Cost / License
- Subscription
- Proprietary
Application types
Platforms
- Mac
- Android
- iPhone
- Google Chrome



Bear provides flexible writing and note-taking with markdown support and cross-note linking, popular among Mac users for its clean interface. Users seek alternatives primarily due to privacy concerns over its reliance on Apple's ecosystem, cost complaints for plain text functionality, and the availability of better options on Mac.
For users wanting stronger privacy protection, Standard Notes encrypts notes end-to-end across all devices while maintaining markdown support and seamless syncing. Those frustrated by Bear's Apple-only limitations can turn to Obsidian, which offers similar markdown editing and internal linking but works across Windows, Mac, and Linux with a powerful graph view to visualize note connections. Users seeking more advanced knowledge management find Roam Research's graph-based approach superior for linking and visualizing complex note relationships. Trillium Notes handles hierarchical note organization with rich text formatting, making it ideal for complex projects that outgrow Bear's simpler structure.



Byword is designed to make writing more enjoyable with Markdown on your Mac, iPhone and iPad.




The desktop app designed from the ground up to make it easier to plan your story. Whether you're an author, world-builder, or someone who likes creating, Perixi is the right choice for your next project.

Notebag is a fully keyboard-compatible note taking app that links all your knowledge and gets out of your way.



PaperRoll is a Mac app that gives you all the superpowers of great note-takers, without any of the work of keeping great notes.




A clean & intuitive design focused on things that matter most - your notes! Write offers a well designed writing experience with beautiful inline markdown rendering and some gorgeous fonts. Add Folders from Anywhere.




Perfect personal productivity tool 🙀 Never lose your data again and store your notes, links, files, and a lot more. The whole infrastructure is designed to help an advanced user to be in a good shape with data.








Inspire is a clone of Ulysses for Windows, with many of the core features but not all.



Note-taking app for individuals and team. Clean, speedy, and real-time collaborative. Markdownish with multiple panes and good search.


