Bear is a Markdown-focused note app with cross-note links, hashtag tagging, powerful search, Focus Mode, iCloud sync, and multiple export options. Users appreciate its clean interface and Apple ecosystem integration, though some seek alternatives with stronger privacy features or cross-platform availability.
Obsidian leads as the top-ranked Bear alternative, extending Markdown note-taking with backlinks, bidirectional links, and graph view for mapping relationships between ideas. Standard Notes adds end-to-end encryption and encrypted backups for privacy-focused users, expanding beyond Bear's iCloud-style syncing. Notesnook focuses on private, encrypted notes with two-factor authentication and reminders for security-conscious users.
Bear alternatives range from local-first vault apps like Obsidian to encrypted sync-first tools like Standard Notes and Notesnook, giving users options across privacy levels and platform support.
Open source choices like Zettlr suit users who prefer auditable code and community-driven development. Linux users have native desktop apps available through Standard Notes for workflows outside Windows and macOS.
For self-hosting, AFFiNE and Outline can run on your own infrastructure for complete data control. Markdown workflows remain portable with Obsidian keeping notes in plain-text format, while offline functionality works reliably with Anytype during travel or unreliable connections.
Cloud sync becomes essential for multi-device users, with Evernote and Notesnook both including syncing across devices. For WYSIWYG-style editing, Standard Notes, Notesnook, and Anytype all list WYSIWYG support among their notable features for users who prefer rich-text editing over raw Markdown.
An award-winning & beloved desktop publishing client, exclusively for OS X.
You are a storyteller, passionate about crafting narratives that capture, express, and delight in what it means to be human.
Calmly Writer is a professional text editor designed to focus on what you want to tell, with a simple, unobtrusive and distraction-free user interface.
Rhyolite is a simple markdown editor build using tauri framework that allows user to edit and work on markdown files.
MindNote, the smartest, simplest, most customizable note-taking app designed to keep your ideas, thoughts, and memories organized and accessible wherever you go.
Your privacy-focused note-taking app. Justnote helps you take notes easily anytime on any device. Powered by Stacks technology, all your saved notes are encrypted, and only you can decrypt them and see the content inside.
Auteureist is a "novel" writing application for the Apple iPhone. Can export to some desktop software, like Scrivener . The website does a great job at documenting every feature, and there are a lot.
This is a free online tool, developed by Gemoo, that allows YouTube creators and learners to take notes while watching videos, making it easier to learn and utilize video materials more efficiently.
SmartEdit Writer (formerly Atomic Scribbler) is a project management and writing environment for novelists and short story writers working on Windows PCs. Writers use the software to plan their novels, prepare and maintain research material, and then write that novel chapter by...
The Guide is a two-pane outliner - a program that allows you to arrange text notes in a tree-like structure. It supports formatted text, exporting to RTF and hyperlinks (both internal and external).
Draftify is a minimal note and journal app (Mac only). It's a place to quickly write ideas and to think.
Writing on paper, you let go and just get your idea out. You don't get caught up perfecting the words too early. Rough Draft is like writing with pen and paper, so you can't delete words, only cross them out.
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