# Bear vs UpNote

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Bear at 6.9K against UpNote's 1.1K. UpNote's advantage is review sentiment (86% vs 77%). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Bear sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and UpNote sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Bear against 4.7 for UpNote. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bear has 6.9K ratings behind it against 1.1K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Bear's written reviews are positive against 86% of UpNote's.

Bear ships an update every 2 weeks, UpNote weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bear | UpNote |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.7 (6.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes/id1016366447/reviews) | [4.7 (1.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/upnote-notes-diary-journal/id1389634515/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **6.9K** | 1.1K |
| Positive reviews | 76.8% of reviews | **85.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Size | 230 MB | 81 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16 | **15.6** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Shiny Frog Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/527618974) | [UpNote Company Limited](https://appshunter.io/developer/1347759263) |

## What reviewers say

### Bear

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes/id1016366447)

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:** Safari Extension, Siri integration, Apple Watch app, iMessage stickers, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Pro subscription | $2.99 | per month |
| Yearly Pro subscription | $29.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 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

**Reported bugs**

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

**Requested features**

- 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


### UpNote

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/upnote-notes-diary-journal/id1389634515)

This app provides a clean and beautiful interface for writing and organizing notes, journals, and to-do lists. It offers rich formatting options, an intuitive organization system, and instant syncing across devices, with offline capabilities. Premium features include enhanced security and export options.

**Highlights:** Rich text editor with formatting tools, Intuitive organizing system (notebooks, pins, links), Secure note locking with Touch/Face ID, Instant cross-device syncing and offline access, Markdown support and export, Task management and to-do lists

**Features:** Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (8)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium monthly subscription | $1.99 | per month |
| Life-time Upgrade | $19.99 | one-time |
| Life-time Upgrade to Premium | $19.99 | one-time |
| Life-time Upgrade | $24.99 | one-time |
| Life-time Upgrade to Premium | $24.99 | one-time |
| Life-time Upgrade | $29.99 | one-time |
| Life-time upgrade to Premium | $34.99 | one-time |
| Life-time upgrade to Premium | $39.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Seamless syncing across devices
- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 💡 Nested notebooks and tags for organization
- 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
- 💡 Lifetime premium option

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
- 🐛 Issues with image/attachment handling
- 🐛 Formatting problems with pasted content
- 🐛 Syncing problems between devices
- 🔒 Lack of end-to-end encryption

**Reported bugs**

- Black screen issues
- Lost notes and data
- Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
- Google sign-in not working

**Requested features**

- Reminders and calendar integration
- More customization options (fonts, colors, etc.)
- Improved drawing/handwriting support
- PDF annotation and embedding
- Optical character recognition (OCR)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bear free?

Bear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is UpNote free?

UpNote is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Bear or UpNote?

Bear and UpNote are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 6.9K and 1.1K ratings respectively.

### Do Bear or UpNote have ads?

Neither Bear nor UpNote shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bear or UpNote?

Bear ships an update every 2 weeks, and UpNote weekly. Most recently, Bear was updated on October 13, 2026 and UpNote on October 11, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*