# Evernote Scannable vs Bear

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Bear at 77% against Evernote Scannable's 33%. Bear also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and device support (4 vs 2). Evernote Scannable's advantage is ratings volume (418K vs 6.9K) and rating (4.9 vs 4.7). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Evernote Scannable sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Bear sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Evernote Scannable holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Evernote Scannable has 418K ratings behind it against 6.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Evernote Scannable's written reviews are positive against 77% of Bear's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Evernote Scannable ships an update every 2 months, Bear every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Evernote Scannable | Bear |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.9 (418K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/evernote-scannable/id883338188/reviews)** | [4.7 (6.9K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bear-markdown-notes/id1016366447/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **418K** | 6.9K |
| Positive reviews | 33.1% of reviews | **76.9% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 2 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | **#106** | — |
| Size | 44 MB | 230 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 16 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Evernote Corporation](https://appshunter.io/developer/281796111) | [Shiny Frog Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/527618974) |

## What reviewers say

### Evernote Scannable

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/evernote-scannable/id883338188)

**Currently charting:** #106 Top Grossing · Productivity (US App Store)

Effortlessly digitize any paper document, from receipts to business cards, with your phone's camera. Automatically enhance scans for clarity and share them instantly via email, text, or save them to cloud storage.

**Highlights:** Automatic document capture, Image enhancement (rotate, crop, adjust), Business card to contact conversion, Share via email/text, Export as PDF/JPG, Seamless integration with ScanSnap scanners

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly Plan with Free Trial | $2.99 | per 7 days |
| Weekly Plan | $2.99 | per 7 days |
| Yearly with Free Trial | $49.99 | per year |
| Yearly Subscription | $49.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast and efficient scanning
- 👍 Automatic cropping and enhancement
- 🚀 Quick scanning of multi-page documents
- 👍 Seamless integration with Evernote
- 🚀 Crisp and clear scans

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 App crashes and resets settings
- 🔒 Requires Evernote account to save scans
- 👎 Limited save/share options beyond Evernote
- 👎 Aggressive Evernote promotion
- 👎 Scans disappear after updates

**Reported bugs**

- Cropping and edge detection issues
- Scans sometimes fail to save or upload
- App resets settings and tutorial on every launch

**Requested features**

- Allow saving scans to local storage or other cloud services
- Provide more customization options for scans
- Improve stability and reduce crashes
- Add ability to manually tag or name scans


### 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


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Evernote Scannable free?

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

### Is Bear free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Evernote Scannable or Bear?

Evernote Scannable is rated higher. Evernote Scannable averages 4.9 out of 5 from 418K ratings, while Bear averages 4.7 from 6.9K ratings.

### Do Evernote Scannable or Bear have ads?

Neither Evernote Scannable nor Bear shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Evernote Scannable or Bear?

Evernote Scannable ships an update every 2 months, and Bear every 2 weeks. Most recently, Evernote Scannable was updated on October 17, 2026 and Bear on October 16, 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.*