# Bear vs Freeform

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Freeform at none against Bear's 2. Freeform also leads on ratings volume (440K vs 6.9K). Bear's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 3 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ads there is nothing between them.

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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Bear against 4.6 for Freeform. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Freeform has 440K ratings behind it against 6.9K, 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 73% of Freeform's.

Bear ships an update every 9 days, Freeform every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bear | Freeform |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (6.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes/id1016366447/reviews)** | [4.6 (440K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/freeform/id6443742539/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 6.9K | **440K** |
| Positive reviews | **76.8% of reviews** | 72.5% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 9 days** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 230 MB | 6 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.6** | 16.2 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** | iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Shiny Frog Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/527618974) | [Apple](https://appshunter.io/developer/284417353) |

## 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


### Freeform

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/freeform/id6443742539)

This app provides a flexible canvas for bringing ideas to life. It supports various file types, drawing tools, and shape libraries for creative projects. Real-time collaboration with multiple users is also a key feature.

**Highlights:** Flexible canvas for ideas, Supports photos, video, audio, documents, PDFs, web links, Drawing with finger or Apple Pencil, Library of over 700 shapes, Built-in document scanner, Real-time collaboration with up to 100 users, Integrated Messages and FaceTime

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great for note-taking and organizing
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🎨 Excellent for creative projects
- 💡 Useful for brainstorming and mind mapping
- 🤝 Helpful for collaboration and sharing

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly
- 🤔 Laggy performance, especially with complex boards
- 🤷‍♀️ Lack of organizational features like folders
- 📦 Issues with syncing and sharing boards

**Reported bugs**

- Boards randomly disappearing or not syncing properly
- Writing and drawing becoming unresponsive or laggy
- Overlapping and misaligned elements after editing
- Inability to rotate or resize objects accurately

**Requested features**

- Add dark mode option
- Improve Apple Pencil integration with pressure sensitivity
- Implement undo/redo shortcuts
- Allow for grouping and aligning of objects
- Add more shape and text formatting options


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bear free?

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

### Is Freeform free?

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

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

Bear is rated higher. Bear averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.9K ratings, while Freeform averages 4.6 from 440K ratings.

### Do Bear or Freeform have ads?

Neither Bear nor Freeform shows ads.

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

Bear ships an update every 9 days, and Freeform every 3 months. Most recently, Bear was updated on September 28, 2026 and Freeform on September 29, 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.*