Comparison

Bear vs FlickType

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

FlickType

This app offers a faster and more intuitive typing experience for your smartwatch. It utilizes a unique algorithm for word prediction and supports quick punctuation and easy editing with the digital crown. Enjoy fluid and fun typing with customizable options.

Highlights
  • Swipe typing
  • Smart auto-correct
  • Digital Crown editing
  • Fast punctuation
  • Customization options
  • Emoji support
Features
Read full description

The fastest Apple Watch keyboard, now better than ever. With powerful Auto-Correct, Swipe Typing, customization features, and more, FlickType will change the way you use your Apple Watch. SURPRISINGLY SMART. Don't slow down or try to be accurate. Just tap where it feels right and FlickType's unique algorithm will find the correct word from the pattern of your taps. FAST PUNCTUATION Double space to add a period. EASY EDITS Use the Digital Crown to change words, punctuation, or emoji. FAST, EASY & FUN. FlickType keyboard users type up to three times faster compared to the standard keyboard, Scribble, or even dictation after edits. Emoji, text shortcuts, and deep customization options make typing fluid and fun, just as it should be — even on your Apple Watch! NOTE: Currently only English is supported.

Screenshots

Bear4 screens
FlickType4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Bear at 4.7 against FlickType's 4.0. Bear also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 39%). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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 and FlickType sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Bear holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6.9K and 12K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Bear's written reviews are positive against 39% of FlickType's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bear ships an update every 9 days, FlickType every 8 days. Both last shipped on October 1, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Bear versus FlickType: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBearFlickType
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (6.9K ratings) — better4.0 (12K ratings)
Positive reviews76.8% of reviews — better38.5% of reviews
Number of ratings6.9K12K — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.614.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size230 MB81 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShiny Frog Ltd.Kpaw, LLC

Customer experience

Bear

All ratings6,864 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews1,753 reviews
Positive76.8%
Neutral9.5%
Negative13.7%

FlickType

All ratings12,388 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral4.3%
Negative20.8%
Written reviews758 reviews
Positive38.5%
Neutral9.0%
Negative52.5%

User reviews

Bear

From 6.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Elegant and minimalist design
  • 🚀 Smooth and fast performance
  • 💡 Flexible tagging system for organization
  • 🔒 Secure and private notes
  • 🎨 Customizable themes and fonts

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Subscription required for syncing and advanced features
  • 🔍 Limited search functionality within notes on iOS
  • 🖼️ Issues with image handling and resizing
  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes reported
  • 💻 Lack of web/Windows app for cross-platform access

FlickType

From 12K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient keyboard
  • 👍 Convenient for Apple Watch
  • 🔥 Impressive accuracy
  • 💡 Useful alternative to default options

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Compatibility issues
  • 💰 Expensive in-app purchases
  • 🔒 Limited functionality without paying
  • 🤔 Confusing free vs paid aspects

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

FlickType

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Keyboard not showing up in some apps
  • Inconsistent performance, app crashes
  • Issues with autocorrect/predictive text

Requested features

4 requests
  • Integration with more apps beyond iMessage
  • Customization options for keyboard size/layout
  • Ability to add words to dictionary
  • Easier access to numbers/symbols

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Bear

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Pro subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Pro subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
1 purchases

FlickType

One-time1
  • FlickType Premium2 variants$7.99

Questions

Is Bear free?
Bear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FlickType free?
FlickType is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bear or FlickType?
Bear is rated higher. Bear averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.9K ratings, while FlickType averages 4.0 from 12K ratings.
Do Bear or FlickType have ads?
Neither Bear nor FlickType shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bear or FlickType?
Bear ships an update every 9 days, and FlickType every 8 days. Most recently, Bear was updated on October 1, 2026 and FlickType on October 1, 2026.

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