SaaSipedia

Bear

bear.app
Knowledge Management
Weekend Project

Markdown notes you'll love

How to Replace Bear
Compare:vs Document360vs Sembly AIvs Notion

Overview

Bear is a beautiful, powerfully simple Markdown note taking app to capture, write, and organize your life. It offers seamless markdown support with text, photos, tables, and todo lists in the same note, plus powerful organization tools with flexible tags and fast native apps across Apple devices.

Features

18 features across 10 categories

Collaboration(1)

Note Sharing

Send notes to others and share ideas with the world

Also in: Notion, Airtable, Obsidian

Customization(2)

App IconsPremium

Multiple app icon options for customization

Themes

Beautiful themes offer the perfect, cozy space to work

Also in: monday.com, Obsidian, Smartsheet

Export(1)

Note ExportPremium

Export notes to multiple formats: PDF, HTML, DOCX, JPG, TXT, Markdown, TextBundle, RTF, ePub 3

Also in: Looker, Hunter, MLflow

Media(4)

Document Scanning

Scan documents directly into notes

Image Editing

Resize or crop images within notes

Rich Media Previews

Look beyond URLs with rich media previews for links and PDFs

Sketching

Insert sketches anywhere in notes inline with text, photos, and attachments using Apple Pencil or finger

Also in: Unbounce, Tome, WordPress.com

Organization(3)

Flexible Tags

Organize notes and projects with flexible tags system

Note Outline

Structure notes with headings and use folding to focus on a section and hide others

Tags with Icons

Choose from over 250 icons to help tags stand out and pin important tags for easy access

Also in: Hugging Face, Smartsheet, 1Password

Security(3)

Advanced Data ProtectionPremium

Support for Apple's Advanced Data Protection

iCloud PrivacyPremium

Notes are between you and iCloud with no server access to note content

Note EncryptionPremium

Encrypt notes for an extra layer of protection from prying eyes

Also in: Hugging Face, Notion, Airtable

Storage(1)

Local Note Access

Access to your notes stored locally

Also in: Yandex Disk, Notion, Bitwarden

Sync(1)

iCloud SyncPremium

Notes stay up-to-date across all devices automatically

Writing(1)

Markdown Support

Work with text, photos, tables, and todo lists in Markdown format that adapts to any situation

Pricing

Free

Free
  • ✓Local access to your notes
  • ✓Document scanning
  • ✓Export to: TXT, Markdown, TextBundle, RTF, PDF, JPG, HTML, DOCX, ePub
  • ✓3 free themes
  • ✓1 app icon
  • ✓Search inside PDFs and images
  • ✓Sync with iCloud

Bear Pro

Popular
$2.99/month or $29.99/year
  • ✓Local access to your notes
  • ✓Document scanning
  • ✓Export to: TXT, Markdown, TextBundle, RTF, PDF, JPG, HTML, DOCX, ePub
  • ✓28+ themes
  • ✓15 app icons
  • ✓Search inside PDFs and images
  • ✓Sync with iCloud
  • ✓iCloud sync across all devices
  • ✓Note encryption
  • ✓iCloud privacy
  • ✓Advanced Data Protection
  • ✓OCR Search
  • ✓Export more formats

Cost Calculator

Keep Paying Bear

Monthly$2.99/mo
Yearly$36/yr
5-Year Total$179

Build It Yourself

Est. Build Time~1 hrs
Hosting$20/mo
DifficultyVery Easy

Total Cost Comparison

1 Year
SaaS
$36
DIY
$240
3 Years
SaaS
$108
DIY
$720
5 Years
SaaS
$179
DIY
$1.2k

DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 18 features at very easy complexity.

Start BuildingGet It Built

Build vs Buy

Should you build a Bear alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 18 features.

Buy Bear

Better Value
Monthly cost$29.9/mo
3-year total$1,076.4
Time to deployDays

Build Your Own

Development cost$12,000
Maintenance$180/mo
3-year total$18,480
Dev time~1 months

Buying Bear saves ~$17,403.6 over 3 years vs building.

Estimates based on 18 features and a BuildScore of 5/5. Actual costs vary.