Bear
Craft
| Feature | Bear | Craft |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $2.99/mo | Free / from $5/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.7 / 5 | 4.6 / 5 |
| Best For | writers, note-takers, students, apple-users | apple-users, writers, teams, knowledge-workers |
| Founded | 2016 | 2019 |
| Markdown Editor | ✓ | ✗ |
| Nested Tags | ✓ | ✗ |
| Focus Mode | ✓ | ✗ |
| Export Formats | ✓ | ✗ |
| Themes | ✓ | ✗ |
| Cross Note Linking | ✓ | ✗ |
| Block Editor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Nested Pages | ✗ | ✓ |
| Ai Assistant | ✗ | ✓ |
| Collaboration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Sharing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Templates | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Bear Pros
- Gorgeous design
- Flexible tag system
- Supports Markdown
- Very affordable Pro plan
✗ Bear Cons
- Apple only (no Windows/Android)
- Limited collaboration
- No web version
✓ Craft Pros
- Stunning native Apple design
- Fast and responsive
- Good sharing and collaboration
- AI assistant included
✗ Craft Cons
- Best on Apple devices
- Limited web version
- Less powerful databases than Notion
The Verdict
Bear is built for writers and note takers, with a focus on markdown-editor and nested-tags. Craft targets apple users and writers and leads with block-editor and nested-pages.
Pricing is close: Bear starts at $2.99/mo versus $5/mo for Craft — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for writers, apple users — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.