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Productivity · head to head

Bear Notes vs Milanote

Bear Notes logo

Bear Notes

Productivity

Beautiful note-taking app for Apple devices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Milanote logo

Milanote

Productivity

Board-based visual workspace for creative planning, free up to 100 items for the whole account

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bear Notes apple only: Bear runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad with no Windows, Android or web app; Milanote the free plan caps the entire account at 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads rather than capping per board, so one properly worked project exhausts it and the tool stops working rather than degrading gracefully.
  • They diverge on capability: Bear Notes covers Markdown-based notes, Milanote covers Infinite board canvas.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bear Notes and Milanote actually diverge.

Attributes where Bear Notes and Milanote differ
AttributeBear NotesMilanote
PlatformsMacOS, IOS, IPadOSWeb
Founded2015Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), 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 Milanote

  • Infinite board canvas
  • Mixed content
  • Nested boards
  • Templates
  • Web clipper
  • Shared boards with comments
  • Mobile apps
  • Free plan

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Bear Notes

  • Markdown note taking on Apple devicesnot Milanote
  • Organising notes with nested hashtags rather than foldersnot Milanote
  • Exporting notes to PDF, DOCX, HTML or ePubnot Milanote

Milanote

  • Moodboards and visual references for a branding or design project, gathered from the web and arranged for a client review.not Bear Notes
  • Storyboarding a video or planning a shoot, where the whole sequence needs to be visible at once.not Bear Notes
  • Structuring a book, script or long article by physically moving sections around until the order works.not Bear Notes
  • A shared board where a small creative team reacts to work in progress without the overhead of a project tool.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

Milanote

  • The free plan caps the entire account at 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads rather than capping per board, so one properly worked project exhausts it and the tool stops working rather than degrading gracefully.
  • The value of a board is its arrangement, and arrangement is the one thing export does not carry, so a PDF gives you a picture and a text export gives you the words while nothing reconstitutes the board in another tool.
  • Pricing is per person and the tool spreads naturally to reviewers and clients who only look and comment, so a team plan ends up covering people who never create anything.
  • There is no database layer, no properties, no filtering and no dependency tracking, so a project that starts on a Milanote board has to be re-entered somewhere else the moment it acquires owners and dates.
  • Offline support is minimal, so a board full of references is effectively unavailable without a connection, which is a real problem for a tool aimed at people who work on location and in meetings away from a desk.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bear Notes

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Note creation and organization
    • Tags
    • Local sync
  • Premium$1.99/month
    • iCloud sync
    • Themes
    • Markdown export

Milanote

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 100 notes, images or links
    • 10 file uploads
    • Unlimited shared boards
  • Individual$9.99/month
    • Unlimited notes, images or links
    • Unlimited file uploads
    • Unlimited shared boards
  • Team$49/month
    • Unlimited notes, images or links
    • Unlimited file uploads
    • Unlimited shared boards

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.
Bear Notes review

Choose Milanote if

  • You need infinite board canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want mixed content.
Milanote review

Questions people ask

Is Bear Notes or Milanote better?
Neither clearly leads. Bear Notes starts at Free and Milanote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bear Notes or Milanote?
Bear Notes starts at Free and Milanote at Free.
Does Bear Notes or Milanote run on more platforms?
Bear Notes runs on MacOS, IOS, IPadOS. Milanote runs on Web.
Can I use Bear Notes for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Milanote is typically brought in for.
What can Bear Notes do that Milanote cannot?
Bear Notes covers Markdown-based notes, Powerful tag system, Rich text formatting, Image support. Milanote covers Infinite board canvas, Mixed content, Nested boards, Templates.

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.

Source
Milanote: How long does the free plan last?

Indefinitely. It is limited by quantity rather than by time: 100 notes, images or links and 10 file uploads for the account as a whole, so it ends when you hit the cap rather than on a date.

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.

Source
Milanote: Can I export a board?

You can produce PDFs and images of a board and extract the text, but the spatial arrangement is not portable, so nothing you export reconstructs the board in another tool.

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.

Source
Milanote: Is it a project management tool?

No. There are no dates, dependencies or workload views. It suits the thinking phase, and the work has to be handed to a tracker once it becomes a plan.

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.

Source
Milanote: Do collaborators need paid accounts?

Shared boards are unlimited even on the free plan, and the paid question is about who creates rather than who looks. Confirm the current plan terms before rolling it out to a client's team.

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.

Source
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