Comparison

Bear vs Allume

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

Allume

This app provides a digital canvas for organizing thoughts and ideas. It allows users to create nested boards, link content, and combine various media types like text, images, and PDFs. Collaborate with others in real-time on shared workspaces.

Highlights
  • Nested boards for deep ideation
  • Linked cards for referencing
  • Remixing content from PDFs and images
  • Unified canvas for text, ink, and files
  • Real-time collaboration with shared workspaces
  • PDF annotation and export
Features
Read full description

Allume (formerly Muse) is a canvas for thinking that helps you get clarity on things that matter. Think in private or collaborate with others. BEYOND WHITEBOARDS with nested boards Each Muse board is like a whiteboard that can hold even more whiteboards. Your boards grow organically over time as you develop an idea. Stay in the ideation flow, worry about organizing later. REFERENCE & REMIX with linked cards & excerpts Linked cards let you reference boards from multiple places. And excerpts let you remix parts of PDFs and images without losing the context of the source. Grow your Muse into a space of interconnected whiteboards. ONE CANVAS FOR ANYTHING with ink + text + cards Developing an idea starts with collecting inspiration and stray thoughts. Muse lets you put everything on a single canvas: writing, scribbles, notes, images, videos, PDFs, web links, and any other files. Lay out all the raw materials, then connect the dots with ease. COLLABORATION with shared workspaces Add collaborators to a Muse workspace to plan and strategize together. They'll feel right at home with live cursors, comments, following, and templates. AND PLENTY MORE → Search and quick-jump to boards → Read and annotate PDFs → Create connections between cards → Export boards as PDFs or PNGs → Local-first data with instant sync LEARN MORE Website: https://allume.com/ Community: https://allume.com/community Contact us: hello@allume.com Terms of service: https://allume.com/terms

Screenshots

Bear4 screens
Allume3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Bear at 6.9K against Allume's 332. Bear also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 64%). On price, rating, 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 Allume sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Bear against 4.6 for Allume. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bear has 6.9K ratings behind it against 332, 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 64% of Allume's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bear ships an update every 9 days, Allume every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Bear versus Allume: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBearAllume
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (6.9K ratings) — better4.6 (332 ratings)
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews — better64.4% of reviews
Number of ratings6.9K — better332
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac
Requires iOS15.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size230 MB100 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShiny Frog Ltd.Milestone Made, LLC

Customer experience

Bear

All ratings6,858 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews1,752 reviews
Positive76.9%
Neutral9.5%
Negative13.6%

Allume

All ratings332 ratings
Positive91.0%
Neutral2.7%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews267 reviews
Positive64.4%
Neutral10.1%
Negative25.5%

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

Allume

From 332 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Organize ideas and information
  • 🚀 Unique and very cool features
  • 👍 Indispensable app - incredibly well designed
  • 👍 Great thinking and creative tool
  • 👍 Exceptional app

Room to improve

  • 💰 Too expensive subscription price
  • 🔒 Lack of privacy of user data
  • 🔒 Requires email to try
  • 🐛 Bugs are prevalent
  • 🔒 Outrageous pricing

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

Allume

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Eraser size issues
  • Undo history reset when navigating between boards
  • Crashes when erasing large areas
  • Syncing issues between devices
  • iPhone app not usable without iPad or Mac
Show 1 more
  • Freezing and performance issues

Requested features

7 requests
  • More pen color and workspace options
  • Zoom in/out within a board
  • Search functionality
  • Checklists
  • Support for pen tablets on Mac
Show 2 more
  • Straight line drawing with arrowheads
  • Monthly payment plan

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Bear

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

Allume

Subscriptions4
  • Unlimited membership, monthly$9.991 Month
  • Pro membership, monthly$9.991 Month
  • Unlimited membership, yearly$99.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Pro membership, yearly$99.991 Year

Questions

Is Bear free?
Bear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Allume free?
Allume is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bear or Allume?
Bear is rated higher. Bear averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.9K ratings, while Allume averages 4.6 from 332 ratings.
Do Bear or Allume have ads?
Neither Bear nor Allume shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bear or Allume?
Bear ships an update every 9 days, and Allume every 2 weeks. Most recently, Bear was updated on September 24, 2026 and Allume on September 24, 2026.

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