# Bear vs Icon Hunter

The clearest difference is price: Bear at Free against Icon Hunter's $0.99. Bear also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 22 months) and device support (4 vs 2). Icon Hunter's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On ads there is nothing between them.

Bear is free to download; Icon Hunter costs $0.99 up front. Bear sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Icon Hunter asks for nothing beyond the download.

Bear ships an update every 2 weeks, Icon Hunter every 22 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bear | Icon Hunter |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $0.99 |
| Rating | **[4.7 (6.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes/id1016366447/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **6.9K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 76.9% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 22 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Size | 230 MB | 2 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16** | 26.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Shiny Frog Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/527618974) | [Basel AbuTaleb](https://appshunter.io/developer/1604005525) |

## 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


### Icon Hunter

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/icon-hunter/id1633540263)

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bear free?

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

### Is Icon Hunter free?

Icon Hunter costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Bear or Icon Hunter have ads?

Neither Bear nor Icon Hunter shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Bear or Icon Hunter?

Bear ships an update every 2 weeks, and Icon Hunter every 22 months. Most recently, Bear was updated on October 16, 2026 and Icon Hunter on October 6, 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.*