These two end up on the same shortlist for the same reason: someone on an iPhone and a Mac wants a notes app that is genuinely nice to write in, and both are. The difference is what they think a note is for. (Disclosure: we make a notes app, Clair Mind. Referee only.)
Craft optimises for the document. Blocks, rich layouts, images that look designed, and one-click publishing to a shareable page. A Craft note is something you might send to a client.
Bear optimises for the library. Markdown, tags, fast search, and an editor that gets out of the way. A Bear note is something you wrote for yourself and will find again.
At a glance
| Craft | Bear | |
|---|---|---|
| Unit | A block-based document | A markdown note |
| Organising | Spaces, folders, documents, sub-pages | Nested tags, no folders |
| Sharing | Excellent — publish a polished web page | Basic |
| Format | Proprietary, exports to markdown | Markdown, natively |
| Platforms | Apple, plus web and Windows | Apple only |
| Collaboration | Yes, real | No |
| Price | Free tier; subscription | Free tier; cheap subscription for sync |
| Feel | Designed | Calm |
What Craft is actually for
Craft's bet is that notes and documents are the same object at different stages, so the app should carry a rough thought all the way to something presentable.
It does that well. Documents look genuinely designed with no effort, sub-pages nest cleanly for structured material, and publishing produces a real web page you can hand to someone — which is far better than any PDF export. For client-facing work, proposals, shared project pages and anything where presentation matters, it is the stronger tool by a distance.
The costs are the usual ones for block editors. The format is proprietary; export to markdown exists but the fidelity of nested blocks and layout is not perfect, which matters if you intend to keep this for a decade — see export your notes. It is heavier than Bear to open, and the design polish creates a subtle pull toward making things look right, which is a poor use of time on a note nobody else will read.
What Bear is actually for
Bear's bet is the opposite: almost all your notes are for you, so the app should be fast, quiet, and organised by tags rather than by folders.
The tag system is the real feature and it is better than it sounds. Nested tags (#work/clients/acme) give you hierarchy without forcing a note to live in exactly one place, which is the fundamental limitation of folders — see tags vs folders. Combined with genuinely fast search, a Bear library of several thousand notes stays navigable.
It is also markdown underneath, so what you write is portable by construction rather than by an export feature. Bear 2 modernised the editor while keeping the restraint that made the app popular.
The costs: Apple only, so a single Windows machine at work rules it out. No collaboration at all. And sharing is basic — a Bear note sent to someone is a text file, not a document.
The question that decides it
Will other people read these notes?
If a meaningful share of what you write gets sent, presented or published, Craft earns its place and Bear will frustrate you.
If almost everything you write is for you — thinking, drafts, reference, journals — Bear is the better daily tool and Craft's document polish is machinery you are paying for and not using.
A second question, if the first is a tie: do you want markdown files as the underlying truth? If that matters to you at all, Bear.
Where both are weak
Neither does linked thinking well. Bear has note links and Craft has backlinks of a sort, but neither approaches Obsidian or Logseq for building a connected archive over years. If you want a Zettelkasten, both will eventually disappoint — see Bear vs Obsidian.
Neither is a database. If you need tables with relations and views, you want Notion or Airtable.
And both are subscriptions for full functionality, on top of hardware you already paid for, which is worth noticing given that Apple Notes is free and has closed much of the gap.
Choose Craft if
- Your notes become things other people read.
- You want a polished shareable page without opening a design tool.
- You need Windows or web access.
- You value structure through nested sub-pages.
Choose Bear if
- Your notes are for you, in volume, every day.
- You want markdown and portability by default.
- Tags suit how you think better than folders.
- You want the app to be quiet and fast above all.
The honest third option
Apple Notes is free, instant, handles handwriting and scans, and has become good enough that a lot of Craft and Bear subscriptions are paying for taste rather than capability. Try it for two weeks first — if what you miss is presentation, Craft; if what you miss is tags and markdown, Bear.
Neither fixes capture
Both are pleasant places to write once you are already there. Neither is reachable in the two seconds before a thought disappears, and neither draws connections across what you have written — you get folders or tags, and the work of noticing that today's problem relates to a note from last spring is yours.
That is the layer Clair Mind adds: one-gesture capture, no filing asked, connections drawn for you.
Related: Bear vs Notion, Craft vs Notion, and the wider note app comparisons.