Agenda vs Bear
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Agenda
Date-focused notes on a timeline, linked to your calendar
Bear
Markdown notes app for Mac, iPhone and iPad with tags and links
Where they differ
- Agenda starts at $39.99 per year (Premium Subscription). Bear starts at $2.99 per month, or $29.99 per year.
- Only Bear lists a browser extension.
- Agenda also covers templates, tasks and calendar.
- Bear also covers Markdown and linked notes.
At a glance
| Agenda | Bear | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $39.99 per year (Premium Subscription) | $2.99 per month, or $29.99 per year |
| Free plan | Free with no time or trial limits. Showing and linking calendar events and reminders is included; the features listed as Premium stay locked. | The free version covers writing and organizing notes with 3 themes. iCloud sync, note encryption, OCR search and export to PDF, HTML, DOCX and JPG need Bear Pro. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial before the yearly Premium subscription starts | 7-day free trial on both the monthly and yearly Bear Pro subscriptions. |
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Momenta B.V. | Shiny Frog |
| Price read from | apps.apple.com | bear.app |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 4, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Agenda
- People whose notes revolve around meetings and dates
- Apple users who want notes tied to Calendar and Reminders
- Project work where older notes need to stay in context
Bear
- Writers who want a focused Markdown editor on Mac, iPhone and iPad
- People who prefer organizing notes with tags rather than folders
- Apple users who want notes synced through their own iCloud account
Worth knowing
Agenda
- Available only on Apple devices: Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
- Templates, saved searches, inviting others to collaborate on a note and creating calendar events inside Agenda are Premium features.
- Free accounts get an Agenda watermark on printouts and exported PDFs; removing it is a Premium bonus.
- Sync relies on your own iCloud or Dropbox account.
Bear
- Bear is offered only for Apple devices: Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch.
- Syncing notes between devices requires a Bear Pro subscription.
- Note encryption, OCR search and export to PDF, HTML, DOCX and JPG are Pro features.
- Subscriptions are billed through Apple's App Store, and prices vary by country.
Key features
Agenda
- Dated notes on a timeline
- Notes sit in project timelines, can carry dates and link to calendar events, so past, current and upcoming notes are seen together.
- On the Agenda
- Mark notes as current to collect them in a dedicated sidebar group and find them faster in search.
- Reminders and calendar events
- Calendar events and due reminders appear in one scrolling timeline. Creating and editing events and reminders from inside Agenda is a Premium feature.
- Styled-text editor
- Headings, lists, checklists, tables, tags and links with consistent styling. Printing and PDF export are included; Markdown and HTML export are Premium.
- Capture from anywhere
- Clip web pages from Safari on the Mac, share into Agenda from other apps, or email notes to a personal Send to Agenda address (Premium).
- Ask Agenda and AI assistants
- An on-device assistant answers questions about your notes, and on the Mac assistants such as Claude or ChatGPT can connect through the Model Context Protocol.
Bear
- Markdown editor
- Notes mix text, photos, tables and to-do lists in one place, with sketches inserted inline next to text and attachments.
- Tags and nested tags
- Notes are organized with tags, including nested tags, and more than 250 icons help individual tags stand out.
- Wiki links and backlinks
- Notes link to each other with wiki links, and an info panel shows each note's backlinks and table of contents.
- Web Clipper
- Extensions for Safari, Chrome and Firefox save a full page or a highlighted selection as a note, with the clipping done on your device.
- Sync, encryption and OCR search (Pro)
- Bear Pro syncs notes through iCloud, encrypts individual notes, locks the app and searches for text inside photos and PDFs.
- Export and import
- Exports to TXT, Markdown, TextBundle, RTF, PDF, JPG, HTML, DOCX and ePub, with migration guides for Evernote, Apple Notes and Obsidian.
Plans
Agenda
Free$0
The standard feature set with no time limit, including timelines, dated notes, calendar links and sync through iCloud or Dropbox.
Premium Subscription$39.99
per year, for Mac, iPhone and iPad
Unlocks all premium features on every device. Features unlocked while subscribed stay unlocked after canceling.
Lifetime Premium Features$179.00
one-time purchase
A one-off purchase that includes all premium features, now and in the future.
Bear
Free$0
Markdown notes with tags, links, tables and sketches, and 3 themes. No sync between devices.
Bear Pro$2.99
per month, or $29.99 per year
Adds iCloud sync across devices, note encryption and app lock, OCR search in PDFs and images, 28+ themes and export to PDF, HTML, DOCX and JPG.
Ways to pay less
Agenda
- Lifetime license
Lifetime Premium as a one-off purchase
Instead of the yearly subscription, a one-off lifetime purchase covers all premium features, current and future. The US App Store lists it at $179.00.
- Other savings
Site and group licenses on request
Agenda offers licensing of the premium features for larger groups, such as educational institutions or companies, with pricing available on request.
Bear
- Annual discount
About 15% lower price with the yearly subscription
Bear's site marks the $29.99 yearly subscription as 15% cheaper than paying $2.99 each month.
- Education
30% off the first year for students and academics
Students and people working in academia can ask support for a code giving 30% off the first year of the Bear Pro yearly subscription. It renews at the regular price.
