B · out of 10
Bear is markdown that looks like it was designed by someone who cares. Nested tags replace folders, links between notes work, and Bear 2 brought tables, LaTeX, PDF attachments and text recognition inside images. There is no AI, no collaboration and no Windows version, and Bear seems fine with that.
How it scores
Features25% of score
7.0Depth and breadth of what the app can do.
Ease of use20% of score
9.4Speed, polish and how long it takes to feel at home.
AI15% of score
3.4Quality and usefulness of the built-in AI, not just its presence.
Sync & reliability15% of score
8.4How dependably notes move between devices.
Value15% of score
8.8What you get for what you pay.
Platform coverage10% of score
4.6How many places you can actually use it.
Pricing
$2.99/month · $29.99/year
Free tier: The full editor on one device. Sync and themes are the paid part.
Bear Pro is $2.99/month or $29.99/year, which buys sync, themes and export formats.
Platforms
- Windows
- macOS
- iOS
- Android
- Linux
- Web
42 tracked features supported
What it does well
- Typography and theming that make you want to write
- Nested tags are a genuinely better filing system than folders
- Fast, native and light on battery
- Cheap, with a free tier that is actually usable on one device
Where it falls short
- Apple only, with no web access
- No AI features of any kind
- No collaboration or comments
- Notes live in a database, so you export rather than edit files directly
Our take
The most pleasant place to write plain text on a Mac. Just do not expect it to grow into a knowledge system.
Best for: Writers on Apple hardware who want markdown without the tinkering.
Feature by feature
Capture & input
How notes get into the app in the first place.
- Voice recording
- Audio transcription
- Speaker identification
- Meeting recording
- Handwriting / stylus
- Drawing canvas
- OCR / handwriting searchPartly
- Web clipper
- Share extension
- Quick capturePartly
- Images
- PDF & documents
- Document scanningPartly
Organization
How notes are structured, linked and found again.
- Tags
- Folders / notebooksPartly
- Multi-level foldersPartly
- Internal links
- Backlinks
- Graph view
- Databases / boards
- Daily notes / journalPartly
- Note templatesPartly
- Saved searches
- Pins / favorites
- Merge notes
AI
Assistants, generators and meaning-based search.
- AI chat / writing assistant
- AI agent with tools
- Custom AI agents
- Semantic search
- AI web search
- Connected apps for AI
- Prompt templates
- Custom AI instructions
- AI memory
- Scheduled AI tasks
- Flashcard generator
- Spaced repetition
- Quiz generator
- Fill in the blank
- Mind maps
- AI image generation
- Infographic generator
- Slide deck generator
- AI mini apps
- Brainrot video generator
- AI audio overview
- Bring your own model
- AI job notifications
Writing & editing
What the editor itself can actually do.
- Markdown
- Rich textPartly
- Code blocks
- Math / LaTeX
- Tables
- Find and replace
- Version history
- Note info
Sync & data ownership
Where your notes live and how easily they leave.
- Cloud sync
- Sync through your own cloud
- Offline support
- Offline-first / own your dataPartly
- Self-hosting
- End-to-end encryptionPartly
- Locked notes
- Daily backup
- Import
- Export
- Public API
- Command line tool
- Remote MCP serverPartly
- Plugins / extensions
Sharing & collaboration
Working with other people inside your notes.
- Share with people
- Real-time collaboration
- Comments
- Public sharing
Experience
The everyday polish around the writing surface.
- Dark mode
- Custom themes
- Multi-language
- Command palettePartly
- Split viewPartly
- Focus mode
- Home screen widgets
- Apple Shortcuts
