Bear vs SnippetsLab (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, SnippetsLab grades higher than Bear: 2.8 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Bear grades higher on features and platforms. SnippetsLab grades higher on value for money and the free plan. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Bear
Markdown notes app for Mac, iPhone and iPad with tags and links
Which one is for you
Pick Bear if
- Fits if you write in Markdown on Mac, iPhone and iPad
- Works for people who'd rather sort notes with tags than folders
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use Windows, Android or a browser, as Bear is for Apple devices only
- Tight if you're staying free and own more than one device, because sync needs Pro
- Not for you if you need to lock notes or export to PDF, HTML or DOCX without paying, since those are Pro
- Watch out: the Pro trial is 7 days, billing runs through the App Store, and prices vary by country
- Watch out: the only integration on record is Claude, and the student discount covers the first year before full price returns
Pick SnippetsLab if
- Fits if you write code on a Mac and want snippets in one searchable place
- Works for people who open snippets from Alfred or Raycast
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you work on Windows or Linux
- Not for you if you need snippets on a phone or in a browser
- Watch out: it needs macOS 14.6 or later, and sync is Mac to Mac
- Too light for general notes, since it is built around code
How we grade them
| 2.6GPABearGood | 2.8GPASnippetsLabGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BBear Pro is $2.99 a month, or $29.99 a year, which sits in the cheapest quarter of this category against a $6 middle. One subscription covers every device on your Apple ID, and students and academics can ask for 30% off the first year. | AThe vendor and the Mac App Store list it as free, and no paid tier is shown. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree covers writing and organising: tags, links, tables, sketches, 3 themes. The wall is sync. Without Pro your notes stay on one device, and encryption, OCR search and export to PDF, HTML or DOCX are Pro as well. The trial is 7 days. | AFree outright, with no paid tier on the listing. |
| Features | BA Markdown editor mixing text, photos, tables, to-dos and sketches, with nested tags, wiki links and backlinks, a Web Clipper for Safari, Chrome and Firefox, and export in nine formats. Pro adds encryption and search inside photos and PDFs. Nothing in the writing job is missing. | CFolders, tags, smart groups, highlighting for over 600 languages, a menu bar assistant, an MCP server and iCloud sync. It does one smaller job fully, snippets, more than general notes. |
| Ease of use | B4.68 from about 6,900 App Store ratings, just short of the 4.7 an A needs. There are no folders to plan out, only tags you type as you write, and there are migration guides for Evernote, Apple Notes and Obsidian. | BNo store rating on record. It installs from the Mac App Store with nothing to set up. |
| Platforms and integrations | COne family of devices: Mac, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with browser clippers on top. No Windows, no Android, no web version, and the only integration on record is Claude. | DMac only, needing macOS 14.6 or later, with sync between Macs. No Windows, Linux, Android or web version, though Alfred and Raycast hook in. |
| Best for | writing in Markdown on Mac, iPhone and iPad | keeping code snippets on a Mac |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Bear and SnippetsLab. How we grade
Price against what you get
Bear starts at $2.50 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SnippetsLab has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Bear scores higher, and starts $2.50 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other note-taking apps on the chart, 8 score higher than Bear for less, and none scores higher than SnippetsLab for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Bear also covers linked notes and web clipper.
- SnippetsLab also covers templates and menu bar app.
At a glance
| Bear | SnippetsLab | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $2.99 per month, or $29.99 per year | Free |
| Free plan | 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. | The whole app is listed as free on the Mac App Store. |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial on both the monthly and yearly Bear Pro subscriptions. | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| iOS | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Shiny Frog | Renfei Song |
| Price read from | bear.app | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Oct 10, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
SnippetsLab
- The vendor lists macOS 14.6 or later; sync is described as between Mac computers only.
- There is no Windows, Linux, Android or web version.
- A reviewer on the App Store cited iCloud sync crashes in a 2016 version and a weak importer in 2019; recent reviews are positive.
Key features
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.
SnippetsLab
- Folders, tags and smart groups
- Nested folders, color-coded tags and smart groups that filter on title, content and other metadata, plus tabs inside a snippet.
- Syntax highlighting
- Highlighting for over 600 languages and text formats, language detection for the 50 most popular, and formatting for 20-plus languages.
- Markdown with diagrams
- Side-by-side preview with Mermaid diagrams, MathJax formulas and custom CSS themes.
- Menu bar assistant
- Create, browse, preview, copy or insert snippets from the menu bar, with Alfred and Raycast extensions for search.
- MCP server and command line
- AI agents can search, read and save snippets through a built-in MCP server, and a lab command-line tool does the same from the shell.
- iCloud sync and Gist publishing
- Syncs a library between Macs through iCloud, keeps automatic backups, and publishes snippets to GitHub as Gists.
Plans
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.
SnippetsLab
SnippetsLab$0
Free download from the Mac App Store; the listing shows no paid tiers.
Ways to pay less
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.
SnippetsLab
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Bear or SnippetsLab?
As of Nov 13, 2026, SnippetsLab is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $2.50 a month when paid by the year for Bear. Bear starts at $2.99 per month, or $29.99 per year, and SnippetsLab is free.
Which has a free plan, Bear or SnippetsLab?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Bear and SnippetsLab have a free plan.
Which platforms do Bear and SnippetsLab run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Bear lists an iOS app and a browser extension. Both list a macOS app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.