A recent XDA piece made the point out loud: Obsidian opens on the last file you had open, which is almost never the file you actually need. A homepage plugin changes that. Instead of the “restore previous session” tab, the vault greets us with a dashboard, a search page, or a note we chose on purpose. The XDA writer landed on Hearth, a new drag-and-drop plugin, and stopped looking.
We tested eight of the best apps for Obsidian homepage duties on Windows, macOS and Linux. Some replace the startup file with a note. Some hijack every new tab with a search bar. One builds a live grid of widgets we can drag around. The list assumes a recent Obsidian install (1.8 or newer) and community plugins enabled in Settings.
What to look for in an Obsidian homepage plugin
The community catalogue lists dozens of “home” plugins, and the difference between “opens a note” and “actually useful startup surface” is a handful of details:
- Where it hooks. Some plugins replace the startup file, some intercept every new tab, and a few do both. Match this to how we navigate.
- What it renders. A plain note, a searchable file grid, a widget dashboard, or a live query view over frontmatter properties.
- How it plays with other plugins. Dataview, Bases, Excalidraw and Canvas embeds are what make a homepage useful. If the plugin refuses to host other views, we outgrow it fast.
- Editor vs viewer split. A homepage we edit as prose is different from one we lay out with a WYSIWYG grid. Both are valid; pick the one that matches how we think.
- Active maintenance. The Obsidian API still moves. A plugin that has not shipped a release in a year usually breaks on the next core update.
- Mobile behaviour. Not every plugin runs on iOS or Android. Solo desktop users can ignore this; multi-device users cannot.
Quick comparison
| Plugin | Best for | Platforms | Free plan | Starting price/mo | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hearth | Drag-and-drop widget dashboard with search | Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile | Fully free | Free | Community catalogue, MIT |
| Homepage | Reliable startup note or workspace picker | Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile | Fully free | Free | 3M+ downloads, MIT |
| Home tab | Browser-style new-tab with fuzzy search | Windows, Mac, Linux | Fully free | Free | Community catalogue, MIT |
| Homepage Blocks | Composable homepage from 17 block types | Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile | Fully free | Free | Community catalogue, MIT |
| Default New Tab Page | Simplest way to route new tabs to a note | Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile | Fully free | Free | Maintenance mode, MIT |
| Bases (core) | Native dashboards from note properties | Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile | Bundled with Obsidian | Free | Ships in Obsidian |
| Dataview | Query-driven widgets for power users | Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile | Fully free | Free | 5M+ downloads, MIT |
| Waypoint | Auto-generated folder MOCs to embed | Windows, Mac, Linux, mobile | Fully free | Free | Community catalogue, MIT |
The plugins
1. Hearth
Hearth is the drag-and-drop homepage builder that a lot of vaults have been waiting for. Under a fast fuzzy search bar sits a grid of resizable cards we can add from an Arrange toolbar: embedded notes, Bases, Dataview queries, mini calendars, activity heatmaps, quick links, clocks and vault statistics. Cards move and snap on a real grid, so the dashboard ends up looking like the one we would have wired together in Notion, without the account. Multiple boards are supported, colours are per-card, and the whole layout is saved inside the vault so it syncs across machines.
Where it falls short: Hearth is new and self-labels as “not yet reviewed by Obsidian staff” in the community catalogue. A few widget types (web page embeds, activity heatmaps) run heavier than a plain note. Expect a handful of releases in the next months as edge cases shake out.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free, MIT-licensed
- Paid: no paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Download: Hearth on GitHub · Install via Obsidian community plugins
Bottom line: the pick for anyone who wants a real dashboard without touching Dataview syntax.
2. Homepage
Homepage by mirnovov is the plugin most established vaults already have installed, and for good reason: it does one thing and does not break. Point it at any note, canvas, workspace or base and Obsidian opens that instead of the last session. Options cover what to do with old tabs, which view mode to open in (Reading, Live Preview, Source), and whether to run any command on load. Combined with a Dataview or Bases note, that gives us a dashboard without any second plugin managing layout.
Where it falls short: it does not render widgets or dashboards on its own. The homepage is whatever note we designed by hand. The “homepage on new tab” behaviour is on by default and needs a settings toggle for users who dislike it.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free, MIT-licensed
- Paid: no paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Download: Homepage on GitHub · Install via Obsidian community plugins
Bottom line: the safest starting point, and the one to install first if we only want one homepage plugin.
3. Home tab
Home tab by olrenso replaces every empty new tab with a browser-style page: a big search bar at the top, a grid of starred files below, and file-type filters that behave like search operators. Type “pdf tab” and results narrow to PDFs; the “surfing” filter (with the Surfing plugin installed) sends the query to the web. It is the closest thing to a Firefox new-tab page inside Obsidian, and it works well for people who navigate by search rather than by hand-picked links.
Where it falls short: the author has flagged the plugin as being on light maintenance, so bug fixes ship irregularly. The starred-file grid does not tolerate huge stars lists gracefully.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free, MIT-licensed
- Paid: no paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux (desktop-only)
Download: Home tab on GitHub · Install via Obsidian community plugins
Bottom line: the pick when the fastest path to any file is what we want on startup.
4. Homepage Blocks
Homepage Blocks by acaprino gives us a drag-and-drop homepage built from a fixed set of 17 block types: greeting, clock, quotes, quick links, button grid, image gallery, video embed, embedded note, HTML, bookmarks, recent files, Pomodoro timer, vault search, random note, voice notes, static text and spacers. Blocks have 2D resize handles, accent colours with adjustable intensity, and per-block styling. It sits between Homepage (bring your own note) and Hearth (freeform grid) in complexity, and it runs on mobile.
Where it falls short: the block set is fixed. Anything the plugin does not ship, we do not get, unlike Hearth’s “host any other plugin view” trick. Video and image blocks add real memory overhead if we stack a lot of them.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free, MIT-licensed
- Paid: no paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Download: Homepage Blocks on GitHub · Install via Obsidian community plugins
Bottom line: the middle option, and the friendliest homepage for readers who dislike raw Markdown.
5. Default New Tab Page
Default New Tab Page by Chris Grieser is the minimal answer to “I just want a specific note to open every time I hit Cmd+T”. Set the target once and every new tab opens with that note, or optionally with the Quick Switcher already focused. There is a Dataview integration that can pull a random quote into the tab for a mild delight factor. The whole plugin is a few settings and no UI to configure.
Where it falls short: the author has moved it to maintenance mode and recommends Homepage for anyone who needs more than the basics. The Dataview-random-quote integration is the only “widget” it offers.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free, MIT-licensed
- Paid: no paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Download: Default New Tab Page on GitHub · Install via Obsidian community plugins
Bottom line: the pick when Homepage feels like overkill and we just want a note on every Cmd+T.
6. Bases
Bases is Obsidian’s own core plugin (bundled since 1.9), so it does not need installing from the community catalogue. It turns note frontmatter properties into live, sortable, filterable tables, card grids, lists or maps. Point Bases at a folder or tag, add a few columns (status, due date, project), and the result is a real dashboard we can embed inside any homepage note. Edits made in the view write back to the note’s YAML immediately, and .base files travel with the vault, so a homepage built on Bases works on every device that runs Obsidian.
Where it falls short: Bases is still catching up on the more exotic query features Dataview shipped over five years. It does not do inline calculations across notes yet, and complex joins are simpler in DQL.
Pricing:
- Free: bundled with Obsidian
- Paid: Obsidian’s Sync and Publish add-ons are separate products and unrelated
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Download: Bases documentation on obsidian.md (enable in Settings → Core plugins)
Bottom line: the pick for anyone starting a homepage fresh in 2026, because it needs no third-party plugin and works on mobile.
7. Dataview
Dataview by blacksmithgu is still the most powerful way to build a data-driven Obsidian homepage. Its query language (DQL) reads every note’s frontmatter and inline fields, and returns tables, lists, task boards or calendars from a few lines of code. Combined with Homepage or Hearth, one Dataview note becomes a reading list, a project dashboard, a habit tracker or a weekly review pane. Five million downloads is not a rounding error, and the plugin gets shipped in almost every “here is my Obsidian setup” screenshot.
Where it falls short: the query language has a learning curve and its own set of gotchas around dates, links and nested lists. Bases now covers most of what a casual user needed Dataview for.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free, MIT-licensed
- Paid: no paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Download: Dataview on GitHub · Install via Obsidian community plugins
Bottom line: the pick for power users who want their homepage to write itself from note metadata.
8. Waypoint
Waypoint by IdreesInc is the most unconventional pick on this list, because it does not draw a homepage; it fills one. Drop the magic string %% Waypoint %% into a folder note and Waypoint replaces it with an auto-generated, always-up-to-date list of every file in that folder and its subfolders. Point Homepage at that folder note and the “homepage” becomes a live map of the entire vault, no queries written by hand. Waypoints are stored as plain Markdown links, so they survive a switch to any other editor.
Where it falls short: the plugin has to pair with a folder-notes workflow to be useful. It is a text-generation trick, not a widget dashboard, so it looks like a list rather than a UI.
Pricing:
- Free: fully free, MIT-licensed
- Paid: no paid tier
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Download: Waypoint on GitHub · Install via Obsidian community plugins
Bottom line: the pick when the homepage should look like a table of contents for the whole vault.
How to pick the right Obsidian homepage plugin
- If we want the simplest option: Homepage. One setting, one note, done.
- If we want a real drag-and-drop dashboard: Hearth. It is the reason most people are searching for a homepage plugin in the first place.
- If we prefer a browser-style new tab with search: Home tab.
- If we like widgets but do not want to touch a query language: Homepage Blocks.
- If we only want a note on every Cmd+T and nothing else: Default New Tab Page.
- If we want a homepage that works on every device with zero installs: Bases, built into Obsidian.
- If we already speak Dataview: keep Dataview, pair it with Homepage.
- If the vault is organised by folders and we want an auto-updating index: Waypoint, embedded in a folder note.
A sensible starter setup for a fresh vault in 2026 is Homepage plus Bases, pointing Homepage at a note that embeds a couple of Bases views. Add Hearth on top when we want the dashboard to move around freely.
FAQ
What is the best Obsidian homepage plugin? For most people, Homepage by mirnovov is still the right first install because it is stable, tiny, and does exactly one job. If the goal is a real widget dashboard, Hearth is the newer pick and comes with drag-and-drop cards, search and multiple boards out of the box. Both are free and open source.
Can I make an Obsidian dashboard without a plugin? Since Obsidian 1.9, yes. The Bases core plugin ships with Obsidian and renders live tables, card grids and lists from note properties, which covers what most users mean by “dashboard”. Embed a couple of Bases views in a note and set that note as the startup file (still needs Homepage or Bases’s own new-tab option to open it automatically).
Does Hearth work on mobile? Yes. Hearth is listed as a desktop and mobile plugin in the community catalogue, so the drag-and-drop dashboard renders on iOS and Android. Interaction is less precise on a phone, so most users design the layout on desktop and read it on mobile.
Is Dataview still worth using in 2026? For power users, yes. Bases covers 80% of what casual users needed Dataview for, but DQL still handles calculations across notes, complex joins and inline queries that Bases has not shipped yet. Many vaults run both.
How do I set a startup note in Obsidian? Install Homepage, enable it in Settings → Community plugins, and set the target file in the plugin’s settings. Obsidian will open that note on launch instead of the last session. Homepage also supports opening a canvas, workspace, base file or Daily Note as the startup target.
Which Obsidian homepage plugin is best for search? Home tab is built around a browser-style search bar, and Hearth includes a fuzzy search bar above its dashboard. Both handle file names, tags, properties and commands; only Home tab supports a web-search filter through the Surfing plugin.