Productivity · head to head
Bear Notes vs Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365
Productivity
Subscription bundle of the Office applications with mail, storage, meetings and organisational identity
- From
- $7/month
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Bear Notes has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Bear Notes apple only: Bear runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad with no Windows, Android or web app; Microsoft 365 business plans are capped at 300 seats, so an organisation that grows past that must move to Enterprise plans, which changes both the price per user and the feature mix at the moment it can least afford a migration project.
- They diverge on capability: Bear Notes covers Markdown-based notes, Microsoft 365 covers Office applications.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Bear Notes and Microsoft 365 actually diverge.
| Attribute | Bear Notes | Microsoft 365 |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | $7/month |
| Pricing model | freemium | subscription |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | MacOS, IOS, IPadOS | Web |
| Founded | 2015 | Unknown |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Productivity).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Bear Notes
- Markdown-based notes
- Powerful tag system
- Rich text formatting
- Image support
- iCloud sync
- Dark and light themes
- Encryption support
- Backup and restore
Only in Microsoft 365
- Office applications
- Hosted services
- Teams
- Microsoft Entra ID
- OneDrive storage
- Device management and endpoint protection
- Purview compliance
- Copilot
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Bear Notes
- Markdown note taking on Apple devicesnot Microsoft 365
- Organising notes with nested hashtags rather than foldersnot Microsoft 365
- Exporting notes to PDF, DOCX, HTML or ePubnot Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365
- Any organisation that wants mail, documents, meetings and identity from one supplier on one bill.not Bear Notes
- A company standardising on single sign-on, where Entra ID becomes the account other services authenticate against.not Bear Notes
- Regulated work that needs retention, legal hold and eDiscovery across mail and documents, provided the tier that includes them is actually bought.not Bear Notes
- A household that needs installed Office applications on several machines rather than browser-only editing.not Bear Notes
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Bear Notes
- Apple only: Bear runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad with no Windows, Android or web app
- Sync across devices requires Bear Pro and works through iCloud only
- The free version is limited to 3 export formats, 3 themes and 1 app icon
- OCR search inside images and PDFs is Pro only
- Note encryption is Pro only
- The Pro trial lasts 7 days
Microsoft 365
- Business plans are capped at 300 seats, so an organisation that grows past that must move to Enterprise plans, which changes both the price per user and the feature mix at the moment it can least afford a migration project.
- The compliance capabilities most organisations eventually need, including retention, data loss prevention, advanced eDiscovery and insider risk, sit at the top tier or in add-ons, so the real cost surfaces after an audit or a customer questionnaire rather than at purchase.
- Annual term subscriptions commit you for the year and month-to-month terms cost measurably more per seat, so the flexibility to reduce seats during a quiet period is bought at a permanently higher rate.
- Entra ID becomes the identity for everything else the organisation uses, which is the hardest kind of lock-in to put a number on, because leaving means re-federating every connected application rather than simply replacing a word processor.
- The licensing model is complicated enough that most organisations are either over-licensed or quietly non-compliant, and reconciling it usually requires a partner or a specialist, which is a recurring cost that never appears in the advertised per-user figure.
Pricing, plan by plan
Bear Notes
Free- FreeFree
- Note creation and organization
- Tags
- Local sync
- Premium$1.99/month
- iCloud sync
- Themes
- Markdown export
Microsoft 365
$7/month- Microsoft 365 Business Basic$7/month
- Email and calendar with 50 GB mailbox
- Web and mobile versions of Office apps
- Microsoft Teams included
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard$14/month
- Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
- Email and Teams
- 1 TB cloud storage per user
- Microsoft 365 E5$60/month
- Comprehensive security and compliance
- All productivity apps
- Advanced analytics
Which should you pick?
Choose Bear Notes if
- You need markdown-based notes.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on MacOS, IOS, IPadOS.
- You also want powerful tag system.
Choose Microsoft 365 if
- You need office applications.
- You also want hosted services.
Questions people ask
- Is Bear Notes or Microsoft 365 better?
- Neither clearly leads. Bear Notes starts at Free and Microsoft 365 at $7/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Bear Notes or Microsoft 365?
- Bear Notes has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bear Notes and $7/month for Microsoft 365.
- Does Bear Notes or Microsoft 365 run on more platforms?
- Bear Notes runs on MacOS, IOS, IPadOS. Microsoft 365 runs on Web.
- Can I use Bear Notes for free?
- Yes. Bear Notes has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Microsoft 365 starts at $7/month.
- What is Bear Notes best used for?
- Bear Notes is most often used for markdown note taking on apple devices, organising notes with nested hashtags rather than folders, exporting notes to pdf, docx, html or epub. Of those, markdown note taking on apple devices and organising notes with nested hashtags rather than folders are not what Microsoft 365 is typically brought in for.
- What can Bear Notes do that Microsoft 365 cannot?
- Bear Notes covers Markdown-based notes, Powerful tag system, Rich text formatting, Image support. Microsoft 365 covers Office applications, Hosted services, Teams, Microsoft Entra ID.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Bear Notes: How much does Bear Pro cost per month or year?
Bear Pro costs $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year. Annual subscribers receive a 15% discount compared to monthly pricing.
SourceMicrosoft 365: What is the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office?
Office was a one-off licence for a specific version. Microsoft 365 is a subscription covering the applications and the hosted services together, and when payment stops the applications drop to a reduced state rather than continuing as they were.
Bear Notes: Does Bear offer a free trial before committing to a subscription?
Yes, Bear Pro includes a 7-day free trial with no credit card required.
SourceMicrosoft 365: Is Teams included?
Not automatically for newer customers. Microsoft unbundled Teams and now sells it alongside the suite, so check what a given quotation actually covers.
Bear Notes: What export formats are available with Bear Pro?
Bear Pro subscribers can export notes in multiple formats including TXT, Markdown, TextBundle, RTF, PDF, JPG, HTML, DOCX, and ePub.
SourceMicrosoft 365: What happens to our files if we stop paying?
The documents remain yours and can be downloaded, but access to hosted mailboxes and sites ends after a retention window, so leaving requires a planned export rather than a cancellation.
Bear Notes: Can I sync my notes across devices with the free Bear plan?
No, iCloud sync is only available with Bear Pro. The free plan allows local note access but does not support cloud synchronization across devices.
SourceMicrosoft 365: Is Copilot part of the subscription?
No. It is a per-user add-on on top of the base licence, generally with its own term commitment, and it is priced per seat regardless of how much any individual uses it.
Bear Notes: What features are included in the free Bear plan?
The free plan includes local note access, document scanning, limited export formats, 3 themes, and 1 app icon. PDF and image search requires Bear Pro.
SourceRelated pages
More on Microsoft 365
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