> hilariously expensive for what it does

What Sync does is not only "sync", it also helps Obsidian remain profitable and 100% user supported. Subsidizing costs in pursuit of growth is what got Evernote here.

> * it also helps Obsidian remain profitable and 100% user supported...*

100x this.

More than paying for a feature, subscribing to Obsidian Sync is a great way of sponsoring the project, and hoping that these folks are successfully enough to make a living and continue to pay their talented engineers for as long as possible, without going down the rabbit hole of VC funding and stock market.

I use syncthing. A lot. Best thing ever.

I used evernote a long while ago.

How can i bridge the divide between all devices between those too ? In a way that is cross-device and helps with notes/tags etc ?

I suspect you are keeping a specific folder of random files as your note taking location ?

yes, I use obsidian and I have several vaults, and each is its own directory that is synced independently using Syncthing to whichever devices need to be able to access each vault.