# Fantastical Calendar vs Bear Markdown Notes & Journal

The clearest difference is rating: Bear Markdown Notes & Journal at 4.7 against Fantastical Calendar's 4.2. Bear Markdown Notes & Journal also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 47%) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 weeks). Fantastical Calendar's advantage is chart position (#156 vs unranked) and ratings volume (25K vs 6.9K). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Fantastical Calendar sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month and Bear Markdown Notes & Journal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Bear Markdown Notes & Journal holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 25K and 6.9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of Fantastical Calendar's written reviews are positive against 77% of Bear Markdown Notes & Journal's.

Fantastical Calendar ships an update every 3 weeks, Bear Markdown Notes & Journal every 10 days. Both last shipped on October 23, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Fantastical Calendar | Bear Markdown Notes & Journal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.2 (25K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fantastical-calendar/id718043190/reviews) | **[4.7 (6.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes-and-journal/id1016366447/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **25K** | 6.9K |
| Positive reviews | 47.3% of reviews | **76.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | **#156** | — |
| Size | 186 MB | 230 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | **16** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Vision Pro | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Flexibits Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/435003924) | [Shiny Frog Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/527618974) |

## What reviewers say

### Fantastical Calendar

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/fantastical-calendar/id718043190)

**Currently charting:** #156 Top Grossing · Productivity (US App Store)

This powerful calendar and task management app offers intuitive natural language input for event creation, multiple calendar views, and robust task integration. It provides weather forecasts and advanced features like meeting polls and video conferencing integration for premium users.

**Highlights:** Natural language event and task creation, Multiple calendar views (day, week, month, year), Integrated task management (Todoist, Google Tasks), Weather forecasts, Meeting scheduling and polls, Video conferencing integration

**Features:** Apple Watch app, iMessage stickers

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium (2020 Upgrade) | $6.99 | per month |
| Flexibits Premium | $6.99 | per month |
| Premium (2020 Upgrade) | $6.99 | per month |
| Premium for Families | $10.49 | per month |
| Premium Family (2020 Upgrade) | $10.49 | per month |
| Premium (2020 Upgrade) | $56.99 | per year |
| Flexibits Premium | $56.99 | per year |
| Premium (2020 Upgrade) | $56.99 | per year |
| Premium for Families | $89.99 | per year |
| Premium Family (2020 Upgrade) | $89.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Excellent natural language input
- 💡 Helpful calendar integration features
- 🚀 Smooth syncing across devices
- 👍 Beautiful and clean UI design

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Inconsistent behavior with reminders and event management
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🤖 Overly aggressive upselling of premium features
- 🤔 Concerns about forced account creation
- 🐛 Sync issues between iOS and Mac versions

**Reported bugs**

- Apple Watch sync problems
- Events disappearing or changing unexpectedly
- Freezing and crashing on certain user actions

**Requested features**

- Option to disable predictive input features
- Improved calendar set management
- Enhanced integration with third-party apps and services
- Ability to customize app icons and themes


### Bear Markdown Notes & Journal

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes-and-journal/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


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Fantastical Calendar free?

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

### Is Bear Markdown Notes & Journal free?

Bear Markdown Notes & Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Fantastical Calendar or Bear Markdown Notes & Journal?

Bear Markdown Notes & Journal is rated higher. Fantastical Calendar averages 4.2 out of 5 from 25K ratings, while Bear Markdown Notes & Journal averages 4.7 from 6.9K ratings.

### Do Fantastical Calendar or Bear Markdown Notes & Journal have ads?

Neither Fantastical Calendar nor Bear Markdown Notes & Journal shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Fantastical Calendar or Bear Markdown Notes & Journal?

Fantastical Calendar ships an update every 3 weeks, and Bear Markdown Notes & Journal every 10 days. Most recently, Fantastical Calendar was updated on October 23, 2026 and Bear Markdown Notes & Journal on October 23, 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.*