Bear vs Fantastical
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Bear is the better app overall, scoring 9.1 to 8.9. Bear wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Fantastical on 1.
Writers and Apple users who want fast, good-looking Markdown notes
Busy Apple users juggling work and personal calendars
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Bear | Fantastical |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Productivity & Notes | Productivity & Notes |
| Category rank | #3 of 13 | #6 of 13 |
| Developer | Shiny Frog | Flexibits |
| Pricing | Free + paid plans | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | — | ✓ |
| Web | ✓ | — |
Common questions
Is Bear better than Fantastical?
Bear is the better app overall, scoring 9.1 to 8.9. Bear wins on 4 of the 5 scores, Fantastical on 1.
Which is cheaper, Bear or Fantastical?
Bear: Free without sync; Bear Pro is $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year. Fantastical: Free basics; Flexibits Premium is $6.99 a month or $56.99 a year on the App Store. On value for money, Bear scores higher.
Do Bear and Fantastical work on the same devices?
Only Bear runs on Web. Only Fantastical runs on Windows.
Which is more private, Bear or Fantastical?
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
Fantastical
- Add events by typing a normal sentence
- Polished apps for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Windows
- Works with Microsoft 365 and Google accounts
- Most power features need the subscription
- No Android phone or tablet app yet
- Microsoft 365 users must switch to Graph sync
Fantastical lets you add an event by typing a normal sentence with the who, what and when, and it fills in the rest. Around that you get the DayTicker, Calendar Sets, tasks from Todoist and Google Tasks, Openings and Proposals for scheduling, weather, and AI that turns forwarded emails and screenshots into events. Most of the best parts need Premium, and Android phones aren't supported yet.
Full Fantastical review
