The Obsidian plugins worth installing, and where they stop.
Obsidian ships almost empty on purpose, and the community plugins fill most of the gaps. This is the short list worth installing, grouped by job, and the one job that lives outside any plugin: reminders and widgets on your phone.
Get Free - iOS & Mac 
Get Free - Android Obsidian ships almost empty, on purpose
A fresh Obsidian install is a text editor and a graph. Everything else, task queries, a calendar, templates, comes from plugins you choose. That is the design, and it is why the first question every new user asks is which plugins to install.
The honest answer is fewer than you think, grouped by the job you are trying to do. Here is the short list, then the one job that no plugin can finish.
What to install, grouped by job
Pick by the job, not by the popularity ranking. Most people need three or four plugins, not thirty.
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Tasks and to-dos
The Obsidian Tasks plugin adds the checkbox syntax with due dates, priorities, and recurrence, and queries open tasks into a list. Pair it with Dataview when you want custom tables of tasks and notes. Both run on the desktop.
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Daily notes and calendar
Turn on the core Daily Notes plugin, then add the Calendar community plugin for a month view that opens each day's note. This is the backbone of a journaling or planning habit.
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Templates
The core Templates plugin handles simple inserts. Templater goes further with dates, prompts, and scripting, so a new daily note or project note starts pre-filled instead of blank.
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Reading and linking
Most of Obsidian's value, backlinks, outgoing links, and the graph, is built in. Resist stacking plugins on top until you feel a real gap. A lighter vault stays fast and portable.
The one job no plugin can do
Plugins run inside Obsidian, and Obsidian runs inside the limits the operating system gives an app. Home screen widgets, a notification that fires when the app is closed, quick capture from the lock screen: those need permissions the OS grants only to a native app, not to a plugin. However well written a task plugin is, it cannot draw a widget on your home screen or wake your phone to remind you. That ceiling is the same for every plugin, because it is not about the plugin.
TaskForge covers the part plugins cannot reach
TaskForge is a native app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android, installed from the App Store or Google Play. It reads the same vault and the same task lines your plugins already use, the Obsidian Tasks syntax and the TaskNotes format, and writes changes back to the markdown.
So you keep your plugins for what they do well on the desktop, and TaskForge handles the OS-level jobs: reminders that fire, home screen widgets, a phone-friendly list, a calendar, and a kanban board. Nothing is duplicated, because both read the same files.
Check a task on the widget and the checkbox flips in your note. The plugin view and the app stay in agreement because there is one source of truth: your files.
The same line your plugin already reads
- [ ] submit the tax forms 📅 2026-07-20 ⏫ ⏰ 08:30
What the native app adds
These are the plugin categories with no plugin, because the operating system, not the plugin, decides who gets them.
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Notifications that fire
Custom reminder times per task, due-date alerts, and overdue nudges that arrive even when Obsidian is closed. A plugin cannot wake the device.
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Home screen widgets
Tap-to-complete widgets on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android, showing any list you saved. They work offline.
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Calendar and kanban
A real day, week, and month calendar, and a kanban board you drag between columns, both reading the dates and status already in your markdown.
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Quick capture
Add a task by voice or from the lock screen with natural language, parsed in 18 languages, without opening the vault.
Who should add the app
Add TaskForge if
- You manage tasks in Obsidian and want them on your phone with reminders that actually fire.
- You want a home screen widget and quick capture, which no plugin can provide.
- You like your current plugin setup and just want it to follow you off the desktop.
Stick to plugins if
- You only ever work at your computer and never need a mobile reminder.
- You do not keep tasks in your vault at all, so there is nothing for it to read.
- You are on Windows only. TaskForge runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android.
What it costs
Every plugin mentioned here is free. TaskForge is free to download too, with the core task list included. The premium pieces, widgets, notifications, and the kanban board, are a one-time $39.99 purchase or $1.99 a month, and every install starts with a one-week trial.
Questions people ask
Which Obsidian plugins should I install first?
Start with the core Daily Notes and Templates plugins, then add Obsidian Tasks for to-dos and Dataview if you want custom queries. Add Templater and the Calendar plugin once you feel a specific gap. Three or four plugins cover most people.
Do I need a plugin to manage tasks in Obsidian?
On the desktop, the Obsidian Tasks plugin gives you query-based lists and the emoji syntax. For reminders, widgets, and a mobile list, you need a native app, because those are operating-system features a plugin cannot access.
Can a plugin send me notifications on my phone?
Not reliably. Plugins run inside Obsidian and only while it is open. Scheduled notifications that fire when the app is closed, and home screen widgets, require a native app with the right OS permissions. That is the gap TaskForge fills.
Will TaskForge conflict with my existing plugins?
No. TaskForge reads and writes the same markdown task lines your plugins use, in the Obsidian Tasks and TaskNotes formats. Both see one source of truth, your files, so a change in one shows up in the other.
Is TaskForge a plugin or a separate app?
A separate native app for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android, installed from the App Store or Google Play. You point it at your existing vault. It does not replace your plugins, it covers the mobile and notification jobs they cannot.
Are these plugins free?
Yes. Obsidian's core and community plugins named here are free. TaskForge is free to download with core features, and a one-time or monthly premium adds widgets, notifications, and the kanban board.
Keep your plugins. Add the phone.
Your plugins do the desktop jobs. TaskForge does the ones the operating system reserves for a native app: reminders, widgets, and a list in your pocket. Free to download on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Android.