Bear vs Drafts

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

Drafts

• Jotting text down quickly on iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Watch
• People who route notes into other apps such as task managers
• Automation fans who script their own text workflows

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.

Drafts

• Apps exist only for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. The Web Capture page can create drafts in any browser but cannot review or edit them.
• Creating and editing actions, workspaces, themes, Mail Drop and the AI chat console all require the Drafts Pro subscription.
• Sync runs through iCloud and needs the same iCloud account, with iCloud Drive active, on every device.
• A subscription bought on iOS cannot be restored on the Mac App Store or the reverse; it carries over only through a shared iCloud account.

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.

Drafts

Capture first, file later

The app opens to a new page with the keyboard ready. Entries go to an inbox and can be tagged, flagged or archived afterwards.

Actions

Actions copy, share or send text to other apps and services. Running installed actions is free; creating and editing them needs Drafts Pro.

Dictation and transcription

A custom dictation interface built on Apple's speech recognition, plus transcription of existing audio and video files into text.

Workspaces

Saved views of the drafts list that restore a preferred tag filter, query and sort order. Workspaces are a Drafts Pro feature.

Capture from outside the app

Text can arrive through Siri, widgets, the share extension, a personal Mail Drop email address (Pro) and a Web Capture page for any browser.

Automation hooks

Supports Shortcuts, URL schemes, AppleScript and JavaScript scripting in actions, and Pro adds an AI chat console that can query and edit drafts.

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.

Drafts

• Free$0

  Unlimited drafts, editing and iCloud sync, plus the actions that ship with the app or come from the Drafts Directory.

• Drafts Pro$19.99

  per year; $1.99 billed monthly

  Create and edit actions, themes and custom icons, workspaces, the AI chat console, Mail Drop and enhanced widgets on all Apple devices.

• Drafts Pro Patron$29.99

  billing period not shown on the App Store listing

  A supporter tier with the same features as Drafts Pro, for people who want to pay more toward development.

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.

Drafts

• Annual discount

  Annual billing costs about 16% less

  Drafts Pro is $19.99 a year or $1.99 a month, so twelve monthly payments come to $23.88 against $19.99 for the annual option.

• Other savings

  Family Sharing on both subscriptions

  The monthly and annual Drafts Pro subscriptions support Apple Family Sharing, so one subscription can unlock Pro features for the family group.