Bear vs Essayist
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Distraction-free writing environment
- Flexible Markdown formatting
- Tag-based organization
- Task management
- Note linking (WikiLinks)
- Web clipping extension
- Apple Pencil sketching
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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/
Essayist
This app simplifies academic writing by automatically formatting essays in various styles like APA, MLA, and Chicago. It includes a universal reference manager, citation tools, and equation support, allowing for distraction-free writing and easy export to PDF or Word.
- Automatic essay formatting
- Universal reference manager
- In-text citation and footnote insertion
- LaTeX equation support
- Export to PDF and Word
- Minimalist interface
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Try Essayist for free today! "Mac App of the Year 2025" — Apple "App of the Day" — Apple "Editors' Choice" — Apple "A-Plus Apps for Students" — Apple "Mac Essentials" — Apple No more fighting margins, hanging indents, or citation formatting. Essayist streamlines academic writing so you can concentrate on your ideas while it takes care of formatting, citations, references, footnotes, page setup, and more. AUTOMATIC FORMATTING Essayist automatically formats margins, fonts, spacing, headings, page numbers, references, citations, footnotes, figures, tables, and other essential elements. UNIVERSAL REFERENCE MANAGER Store and organize references with iCloud, then use them across multiple essays. Add sources through built-in search, Google Scholar, URLs, BibTeX, or manual entry. Essayist formats each source and adds it to your references or works cited list automatically. ZOTERO IMPORT Import your Zotero references and start using them in Essayist. CITATIONS Quickly insert in-text citations, footnotes, and endnotes with the click of a button. CITATION STYLES Choose from APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard, IEEE, AMA, Vancouver, and more than 10,000 other styles. EQUATIONS Add equations using LaTeX. FIGURES & TABLES Insert fully formatted figures and tables with captions, numbering, titles, and notes. Cross-reference them throughout your essay. ABSTRACT, APPENDICES & TABLE OF CONTENTS Easily add an abstract, appendices, and an automatically generated table of contents. WRITE ANYWHERE, STAY IN SYNC Your essays and references sync across iPhone, iPad, and Mac with iCloud, so you can start on one device and finish on another — even offline. YOUR WORK IS YOURS No ads, no selling your data, no lock-in — export anytime as PDF or Word. EXPORT Export your essays as PDF or Word documents. MINIMAL INTERFACE Write in a clean, distraction-free workspace with customizable themes, backgrounds, and dark mode. MORE • Available on iPhone, iPad, and Mac with universal purchase • US Letter and A4 paper sizes • Times New Roman and Arial fonts • Word and page counts • Spell check, auto-completion, and auto-capitalization • Accessibility support REGULAR UPDATES Have a feature request or found an issue? Contact us at contact@essayist.app. PRICING Essayist is free to download and includes a free trial of Essayist Pro. Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.iubenda.com/terms-and-conditions/82031685 Privacy Policy: https://www.iubenda.com/privacy-policy/82031685
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Bear at freemium against Essayist's subscription. Bear also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 61%) and ratings volume (6.9K vs 423). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Bear sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Essayist sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Bear holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bear has 6.9K ratings behind it against 423, 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 61% of Essayist's.
Bear ships an update every 2 weeks, Essayist fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Bear | Essayist |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (6.9K ratings) — better | 4.5 (423 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better | 60.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6.9K — better | 423 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 16 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 230 MB | 82 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shiny Frog Ltd. | Essayist Software Inc. |
Customer experience
Bear
Essayist
User reviews
Bear
From 6.9K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Essayist
From 423 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Easy to use
- 👍 Helpful for academic writing
- 🚀 Saves time on formatting
- 👍 Accurate citations
- 👍 Intuitive interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Bugs and crashes
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🔒 Privacy concerns
- 🔒 Locked features behind paywall
- 🔧 Limited functionality
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
Essayist
Reported bugs
5 issues- App crashes when trying to add references
- Formatting issues when copying and pasting
- Inability to edit title pages and section headings
- Inconsistent behavior across devices (iPad vs. Mac)
- Issues with in-text citations and reference lists
Requested features
6 requests- Add more citation styles (e.g. MHRA, Vancouver)
- Improve table and image handling
- Integrate with reference managers like Zotero
- Add grammar and spell check tools
- Allow more customization of templates and formatting
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improve export functionality to preserve formatting
In-app purchases
Bear
- Monthly Pro subscription7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Yearly Pro subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year
Essayist
- Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$5.991 Month
- Monthly Subscription3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$79.991 Year







