want to share notes publicly, Indie writers and researchers building a digital garden |
| Implementation effort | Easy setup and maintenance profile |
| Pricing check | Free plan + paid plans |
| Closest alternatives | ObsidianLogseqRoam ResearchTana |
Quartz pricing
| Model | Free plan + paid plans |
|---|---|
| Snapshot | Free and open source (MIT license). No hosted tier, no paid plans; you pay only for whatever host you deploy to (GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, and Vercel all have free tiers sufficient for personal sites). |
| Checked |
Common questions about Quartz
What is Quartz?
Quartz is a free, open-source static site generator that turns a folder of Markdown notes (especially Obsidian vaults) into a fast website with wikilinks, backlinks, graph view, and full-text search. It is used by people who want to publish a 'digital garden' or personal knowledge base without paying for a hosted platform. The differentiator versus generic SSGs is first-class Obsidian compatibility out of the box.
What is Quartz used for?
Common use cases: Publishing an Obsidian vault as a public digital garden; Personal note site with backlinks and interactive graph view; Course/lecture notes site for students and teachers; Lightweight documentation site for a small open-source project.
How much does Quartz cost?
Free and open source (MIT license). No hosted tier, no paid plans; you pay only for whatever host you deploy to (GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, and Vercel all have free tiers sufficient for personal sites).
Who is Quartz best for?
Quartz fits Obsidian users who want to share notes publicly, Indie writers and researchers building a digital garden, Developers who prefer Markdown + Git over a CMS, Teachers publishing course material for free. Right for you if you already write notes in Obsidian or plain Markdown and want a free, self-hosted public site with backlinks and graph view. Skip if you need a CMS, multi-author workflows, comments, or commercial support; Quartz is a single-maintainer OSS project you deploy yourself to GitHub Pages, Netlify, Vercel, or Cloudflare. Worth it for technical users; non-developers will struggle with the Node/Git setup.
What are alternatives to Quartz?
Common alternatives to Quartz include Obsidian, Logseq, Roam Research, Tana, Capacities, Reflect.