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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

iOS App

Bear

Fast, elegant markdown notes for Apple devices.

Visit Bear4.6

  • Rating

    4.6 / 5

  • Pricing

    Freemium

  • Difficulty

    Beginner

  • Works on

    iOS, macOS

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What is Bear?

Bear is a focused markdown note-taking app with a tag-based organisation system, quick capture and export to almost any format. It stays out of the way, opens instantly and is a relief for anyone who found bigger workspaces heavy.

Pros: what Bear does well

  • Beautiful and fast
  • Tags beat folders for notes
  • Cheap subscription

Cons: where it falls short

  • Apple only
  • No real database or collaboration features

Who Bear is for

Apple users who want writing-first notes without setup.

Who can skip it

Windows or Android users, and teams that need collaboration.

Compare Bear

See how Bear stacks up, side by side, plus the lists it made.

Bear alternatives

Not sold on Bear? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Note-Taking resources

ObsidianEditor's pick, verified

Focus: local-first, zettelkasten and plugins. Shares markdown with Bear. A desktop app, not an iOS app. Adds Windows, Linux and Android. Rated 4.8 (Bear: 4.6).

Desktop AppFree planmacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

Craft

Focus: documents, beautiful and publishing. Shares apple with Bear. A web app, not an iOS app. Adds Windows and Web. Same 4.6 rating.

Web AppFree planmacOS, iOS
4.6Visit

UpNote

Focus: notes, notebooks and journal. Shares markdown with Bear. A mobile app, not an iOS app. Adds Android, Windows and Linux. Same 4.6 rating.

Mobile AppFree planiOS, Android
4.6Visit

Dataview

Focus: obsidian, plugin and queries. Shares markdown with Bear. Free (Bear: Freemium). Rated 4.5 (Bear: 4.6).

OtherFreeCross-Platform
4.5Visit

Glyph

Focus: notes, desktop and private. Shares markdown with Bear. A desktop app, not an iOS app. Free (Bear: Freemium). Rated 4.3 (Bear: 4.6).

Desktop AppFreemacOS
4.3Visit

Simplenote

Focus: notes, sync and evernote alternative. Shares markdown and minimal with Bear. A web app, not an iOS app. Free (Bear: Freemium). Adds Web, Android and Windows. Rated 4.4 (Bear: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb, iOS
4.4Visit

Free alternatives to Bear

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

Memos

Focus: quick notes, self-hosted and journaling. Shares markdown with Bear. A web app, not an iOS app. Free (Bear: Freemium). Adds Web. Rated 4.7 (Bear: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.7Visit

Alexandrie

Focus: knowledge base, latex and offline-first. Shares markdown with Bear. A web app, not an iOS app. Free (Bear: Freemium). Adds Web. Rated 4.5 (Bear: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb, Cross-Platform
4.5Visit

HedgeDoc

Focus: collaborative editing, self-hosted and open source. Shares markdown with Bear. A web app, not an iOS app. Free (Bear: Freemium). Adds Web. Rated 4.5 (Bear: 4.6).

Web AppFreeWeb
4.5Visit

Jekyll

Focus: static site, blog and website. Shares markdown with Bear. A framework, not an iOS app. Free (Bear: Freemium). Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.5 (Bear: 4.6).

FrameworkFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit
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