Comparison

Cheatsheet vs Bear

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Cheatsheet

Quickly store and access important information like hotel room numbers or license plates via widgets, a custom keyboard, or your Apple Watch. This app simplifies recalling details without needing to unlock your phone.

Highlights
  • Quick recall memos
  • Widget access
  • Custom keyboard integration
  • Apple Watch app
  • Search functionality
  • Organize with folders
  • Format notes
Features
Read full description

Cheatsheet is for the little things you never remember: hotel rooms, license plates, luggage combination, ID numbers. Write them down in Cheatsheet and then refer to them anytime in a Widget or paste them anywhere with the Custom Keyboard. No more fumbling to unlock your phone and find your notes app; Cheatsheet is as easy as looking at your lock screen, pulling up the keyboard, or glancing at your Apple Watch. App Features: • Simple UI for adding and managing your cheats. • Over 450 icons to help you recognize what you’re looking for. • Quickly copy a cheat by tapping-and-holding on a row. • Search for your cheats, both in the app and in Spotlight. • Use Shortcuts or Siri to “add notes to Cheatsheet” or “find notes in Cheatsheet”. • Organize your cheats with folders and titles. • Format your notes with bold, italics, lists, links, and more. • Protect your cheats with Passcode Lock (Pro feature). • Sync between all your iOS devices via iCloud (Pro feature). Widgets: • Multiple sizes, styles, and colors. • Tap a cheat to open it. Tap the “+” button to add a cheat in the app. • Cheatsheet also has a “Today widget” with options to copy or delete cheats. Apple Watch: • Add, edit, and delete cheats right from your wrist. • Complications show your top cheat (or several cheats) right on your watch face. • Syncs to your iPhone via iCloud (Pro feature). Keyboard Extension: • Shows up to 50 cheats, which you can insert anywhere you can use a custom keyboard. • Includes space, delete, and return keys to help with simple edits. Advanced Features: • Automate your workflows with Shortcuts. • Action extension: send text or URLs to Cheatsheet from any app via the share sheet. • Customize the Cheatsheet widget’s appearance and behavior to suit your needs. • Add or open notes from Control Center (iOS 18 required). • URL scheme for adding a cheat: cheatsheet://add?text=everything%20is%20awesome. Cheatsheet Pro: • Remove limits on the widget, keyboard, and Watch app. • Protect your cheats with Passcode Lock. • Organize your cheats with folders. • Sync your cheats between your devices with iCloud. • Cheatsheet Pro is a simple, annual subscription; there is a one-time purchase option for customers who want to avoid subscriptions. Cheatsheet for Mac is sold separately. • Purchases help support the ongoing development of Cheatsheet — this app is beloved by its users and has over 10 years of active development by a single indie developer, so your support is truly appreciated! Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

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/

Screenshots

Cheatsheet4 screens
Bear4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Bear at 6.9K against Cheatsheet's 1.9K. Bear also leads on iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.4). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Cheatsheet sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Cheatsheet against 4.7 for Bear. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.9K and 6.9K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Cheatsheet's written reviews are positive against 77% of Bear's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cheatsheet ships an update every 2 weeks, Bear every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 1, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Cheatsheet versus Bear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCheatsheetBear
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (1.9K ratings)4.7 (6.9K ratings)
Positive reviews80.6% of reviews — better76.8% of reviews
Number of ratings1.9K6.9K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple WatchiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — better
Requires iOS17.415.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size128 MB230 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperOverdesigned, LLCShiny Frog Ltd.

Customer experience

Cheatsheet

All ratings1,898 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews793 reviews
Positive80.6%
Neutral5.2%
Negative14.2%

Bear

All ratings6,864 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral2.6%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews1,753 reviews
Positive76.8%
Neutral9.5%
Negative13.7%

User reviews

Cheatsheet

From 1.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Quick access to information
  • 💡 Useful for remembering important details
  • 🤖 Seamless Apple Watch integration
  • 💻 Syncs across devices

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Sync issues
  • 🔒 Lack of password protection
  • 🔋 Apple Watch battery drain
  • 💰 Paid upgrade required for full functionality

Bear

From 6.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Elegant and minimalist design
  • 🚀 Smooth and fast performance
  • 💡 Flexible tagging system for organization
  • 🔒 Secure and private notes
  • 🎨 Customizable themes and fonts

Room to improve

  • 🔒 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

Bugs and requests

Cheatsheet

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Entries disappearing from widget
  • Syncing problems between devices
  • Crashes on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add ability to sort/reorder entries
  • Improve sync reliability
  • Implement password protection
  • Allow adding images/attachments to entries
  • Expand customization options (colors, icons, etc.)

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

In-app purchases

9 purchases

Cheatsheet

Subscriptions4
  • Cheatsheet Pro$0.991 Month
  • Cheatsheet Pro$1.991 Month
  • Cheatsheet Pro$4.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Cheatsheet Pro14 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time5
  • Small Tip$2.99
  • Medium Tip$5.99
  • Big Tip$9.99
Show 2 more
  • Legacy$19.99
  • Cheatsheet Pro (Lifetime)$79.99
2 purchases

Bear

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

Questions

Is Cheatsheet free?
Cheatsheet 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, Cheatsheet or Bear?
Cheatsheet and Bear are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1.9K and 6.9K ratings respectively.
Do Cheatsheet or Bear have ads?
Neither Cheatsheet nor Bear shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cheatsheet or Bear?
Cheatsheet ships an update every 2 weeks, and Bear every 9 days. Most recently, Cheatsheet was updated on October 1, 2026 and Bear on October 1, 2026.

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