Comparison

Bear vs Bookmark URL Saver

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

Bookmark URL Saver

Easily save articles, screenshots, PDFs, and links from any app. Organize your saved content into custom collections with tags and notes. Read saved items distraction-free, even offline, with powerful search capabilities.

Highlights
  • Save links and screenshots from any app
  • Distraction-free reader
  • Offline reading
  • Organize with collections and tags
  • Powerful search
  • Syncs across devices via iCloud
Features
Read full description

Save articles, screenshots, PDFs, and links from any app -- then read them later, even offline. Trace is the bookmark manager for people who save a lot and hate losing track of it all. One tap from Safari, Instagram, X, YouTube, Reddit, Pinterest, TikTok, or any app -- and your content is saved with the thumbnail, title, and source automatically. No copying, no pasting, no extra steps. Never lose something interesting again. SAVE FROM ANYWHERE - Save links, articles, videos, and web pages from any app using the share sheet - Import screenshots directly, even with limited photo library access - Auto-import screenshots as you take them - Add photos from your camera or photo library - Save PDFs with automatic thumbnail and page count - Capture anything using Siri Shortcuts without opening the app - Paste a link from your clipboard and save instantly DISTRACTION-FREE READER - Open saved articles in a clean reader with no ads or clutter - Customize font size and reading theme - Highlight text in multiple colors and add notes to any section - Read offline -- cached for planes, commutes, and subways - Highlights and notes sync across all your devices ORGANIZE YOUR WAY - Create collections to group content by topic, project, or mood - Color-coded tags with custom icons for flexible filtering - Filter captures by source website alongside your tags - Set a default collection so new saves go exactly where you want - Pin important items, archive what you have finished - Multi-select for quick batch actions - Password-protect and hide private collections POWERFUL SEARCH - Search across titles, descriptions, notes, tags, and sources - Combine text search with tag and source filters - Find that article you saved months ago in seconds iPHONE AND iPAD - Designed for both iPhone and iPad with adaptive layouts - Full Split View and Slide Over support on iPad - Sidebar navigation for quick access to collections - Grid, list, and stack views to browse your way SWITCH FROM OTHER APPS - Import bookmarks from Safari, Chrome, and Firefox - Import your library from Raindrop or GoodLinks - Brings in your bookmarks, folders, and tags - Smart duplicate detection so nothing gets added twice iCLOUD SYNC - Save on iPhone, read on iPad, continue on Mac -- everything syncs automatically - Bookmarks, collections, tags, highlights, and notes all stay in sync - No account to create, no sign-up required MORE - Set reminders so you actually come back to saved items - Export to CSV, JSON, or HTML bookmarks anytime - Share collections or individual captures with anyone - Customizable app icon and tint colors - Smart duplicate detection to keep your library clean BUILT FOR PRIVACY No account. No data collection. No tracking. Everything stays in your iCloud account, on your devices, exactly where it should be. PERFECT FOR - Researchers collecting reference material - Students saving study resources - Designers gathering visual inspiration - Writers and content creators organizing research - Shoppers saving products and wish lists - Anyone who takes a lot of screenshots or bookmarks things online NEW IN 2.0 - Now available on Mac -- save on any device, pick up on another - Set any collection as your default for new captures - Redesigned collection indicators with pin and default badges - Refined glass design with cleaner visual hierarchy - Updated share extension with new paywall and smoother flow - Improved onboarding experience - Stability improvements and bug fixes Download Trace and stop losing track of articles, screenshots, and ideas. Terms of Use: https://www.theblackholecompany.com/termsConditions.html

Screenshots

Bear4 screens
Bookmark URL Saver4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Bear at 6.9K against Bookmark URL Saver's 57. Bear also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). Bookmark URL Saver's advantage is review sentiment (86% vs 77%). On price, rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Bear sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Bookmark URL Saver sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 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 4.7 for Bookmark URL Saver. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Bear has 6.9K ratings behind it against 57, 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 86% of Bookmark URL Saver's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bear ships an update every 9 days, Bookmark URL Saver monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Bear versus Bookmark URL Saver: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBearBookmark URL Saver
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (6.9K ratings)4.7 (57 ratings)
Positive reviews76.9% of reviews85.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6.9K — better57
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size230 MB298 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShiny Frog Ltd.Youssef Ismaili

Customer experience

Bear

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

Bookmark URL Saver

All ratings57 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral1.8%
Negative3.5%
Written reviews49 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral4.1%
Negative10.2%

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

Bookmark URL Saver

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Bear

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

Bookmark URL Saver

Subscriptions7
  • Trace Pro$1.991 Month
  • Prismoria Monthly Premium$2.991 Month
  • All Access$2.991 Month
Show 4 more
  • Trace Pro Yearly$9.991 Year
  • All Access7 Days trial$9.991 Year
  • Trace Pro3 Days trial$14.991 Year
  • Trace Pro3 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time5
  • Free Lifetime offerFree
  • Trace Pro Lifetime$19.99
  • Trace Pro$19.99
Show 2 more
  • Lifetime Access$29.99
  • Trace Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Bear free?
Bear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Bookmark URL Saver free?
Bookmark URL Saver is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Bear or Bookmark URL Saver?
Bear and Bookmark URL Saver are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 6.9K and 57 ratings respectively.
Do Bear or Bookmark URL Saver have ads?
Neither Bear nor Bookmark URL Saver shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Bear or Bookmark URL Saver?
Bear ships an update every 9 days, and Bookmark URL Saver monthly. Most recently, Bear was updated on September 24, 2026 and Bookmark URL Saver on September 13, 2026.

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