synoia or SharePoint?
SharePoint and OneDrive, Microsoft 365's home for documents.
The short answer
Pick SharePoint if your client or employer runs everything in Microsoft 365 and your knowledge is mostly documents. Pick synoia if you want linked notes your own AI can work with, kept as files you own, alongside Microsoft 365.
| Feature | synoia | SharePoint |
|---|---|---|
| Notes are plain markdown files on your computer | YesA vault is a folder of .md files on each person's computer. Obsidian opens it. | NoFiles in SharePoint document libraries. OneDrive can sync them to your computer. |
| Edit together, live | YesEdits merge as you type, and you can see who else is in a note. | YesReal-time co-authoring in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. |
| Restrict a folder or page to named people | YesShare a vault, a folder or a note. Restrict a folder to named people or teams. | YesPermissions on sites, libraries, folders and files. |
| Work with people from other organisations | YesInvite guests by name to a vault, a folder or a note. | YesGuests, through Microsoft Entra B2B. |
| Your own AI reads and writes, within your access | YesClaude, ChatGPT or any MCP client reads and writes within the person's access. Every write is logged. | PartlyMicrosoft 365 Copilot works over your content, as a separately licensed add-on. |
| Sign-in | Google or Microsoft only. No passwords. | Microsoft Entra ID. |
| Where it runs | One service on AWS in London, behind Cloudflare. Notes also live on your computers. | Microsoft's cloud, with UK data residency available. |
| Price, as found | Free for pilot members. Priced after the pilot. | Part of Microsoft 365 business plans. Copilot costs extra. |
Yes, No and Partly describe SharePoint as we found it in September 2026, from Microsoft Learn and Microsoft Support pages. Products change; check with Microsoft before you rely on a line here. For synoia, each line describes the product as built today. Nothing is released yet.
Where SharePoint is the better choice
Your IT team has probably approved it, the firm already pays for it, and clients expect documents to be there. Entra sign-in and UK data residency are real strengths. If your knowledge is documents and your AI is Copilot, SharePoint is the estate, and synoia isn't trying to replace it.
Where synoia fits
The things people keep in their heads and in chat because they don't fit a document library: linked notes, decisions, market signals, what a meeting taught you. synoia signs in with the same Microsoft account, keeps those as files, links and searches them, and lets your own AI work with them inside your access.
If you've tried keeping an Obsidian vault in OneDrive, you'll know it's awkward. Obsidian's own guidance warns against using its Sync alongside OneDrive.
Switching
Can you switch?
Office documents stay in SharePoint; link to them from your notes. Bringing notes out of OneDrive folders into synoia is something we'll test with pilot members.
Questions
Our IT won't allow Obsidian. Will they allow synoia?
That's one of the questions the pilot tests. synoia is a desktop app we'll sign, with Microsoft sign-in and no plugins. We can't promise your IT team's answer.
More comparisons
Obsidian
Local-first markdown notes, built for one person.
synoia vsBaalda
The open-source team second brain synoia is built on.
synoia vsNotion
An all-in-one cloud workspace for docs, wikis and databases.
synoia vsConfluence
Atlassian's team wiki, next door to Jira.
synoia vsKahootz
UK document collaboration built for government and defence programmes.
See it with your own team.
Pilot members bring a real team and their own AI.