Bearvs
Todoist
Todoist: The world's #1 task manager and to-do list app
Bear
Markdown notes for Apple devices
As of 28 August 2026, Bear has a free plan and paid plans start at $2.99/month. Bear is a markdown-based note-taking app for Mac, iPhone and iPad, with tag-based organization, document scanning and sketching. Softwr lists it under Productivity.
Overview
What Bear does
Bear is a markdown-based note-taking app for Mac, iPhone and iPad, with tag-based organization, document scanning and sketching.
What people use it for
- Note-taking with document scanning
- Cross-device note synchronization
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Bear
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- BearvsOmniFocus 3
OmniFocus 3: Professional task management for complex workflows
- BearvsThings 3
Things 3: The award-winning personal task manager
- BearvsBrain.fm
Brain.fm: Scientifically-designed music to enhance focus and productivity
Pricing
What Bear costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Free
Free
- Local note access
- Document scanning
- PDF, image, text, markdown, HTML, DOCX, ePub export
- 3 themes
- No PDF/image search
- No iCloud sync
Pro
$2.99 /mo
- All free features plus 28+ themes
- 15 app icons
- PDF and image search across notes
- iCloud sync across all devices
Pro
$29.99 /yr
- All free features plus 28+ themes
- 15 app icons
- PDF and image search across notes
- iCloud sync across all devices
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
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.
SourceHow 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.
SourceIs there a free trial for Bear Pro?
Yes, Bear Pro includes a 7-day free trial before charging begins.
SourceKeep looking
Where to go from Bear
- Bear alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Bear pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Bear badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Productivity softwareThe full category
- Best Productivity softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Productivity software for
Compare Bear with
- Things 3
- OmniFocus 3
- Todoist
- Brain.fm
- Capacities
- RemNote
- Reflect
- Ulysses
- Milanote
- PDF Expert
- Supernormal
- Bluedot
- Forest
- HEY
- Hubstaff
- Mealime
- Microsoft 365
- Paprika Recipe Manager
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From $7/mo13 researched notesOne-time purchase recipe manager with web page import, meal planning and grocery lists, priced per platform
From $4.99/one-time9 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Bear, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Bear
Bear alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Bear pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Bear
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Bear badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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