What is the best alternative to Bear on Mac?

Craft is our top pick. It shares Writing & notes with Bear and has 163 upvotes from the community. Pages and Typora are close behind.

What is the best free alternative to Bear on Mac?

Pages is the best-ranked free alternative to Bear. 6 of the alternatives listed here are completely free.

Is there an open-source alternative to Bear?

Yes. 4 alternatives are open source, including MarkEdit, Logseq and Joplin.

How many alternatives to Bear are there for Mac?

Mac App Index lists 18 apps that share a category with Bear: 6 completely free, 7 free to start and 4 open source.

Best Bear alternatives for Mac

Bear is a free-to-start app in Writing & notes. We found 18 Mac apps that cover the same ground. Of those, 6 are completely free, 7 are free to start and 4 are open source. Craft leads on overlap and community votes, followed by Pages and Typora.

The app you want to replace

Bear

Markdown notes that feel effortless

Free + in-app · Writing & notes

View Bear

18 alternatives to Bear

How we picked: every app here shares at least one category with Bear. Apps that also share features rank higher, and community upvotes break ties. Price and licence never buy a better spot. How we rank apps

1
Featured
Craft
Docs and notes with beautiful structure
163Free + in-appProductivity
- Also in Writing & notes
2
Pages
Apple's word processor
103FreeWriting & notes
- Also in Writing & notes
- Free
3
Typora
Markdown editor with live preview
103$14.99Writing & notes
- Also in Writing & notes
- One-time purchase
4
MarkEdit
Lightweight Markdown editor
78FreeWriting & notes
- Also in Writing & notes
- Free
- Open source
5
Day One
Private journal with photos and places
74Free + in-appLifestyle
- Also in Writing & notes
6
Ulysses
Distraction-free writing, synced
66SubscriptionWriting & notes
- Also in Writing & notes
7
Logseq
Outliner for linked notes
54FreeProductivity
- Also in Writing & notes
- Free
- Open source
8
NotePlan
Markdown notes, tasks and calendar together
49SubscriptionProductivity
- Also in Writing & notes
9
Agenda
Date-focused notes
42Free + in-appProductivity
- Also in Writing & notes
10
Tot
Seven tiny notes, always at hand
41FreeMenu bar
- Also in Writing & notes
- Free
11
Drafts
Capture text first, decide later
38Free + in-appProductivity
- Also in Writing & notes
12
Notion
Docs, wikis and projects in one workspace
35Free + in-appProductivity
- Also in Writing & notes
13
BBEdit
Professional text and code editor
25Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Writing & notes
14
Obsidian
Markdown notes stored on your own disk
23Free + in-appProductivity
- Also in Writing & notes
15
Joplin
Open-source notes with encrypted sync
16FreeWriting & notes
- Also in Writing & notes
- Free
- Open source
16
CotEditor
Plain-text editor built for macOS
14FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Writing & notes
- Free
- Open source
17
Scrivener 3
Writing studio for long projects
13$59.99Writing & notes
- Also in Writing & notes
- One-time purchase
18
iA Writer
Focused Markdown writing app
5$49.99Writing & notes
- Also in Writing & notes
- One-time purchase

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Bear on Mac?: Craft is our top pick. It shares Writing & notes with Bear and has 163 upvotes from the community. Pages and Typora are close behind.
What is the best free alternative to Bear on Mac?: Pages is the best-ranked free alternative to Bear. 6 of the alternatives listed here are completely free.
Is there an open-source alternative to Bear?: Yes. 4 alternatives are open source, including MarkEdit, Logseq and Joplin.
How many alternatives to Bear are there for Mac?: Mac App Index lists 18 apps that share a category with Bear: 6 completely free, 7 free to start and 4 open source.