Softwr

Productivity · head to head

Bear vs Milanote

Bear logo

Bear

Productivity

Markdown notes 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 built for Apple hardware only, with no Windows, Android or web client; 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.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Bear and Milanote actually diverge.

Attributes where Bear and Milanote differ
AttributeBearMilanote

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web), 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 Milanote does not also cover.

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

  • Note-taking with document scanningnot Milanote
  • Cross-device note synchronizationnot Milanote

Milanote

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

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

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

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 if

  • You want to start without paying.
Bear 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 or Milanote better?
Neither clearly leads. Bear 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 or Milanote?
Bear starts at Free and Milanote at Free.
Does Bear or Milanote run on more platforms?
Both run on Web, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
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 Milanote is typically brought in for.
What can Bear do that Milanote cannot?
Milanote covers Infinite board canvas, Mixed content, Nested boards, Templates.

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
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: 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
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: Is there a free trial for Bear Pro?

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

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.

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.

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