Bear vs Obsidian

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

Obsidian

• People who want their notes as plain Markdown files they control
• Building a linked personal knowledge base that works offline
• Users who like to customize an app with plugins and themes

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.

Obsidian

• There is no web app; Obsidian runs as desktop and mobile apps only.
• Obsidian Sync is a paid add-on, from $4 per user / month billed annually.
• Sync Standard covers 1 vault with 1 GB of storage and a 5 MB file size limit; larger limits need Sync Plus.
• Publishing notes to the web is billed separately from Sync, at $8 per site / month on annual billing.

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.

Obsidian

Local Markdown files

Notes are saved on your device as plain-text Markdown files, so they stay readable in other editors and available offline.

Links and graph view

Notes link to one another, and a graph view draws the relationships between them so related ideas are easier to find.

Canvas

An infinite board for laying out notes, diagrams and research side by side while brainstorming.

Plugins and themes

Thousands of community plugins and themes, built on an open API, change how the app looks and behaves.

Sync (paid add-on)

End-to-end encrypted sync across devices with version history and shared vaults that update in real time for a team.

Publish and Web Clipper

Publish turns notes into a hosted site, priced per site. The Web Clipper extension saves web pages from Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Edge.

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.

Obsidian

• Obsidian app$0

  The full app with local Markdown notes, links, graph, canvas, plugins and themes. No account needed.

• Sync Standard$4

  per user / month, billed annually ($5 billed monthly)

  Encrypted sync for 1 vault with 1 GB of storage, a 5 MB maximum file size and 1 month of version history.

• Sync Plus$8

  per user / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)

  Sync for 10 vaults with 10 GB of storage (upgradable to 100 GB), 200 MB maximum file size and 12 months of version history.

• Publish$8

  per site / month, billed annually ($10 billed monthly)

  Publishes selected notes as a website with a custom domain, password protection, graph view and full-text search.

• Catalyst$25

  one-time payment

  Optional supporter license with early access to beta versions, community badges and exclusive channels.

• Commercial$50

  per user / year

  Optional license for organizations that want to support development. It is not required to use Obsidian at work.

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.

Obsidian

• Annual discount

  20% lower price with annual billing

  Sync is $4 per user / month billed annually versus $5 billed monthly, and Publish is $8 per site versus $10: a 20% saving on each.

• Education

  40% off Sync and Publish for students and faculty

  Students and faculty members of schools and universities can apply for 40% off Obsidian Sync and Publish from their account dashboard, using a school email.

• Nonprofit

  40% off Sync and Publish for nonprofits

  People who run or work at a nonprofit organization can apply for 40% off Obsidian Sync and Publish, using their organization email.