Bear

Markdown-based note-taking app for Apple devices with tagging, sketching, and export options.

Note Taking Software

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Deployment Cloud Based
Starting price $2.99
Free trial Available
Best for Freelancers, Startups

What is Bear?

Bear is a note-taking app built exclusively for Apple's ecosystem, covering iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and watchOS. Notes are written in Markdown and can be organized with hashtags, including nested tags, rather than traditional folders. Users can insert sketches inline with text using Apple Pencil or a finger, and WikiLinks let notes connect to each other to form a personal wiki. Bear works fully offline on Mac and iPhone and keeps notes private, stating that the company cannot see users' notes or tags.

The free version works on a single device with basic editing and limited export formats. Bear Pro adds iCloud sync across devices, OCR search inside photos and PDFs, over 28 themes, additional app icons, and export to PDF, HTML, DOCX, and other formats. Because Bear has no Windows, Android, or web version, it is best suited to people who work entirely within Apple hardware.

Key Features of Bear

Bear lists 8 documented features, including Markdown-based writing with live preview, Nested hashtag organization instead of folders and Inline sketching with Apple Pencil or finger. The list below covers what the product does rather than how it is marketed.

Markdown-based writing with live preview
Nested hashtag organization instead of folders
Inline sketching with Apple Pencil or finger
WikiLinks connecting notes into a personal wiki
OCR search inside photos and PDFs (Pro)
Export to PDF, HTML, DOCX, JPG, and more
Apple Watch dictation support
Fully offline note-taking

Bear Pricing

Bear lists one plan, at $2.99.

Paid plan

$2.99

per month

Request pricing

After a 7 day free trial, the paid plan unlocks themes, app icons, search inside PDFs and images and iCloud sync, and the page marks $29.99 per year as the best deal at 15% less.