# Bear vs Tidemark

The clearest difference is price: Bear at Free against Tidemark's $2.99. Bear also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly) and device support (4 vs 1). On ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Bear is free to download; Tidemark costs $2.99 up front. Bear sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Tidemark sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Bear ships an update every 9 days, Tidemark monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Bear | Tidemark |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $2.99 |
| Rating | **[4.7 (6.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes/id1016366447/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **6.9K** | — |
| Positive reviews | 76.8% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 9 days** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Size | 230 MB | 5 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.6** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** | iPhone |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Shiny Frog Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/527618974) | [IGOR MAREK BARKOWSK](https://appshunter.io/developer/1855137063) |

## 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


### Tidemark

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/tidemark/id6758909597)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Unlock Tidemark | $2.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Bear free?

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

### Is Tidemark free?

Tidemark costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Do Bear or Tidemark have ads?

Neither Bear nor Tidemark shows ads.

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

Bear ships an update every 9 days, and Tidemark monthly. Most recently, Bear was updated on September 25, 2026 and Tidemark on September 18, 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.*