Comparison

Bear vs ProtoSketch Lite

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Bear

A beautiful and simple Markdown app for capturing, writing, and organizing your thoughts and ideas. It offers a distraction-free writing environment, flexible formatting, and powerful organizational tools like tags and tasks. Ideal for anyone looking to streamline their note-taking and creative processes.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free writing environment
  • Flexible Markdown formatting
  • Tag-based organization
  • Task management
  • Note linking (WikiLinks)
  • Web clipping extension
  • Apple Pencil sketching
Features
Read full description

Bear is a beautiful, powerfully simple Markdown app to capture, write, and organize your life. ​ Take notes, plan your day, journal thoughts, organize tables, create lists and tasks, sketch ideas, link notes together, write a book, and much more. Bear is used by writers, lawyers, chefs, CEOs, teachers, doctors, engineers, students, parents.. you get the picture. Getting started couldn’t be faster—no signup and no account. Just open a note and write naturally. ​ "My journaling app of choice is Bear" - Kit Eaton, New York Times ​ * 2017 Apple Design Award * 2016 App Store App of the Year * Editors' choice for 7 consecutive years * Most of our parents love it ​ ## BEAUTIFUL. SIMPLE. POWERFUL. PRIVATE - Tools stay out of your way so you can just write - Sketch ideas on iPad with an extendable canvas and Apple Pencil (and other styli) - Clip web pages and other content with Bear’s app extension - The redesigned Info Panel now with Table of Contents and Backlinks - Use Apple Watch to dictate and append to recent notes - Support for all the scripts including RTL languages like Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian - Easily create notes with Siri and Shortcuts - Your notes, not ours - Bear is private at its core: We cannot see your notes, tags, or anything else ​ ## FLEXIBLE MARKDOWN ​ - Work in plain text - easy to move between apps - Still use formatting like bold, italics, strikethrough, links, tables, and more with Markdown - Combine text styles like bold and underline, even in headings - Markdown hides for a clean reading experience - Use WikiLinks to connect notes and build a personal wiki or knowledge management tool ​ ## GET ORGANIZED with #tags, tasks, and more ​ - Add #tags, #multi-word tags# and even #multiple/nested/tags anywhere in a note for quick organization - Pin important tags to the top of the Sidebar - Make important tags stand out in the Sidebar with TagCons - Add tasks to notes and easily view all notes that include tasks - Fold sections to get them out of the way ​ ## SHARING MADE EASY ​ - Export notes to plain text, Markdown, TextBundle, Bear note, and rich text - Export notes to HTML, DocX, PDF, JPG, and ePub (Bear Pro required) - Easily share your notes to any third-party app with the Share Sheet ​ ## SEARCH FAR AND WIDE ​ - Use Spotlight to search your notes from anywhere - Search for text inside photos and PDFs (Bear Pro required) - Focus on specific types of notes with powerful Special Searches like @todo, @images, and @yesterday ​ ## CREATE YOUR COZY SPACE ​ * Pick from nearly 30 themes for the perfect writing space in both Light and Dark Mode (Bear Pro required) * Choose an app icon that speaks to your personality (Bear Pro required) * Set your own fonts for plain text, headings, and code * Set line height and width, paragraph spacing, and more ​ ## GET MORE WITH BEAR PRO ​ One subscription enables a variety of features on all your devices and keeps the Bear hugs coming. ​ - Sync notes between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac via iCloud - Encrypt individual notes with a password that is entirely private to you - Lock Bear with Face/Touch ID - Export to more formats including HTML, DocX, PDF, JPG, and ePub - Search for text inside images and PDFs in Bear notes - Over 30 beautiful app themes & app icons ​ $2.99 monthly $29.99 yearly 14-day free trial ​ ----- Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your App Store account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will not be able to cancel the subscription once activated. After purchase, manage your subscriptions in App Store Account Settings. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. ----- ​ bear@shinyfrog.net Twitter: BearNotesApp Reddit: reddit.com/r/BearApp Facebook: BearNotes Instagram: BearNotesApp Privacy Policy: http://www.bear.app/privacy/ Terms of Service: http://www.bear.app/terms/

About

ProtoSketch Lite

This app offers desktop-class vector graphic design tools for iPad, enabling users to create logos, app icons, website layouts, and more. It features a user-friendly interface with drag-and-drop elements, a rich library of assets, and Apple Pencil support for detailed sketching.

Highlights
  • Vector brush with variable width
  • Pen and pencil tools for path drawing
  • Shape creation tools
  • Layer management
  • Extensive asset library
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Export to desktop vector format
Features
Read full description

Get the finest Desktop-Class design software ever released for FREE!!! Fully functional alternative to PhotoShop, Illustrator or Sketch on your iPad! Make slick designs in minutes! You are a designer, a marketer or just want to sketch something, you want to make a logo or a new landing page for your business - ProtoSketch is your digital canvas! You don't have to learn anything, just choose the brush and start sketching! Supercharged with icons, fonts, ui elements, basic and complex drag and drop shapes. It is easy to design anything from logo and icon to website and mobile app. Lossless vector graphics that you can scale infinitely and continue on your desktop. "ProtoSketch puts the "Pro" in iPad Pro!" "Beautiful design in a thoughtful package." "One of the best design tools you have to try in 2016" WHAT MAKES THIS APP BETTER THAN OTHER DESIGN TOOLS ? - Made with lots of LOVE by designers for designers! - The iPad is not a PC. ProtoSketch wasn't adapted from a desktop app. It was created from the ground up exclusively for iPad. Our workflow is different - we have dedicated ALT, SHIFT and REPEAT buttons and all the commands relative to your selection appear as buttons on the bounding box. We call them shortcuts because they work as keyboard shortcuts on your PC. -The app works beautifully with Apple Pencil you can draw, sketch and concept your ideas. But hey nothing will stop you from finishing your idea and polishing it to perfection. Proto has all the tools you need. - AGILE, we are doing constant updates, enriching your experience and adding new features. - HUGE ROADMAP, there is a lot of stuff ahead better vector tools, a mac app, prototyping, real-time collaboration and more... - EXCELLENT Support, send us feedback on fb, tw and via email. We'd love to chat :) WHAT CAN YOU CREATE? - Sketches - Concepts - Vector Illustrations - Design Logos - Design App icons - Design vector icons/pictograms - Everything UI/UX - Design Websites - Design Apps - Landing pages - Sitemap flow charts - Wireframes - Use maps - Send to desktop in vector format LITE VERSION LIMITATIONS - Maximum documents 5 - Some Libraries are locked - Export is restricted to tweets and facebook shares and ProtoSketch files FEATURES - Vector Brush with Variable width (Apple Pencil support) - Pencil Tool for smooth sketching and adding fills - Pen Tool for drawing perfect vector paths - Vector Eraser - Scissors - for cutting vector paths - Shape creation tools - rect, ellipse, line, polygon, star, spiral - LAYERS - EXACT size and position input - Hardware Keyboard Shortcuts - LIBRARY full of UI elements, icons, shapes and more vector elements - Alt, Shift and Repeat buttons for fast workflows - Swathes, color wheel, rgb and hsb sliders and HEX input - Rotate and scale transform handles - CMD buttons for object oriented design - Context menu with even more actions (hold on object to show) - Grouping/ungrouping - Masking of images and other elements - Images in shapes (Quick 1 tap masking) - Select tool and Path select tools. - Precise bezier path editing - add, remove points toggle points between corner and smooth - Align, distribute actions as well as smart guides for perfect alignment - Snap to grid, point and shape sides and centers - Export ProtoSketch, SVG, PDF, JPG, PNG - Import ProtoSketch, SVG, JPG, PNG - Font import - ttf (from dropbox) - Dropbox Support - AirPrint Support visit PROTOSKETCH.IO more info, video tutorials and FAQ

Screenshots

Bear4 screens
ProtoSketch Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bear at 77% against ProtoSketch Lite's 25%. Bear also leads on rating (4.7 vs 2.5) and ratings volume (6.9K vs 14). ProtoSketch Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 16). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bear sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. ProtoSketch Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bear holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bear has 6.9K ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Bear's written reviews are positive against 25% of ProtoSketch Lite's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bear ships an update every 2 weeks, ProtoSketch Lite every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Bear versus ProtoSketch Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBearProtoSketch Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (6.9K ratings) — better2.5 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings6.9K — better14
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS169.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size230 MB139 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShiny Frog Ltd.Codemotion

Customer experience

Bear

All ratings6,871 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews1,754 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral9.5%
Negative13.7%

ProtoSketch Lite

All ratings14 ratings
Positive28.6%
Neutral21.4%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and requests

Bear

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Sync issues causing note conflicts and data loss
  • Cursor jumping and input issues on iPad
  • Inconsistent behavior when importing/exporting content

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add password protection for individual notes
  • Improve search capabilities to find text within notes
  • Implement table support for more robust note-taking
  • Develop a web-based version for broader accessibility
  • Allow manual sorting and organization of notes

ProtoSketch Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Bear

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Pro subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
None

ProtoSketch Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Bear free?
Bear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ProtoSketch Lite free?
ProtoSketch Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Bear or ProtoSketch Lite?
Bear is rated higher. Bear averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.9K ratings, while ProtoSketch Lite averages 2.5 from 14 ratings.
Do Bear or ProtoSketch Lite have ads?
Neither Bear nor ProtoSketch Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bear or ProtoSketch Lite?
Bear ships an update every 2 weeks, and ProtoSketch Lite every 2 months. Most recently, Bear was updated on October 14, 2026 and ProtoSketch Lite on September 16, 2026.

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