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Productivity · head to head

Bear vs Microsoft OneNote

Bear logo

Bear

Productivity

Markdown notes for Apple devices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft OneNote logo

Microsoft OneNote

Productivity

Microsoft's free-form notebook, free with a Microsoft account and synced through OneDrive

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Bear built for Apple hardware only, with no Windows, Android or web client; Microsoft OneNote notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bear and Microsoft OneNote actually diverge.

Attributes where Bear and Microsoft OneNote differ
AttributeBearMicrosoft OneNote
PlatformsWebWeb, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows
FoundedUnknown1975

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

Nothing recorded that Microsoft OneNote does not also cover.

Only in Microsoft OneNote

  • Free-form page canvas
  • Notebook hierarchy
  • Indexed handwriting
  • Audio recording
  • Web clipper and Outlook capture
  • Shared notebooks
  • Cross-platform clients
  • Tags and cross-notebook search

What people use each for

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

Bear

  • Note-taking with document scanningnot Microsoft OneNote
  • Cross-device note synchronizationnot Microsoft OneNote

Microsoft OneNote

  • Handwritten notes on a pen tablet that you still need to find months later by searching for a word you wrote.not Bear
  • Lecture or meeting notes where a recording needs to line up with what you were typing at the time.not Bear
  • A team already inside Microsoft 365 that needs a shared notebook without buying anything or seeking approval.not Bear
  • Collecting mixed material such as screenshots, clippings and sketches on one page, where a document editor would force a linear structure.not 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

Microsoft OneNote

  • Notes live in a proprietary notebook format on OneDrive or SharePoint and the only exports are a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document, produced section by section, so a large notebook is effectively unmovable to any other tool.
  • Personal notebooks consume OneDrive quota, which is 5 GB on a free Microsoft account, so a notebook full of scans, images and recordings quietly exhausts the whole account including the space Outlook needs for mail.
  • Sync happens at section level and conflicts are resolved by placing both versions on the page, so simultaneous edits to a large or media-heavy section produce duplicated content that somebody has to merge by hand.
  • Search behaves differently across clients, so what the Windows desktop app finds inside handwriting, images and attachments is not necessarily what the browser or mobile version finds, and the same query gives different answers on different devices.
  • There is no relational structure, no database and no properties, so anything that needs a table of records with fields has to be maintained by hand or moved elsewhere, and OneNote's own tables cannot be queried or filtered.

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

Microsoft OneNote

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft OneNote review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Bear if

  • You want to start without paying.
Bear review

Choose Microsoft OneNote if

  • You need free-form page canvas.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
  • You also want notebook hierarchy.
Microsoft OneNote review

Questions people ask

Is Bear or Microsoft OneNote better?
Neither clearly leads. Bear starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Bear or Microsoft OneNote?
Bear starts at Free and Microsoft OneNote at Free.
Does Bear or Microsoft OneNote run on more platforms?
Bear runs on Web. Microsoft OneNote runs on Web, IOS, Android, MacOS, Windows.
Can I use Bear for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Microsoft OneNote is typically brought in for.
What can Bear do that Microsoft OneNote cannot?
Microsoft OneNote covers Free-form page canvas, Notebook hierarchy, Indexed handwriting, Audio recording.

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
Microsoft OneNote: Is OneNote really free?

Yes. The application is free with a Microsoft account, with no time limit and no feature gate. What you may end up paying for is the OneDrive storage the notebooks consume.

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
Microsoft OneNote: Can I keep notebooks off Microsoft's cloud?

The Windows desktop app can keep local notebooks, but they will not sync to other devices and any shared access requires OneDrive or SharePoint.

Bear: Is there a free trial for Bear Pro?

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

Source
Microsoft OneNote: How do I get my notes out?

Section by section as a OneNote file, a PDF or a Word document. A OneNote package preserves a whole notebook but only for another copy of OneNote. Third-party converters exist and the page layout usually does not survive them.

Microsoft OneNote: Which version should I install?

Microsoft consolidated onto a single OneNote application on Windows after retiring the Store version, so install the one distributed with Microsoft 365 rather than looking for an alternative.

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