# Bear Markdown Notes & Journal vs Zotero

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zotero at none against Bear Markdown Notes & Journal's 2. Bear Markdown Notes & Journal's advantage is ratings volume (6.9K vs 434) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Bear Markdown Notes & Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Zotero asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Bear Markdown Notes & Journal against 4.6 for Zotero. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bear Markdown Notes & Journal has 6.9K ratings behind it against 434, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Bear Markdown Notes & Journal's written reviews are positive against 78% of Zotero's.

Bear Markdown Notes & Journal ships an update every 10 days, Zotero every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bear Markdown Notes & Journal | Zotero |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (6.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes-and-journal/id1016366447/reviews)** | [4.6 (434 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zotero/id1513554812/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **6.9K** | 434 |
| Positive reviews | 76.9% of reviews | **77.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 10 days** | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 230 MB | 237 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16** | 16.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Shiny Frog Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/527618974) | [Zotero](https://appshunter.io/developer/1513554811) |

## What reviewers say

### Bear Markdown Notes & Journal

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


### Zotero

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/zotero/id1513554812)

This research tool helps you collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share your academic and professional work. Save articles, books, and webpages, add notes and highlights, and generate bibliographies in thousands of styles. Collaborate with others and sync your library across devices.

**Highlights:** Collect research from various sources, Organize with collections and tags, Annotate PDFs and webpages, Generate citations and bibliographies, Collaborate in group libraries, Sync across devices

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Simple and powerful
- 🚀 Convenient and useful
- 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices
- 🚀 Excellent reference management
- 👍 Great annotation and PDF reading experience

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Syncing issues with WebDAV
- 🐛 Metadata not automatically extracted from PDFs
- 🐛 Annotation tools could be improved
- 🐛 Limited sorting and filtering options

**Reported bugs**

- Unable to unzip PDF snapshots
- Annotations disappearing or moving unexpectedly
- Dark mode not working as expected
- Inability to add citations directly from the app

**Requested features**

- Eraser tool for annotations
- More color options for pen and highlighter
- Ability to open PDFs in external apps
- Bookmarking and table of contents support
- Improved search functionality


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bear Markdown Notes & Journal free?

Bear Markdown Notes & Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Zotero free?

Zotero is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Bear Markdown Notes & Journal or Zotero?

Bear Markdown Notes & Journal is rated higher. Bear Markdown Notes & Journal averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.9K ratings, while Zotero averages 4.6 from 434 ratings.

### Do Bear Markdown Notes & Journal or Zotero have ads?

Neither Bear Markdown Notes & Journal nor Zotero shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bear Markdown Notes & Journal or Zotero?

Bear Markdown Notes & Journal ships an update every 10 days, and Zotero every 3 weeks. Most recently, Bear Markdown Notes & Journal was updated on October 24, 2026 and Zotero on October 21, 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.*