Bear is the better app overall, scoring 9.1 to 7.7. Bear wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Evernote on 1.
Writers and Apple users who want fast, good-looking Markdown notes
Long-time users with large archives of clipped articles and scanned documents
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Bear | Evernote |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Productivity & Notes | Productivity & Notes |
| Category rank | #3 of 13 | #13 of 13 |
| Developer | Shiny Frog | Bending Spoons |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Android | — | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | — | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Bear better than Evernote?
Bear is the better app overall, scoring 9.1 to 7.7. Bear wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Evernote on 1.
Which is cheaper, Bear or Evernote?
Bear: Free without sync; Bear Pro is $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year. Evernote: Limited free plan; Starter $99/year or $14.99/month. On value for money, Bear scores higher.
Do Bear and Evernote work on the same devices?
Only Evernote runs on Android, Windows.
Which is more private, Bear or Evernote?
Bear scores higher on privacy (9.4/10). App Store label: no tracking and no data linked to you, only crash data. Notes sync through your own iCloud, Shiny Frog says it can't access them, and Pro adds per-note encryption.
Strengths and weaknesses
Bear
- Polished, distraction-free writing
- Notes stay in your iCloud, not on Bear's servers
- Pro costs just $29.99 a year
- No Android or Windows app
- Sync and encryption require Pro
- Tags only, no traditional folders
Bear is a Markdown notes app with a calm, polished editor that makes jotting things down a pleasure. Organize with nested tags instead of folders, add tables, callouts, math and Mermaid diagrams, and search text inside images and PDFs with Pro. Notes sync privately through your iCloud, and the price is gentle. It's Apple-only apart from a web version, and sync needs Pro.
Full Bear review
Evernote
- Excellent web clipper for saving articles
- Finds text inside images, PDFs and scans
- Mature apps on phone, desktop and web
- Free plan stops at 50 notes and one notebook
- Paid plans cost more than most rivals
- Google Play lists the Android app as containing ads
Evernote is still a capable place to capture everything. The web clipper is excellent, search finds text inside images and PDFs, and notes, tasks and calendar live together. Version 11 added an AI Assistant, semantic search and meeting transcripts, and updates keep coming. The problem is value: the free plan stops at 50 notes, and paid plans cost more than most rivals. Hard to recommend unless you already rely on it.
Full Evernote review
