Compare Diigo and Obsidian Web Clipper: Which Extension is the Best?

Diigo is a handy tool for bookmarking, highlighting, and annotating web pages. It has many features, but its old design and limited highlight colors might make it less appealing.
Obsidian Web Clipper is a browser extension that lets you save, highlight, and organize web content to your Obsidian vault with templates, hotkeys, metadata extraction, and local storage.
Key Features
  • Highlighting: Works well and highlights are recreated on refresh.
  • Notes: You can add notes to your highlights.
  • Link Creation: Create links to your highlights, although this feature is not very reliable.
  • Sidebar Outliner: Simple design but requires time to understand.
  • Syncing: Highlights are synced across devices.
  • Privacy-focusedSave anything: Capture entire pages, selected text, or main content
  • Highlight: Mark important passages that remain visible when revisiting pages
  • Templates: Customize how web pages are saved with automatic metadata extraction
  • Rules: Apply specific templates based on website patterns
  • Hotkeys: Quick save pages with keyboard shortcuts
  • Offline access: All content is stored locally in your Obsidian vault
  • Privacy focused: No data collection or third-party sharing
Our Rating
7.8
8.5
Total users
200,000
278,335
Total ratings
2,319
526
Average rating
4.6 ⭐
4.7 ⭐
Entry Level PriceFreeFree
Chrome
Chrome Web Store logo
4.6
3.56
2.3K+ ratings
200.0K+Users
Chrome Web Store logo
4.8
4.83
297 ratings
200.0K+Users
Edge
-
Microsoft Edge Store logo
4.4
4.38
20 ratings
50.6K+Users
Firefox
-
Mozilla Firefox Add-ons Store logo
4.9
4.89
209 ratings
27.7K+Users
Safari
-
-
Features
8.5

Diigo offers basic features for a highlighter and bookmarking tool.

It works well and we were able to highlight most websites and they were recreated when revisiting them.

The highlighter popup makes it easy to highlight text offering 4 colors. It looks like this:

Highlighter Popup with four colors

We would have wished to have more color options.

Also, note-taking and the tagging functionality are working, but its design does not look appealing.

Notes Editor: Adding notes to your highlight

The dashboard where your highlights are stored works well and gives you an overview of all your highlights.

Diigo Dashboard
8.7

The extension offers a comprehensive set of features that cover all essential web clipping needs. The templating system is particularly powerful, allowing for automatic metadata extraction and custom formatting. The highlight feature works well, though we noticed some issues with certain websites. The ability to save different types of content (full page, selection, main content) provides flexibility. The hotkey system is well-implemented and customizable.

Performance
8.0

Diigo performs well in terms of highlighting and syncing across devices. The fact that highlights are always synchronized can cause some loading delays.

It's not as fast as other highlighters that use an offline-first approach, but it works reasonably well.

However, the unreliable link creation feature and the simple sidebar outliner design need improvement.

6.5

The direct clipping to Obsidian did not work properly in the test. Only the headline was saved; the rest was not. However, with the intermediate step, Clip to Clipboard and then paste, it works. The clipping process can be slow on certain websites. The highlight feature sometimes lags on content-heavy pages. The extension uses minimal system resources.

Design
7.0

The design fulfills its functionality. The design of Diigo is outdated and could use a modern refresh.

The lack of a nice overview of all your highlights on the page itself means you have to open the dashboard on diigo.com instead.

The dashboard on diigo.com is okay, but other highlighters like Web Highlights have a much nicer user interface.

8.9

The interface is clean and intuitive, following Obsidian's design language. The popup menu is well-organized and easy to navigate. The highlight interface is straightforward and user-friendly. The settings page is logically structured, though some advanced options could be better documented. The visual feedback during clipping operations is clear and helpful.

Value for Money
8.0

The free version of Diigo offers basic features and is fine for most users. The paid plans are reasonably priced and similar to other highlighters.

However, we think other highlighters offer more value for the same price.

9.7

The extension is completely free with all features included. There are no premium tiers or paid versions. The feature set is comprehensive and well-implemented. The value proposition is excellent compared to paid alternatives.

Ease of Use
7.8

Diigo is fairly easy to use, but the sidebar outliner takes some time to get used to.

You can't see all your highlights on the page itself, so you have to go to the dashboard on diigo.com.

We wish there was a sidebar to quickly access all our highlighted pages, like in the Web Highlights extension.

8.0

Basic usage is straightforward - just click the extension icon and select what to save. The highlight feature is intuitive and works well. However, setting up custom templates requires some technical knowledge. The learning curve for advanced features can be steep. The documentation could be more comprehensive for new users.

Security & Privacy
7.5

Diigo takes reasonable steps to protect user data. However, since you need an account and your data is stored in their database, absolute protection can't be guaranteed.

We think a highlighter should work without needing to sign up, but this feature is missing in Diigo.

9.5

The extension maintains excellent privacy standards. All data is stored locally in your Obsidian vault. No data is collected or shared with third parties. The extension doesn't require any special permissions. The code is open source, allowing for community review. The developer has a clear privacy policy.

Conclusion

Diigo is a handy tool for collecting stuff from the web, like bookmarks, highlights, and notes.


It’s a good deal with its premium plans, but the old-fashioned design and limited highlight colors might be a turn-off.


If you want something that looks nicer and offers more customization, check out alternatives like Web Highlights.

The Obsidian Web Clipper is a powerful, privacy-friendly tool for saving web content. Its integration with Obsidian makes it particularly valuable for users of the note platform.

The current focus is still on issues with clipping certain content types and occasional performance issues, which need to be resolved. The robust features and commitment to privacy make it a top choice for storing web content once the issues are resolved.

For Obsidian users looking to improve their web research workflow, this extension is a must-have tool that delivers on its promise while maintaining user privacy and data control.

Our Recommendation

In our comparison between Diigo and Obsidian Web Clipper, Obsidian Web Clipper came out on top, scoring 8.5.

Obsidian Web Clipper is the most widely used, with over 278k users and 526+ reviews—and it also delivered the strongest performance in our tests. User reviews for Obsidian Web Clipper reflect our findings, while we rate Diigo lower than users do.

Notably, Obsidian Web Clipper has the highest user rating in the Chrome Web Store at 4.69, which supports its strong performance in our review.

There are some noticeable differences between these extensions, so it's worth considering your priorities and the details below.


  • Looking for the richest feature set? Obsidian Web Clipper stands out with a rating of 8.7. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 8.5.
  • Need top performance? Diigo stands out with a rating of 8. On the other hand, Obsidian Web Clipper lags behind in this area with a rating of 6.5.
  • Design lovers, take note: Obsidian Web Clipper stands out with a rating of 8.9. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.
  • Want to get the most for your money? Obsidian Web Clipper stands out with a rating of 9.7. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 8.
  • If you hate complicated tools, Obsidian Web Clipper stands out with a rating of 8. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.8.
  • With privacy and security becoming ever more important, Obsidian Web Clipper stands out with a rating of 9.5. On the other hand, Diigo lags behind in this area with a rating of 7.5.

If you want a quick recommendation, Obsidian Web Clipper is our top pick. But as always, the best choice depends on what matters most to you.