Is Bear or Fastmail better?

Neither clearly leads. Bear starts at Free and Fastmail at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Bear or Fastmail?

Bear has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bear and $3/month for Fastmail.

Does Bear or Fastmail run on more platforms?

Bear runs on Web. Fastmail runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.

Can I use Bear for free?

Yes. Bear has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fastmail starts at $3/month.

What is Bear best used for?

Bear is most often used for note-taking with document scanning, cross-device note synchronization. Of those, note-taking with document scanning and cross-device note synchronization are not what Fastmail is typically brought in for.

What can Bear do that Fastmail cannot?

Fastmail covers Custom domain hosting, Masked email, Unlimited aliases, Integrated calendar and contacts.

Productivity · head to head

Bear vs Fastmail

Bear

Productivity

Markdown notes for Apple devices

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Fastmail

Productivity

Paid email hosting with custom domains, calendar and contacts, run without ad-based revenue

From: $3/month
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Bear has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Bear built for Apple hardware only, with no Windows, Android or web client; Fastmail it does not provide end-to-end encryption by default, so users specifically wanting zero-knowledge mail should compare it against Proton Mail or Tuta rather than assume parity.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bear and Fastmail actually diverge.

Attributes where Bear and Fastmail differ
Attribute	Bear	Fastmail
Starting price	Free	$3/month
Pricing model	freemium	Per user per month
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows

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

Nothing recorded that Fastmail does not also cover.

Only in Fastmail

Custom domain hosting
Masked email
Unlimited aliases
Integrated calendar and contacts
Migration tools
JMAP support

What people use each for

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

Bear

Note-taking with document scanningnot Fastmail
Cross-device note synchronizationnot Fastmail

Fastmail

Someone who wants their email address tied to a domain they own rather than a free provider they do notnot Bear
A small business wanting hosted mail on its own domain without running mail server infrastructurenot Bear
A person leaving Gmail specifically to stop an ad-funded provider processing their mailnot Bear
A household migrating several accounts to one paid provider with shared billingnot Bear

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Bear

Built for Apple hardware only, with no Windows, Android or web client
Free tier is limited to 3 themes, 1 app icon and restricted export formats; iCloud sync requires Bear Pro
Bear Pro is $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year after a 7 day free trial

Fastmail

It does not provide end-to-end encryption by default, so users specifically wanting zero-knowledge mail should compare it against Proton Mail or Tuta rather than assume parity.
Moving to Fastmail is a real migration with DNS changes for a custom domain, unlike installing a client such as Spark or Bluemail over an existing account.
There is no free tier at all, so a user just wanting to try it commits to a paid trial rather than a permanently free option.
Storage limits on the entry Basic plan are modest next to the free allowance Gmail gives, and heavy attachment users will need Standard or above.
Being based in Australia means it falls under Australian data access law, which some privacy-focused buyers weigh differently from Swiss or German jurisdictions used by Proton Mail and Tuta.

Pricing, plan by plan

Bear

Free

FreeFree
- Local note access
- Document scanning
- PDF, image, text, markdown, HTML, DOCX, ePub export
Pro$2.99/month
- All free features plus 28+ themes
- 15 app icons
- PDF and image search across notes
Pro$29.99/year
- All free features plus 28+ themes
- 15 app icons
- PDF and image search across notes

Fastmail

$3/month

Basic$3/month
- 6GB storage
- No custom domain support
- Core mail, calendar and contacts
Standard$5/month
- 60GB storage
- Custom domain support
- Masked email and aliases
Professional$9/month
- 150GB storage
- Multiple custom domains
- Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose Bear if

You want to start without paying.

Bear review

Choose Fastmail if

You need custom domain hosting.
You work on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
You also want masked email.

Fastmail review

Questions people ask

Is Bear or Fastmail better?: Neither clearly leads. Bear starts at Free and Fastmail at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bear or Fastmail?: Bear has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Bear and $3/month for Fastmail.
Does Bear or Fastmail run on more platforms?: Bear runs on Web. Fastmail runs on Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows.
Can I use Bear for free?: Yes. Bear has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Fastmail starts at $3/month.
What is Bear best used for?: Bear is most often used for note-taking with document scanning, cross-device note synchronization. Of those, note-taking with document scanning and cross-device note synchronization are not what Fastmail is typically brought in for.
What can Bear do that Fastmail cannot?: Fastmail covers Custom domain hosting, Masked email, Unlimited aliases, Integrated calendar and contacts.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Bear: Does Bear offer a free plan?

Yes, Bear has a free plan with local note access, document scanning, and export to multiple formats, but without iCloud sync or PDF/image search.

Source

Fastmail: Is Fastmail a client like Spark, or does it host my email?

It hosts the mailbox itself; there is no separate provider underneath it the way Spark sits over Gmail.

Bear: How much does Bear Pro cost?

Bear Pro is $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year. The yearly plan offers approximately 15% savings compared to monthly billing.

Source

Fastmail: Does Fastmail offer end-to-end encryption?

Not by default in the way Proton Mail or Tuta do; its privacy position rests on being subscription-funded rather than ad-funded.

Bear: Is there a free trial for Bear Pro?

Yes, Bear Pro includes a 7-day free trial before charging begins.

Source

Fastmail: Can I use my own domain?

Yes, from the Standard plan up, with full alias and masked email support.

Bear vs Fastmail

Bear

Fastmail

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Bear

Only in Fastmail

What people use each for

Bear

Fastmail

Where each one falls short

Bear

Fastmail

Pricing, plan by plan

Bear

Fastmail

Which should you pick?

Choose Bear if

Choose Fastmail if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Bear

More on Fastmail

Keep looking

Other head to heads