Best Bear Alternatives in 2026: Five Honest Picks

Quick answer: The best Bear alternatives in 2026 are Apple Notes (free, with note locking), Notesnook (cross-platform, always end-to-end encrypted), Standard Notes (audited, encryption first), Craft (the design rival, not a privacy upgrade) and Secure Notes (a locked notes app with a decoy PIN). Which fits depends on whether you are leaving Bear for privacy, platforms or price.

Why leave Bear at all?

People leave Bear for privacy or for reach. Bear's regular notes sync through iCloud with Apple's standard protection, and note encryption and app lock need Bear Pro. Bear runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac, with Bear Web in public beta since July 2025, and has no Windows or Android app.

To be fair to Bear: Pro ($2.99 per month or $29.99 per year) can encrypt individual notes with a Note Password and Face ID, which is more than many writing apps offer. Bear is arguably the best Markdown editor on Apple devices. It is a specific app, and the five below are for when its specifics stop matching yours. For background on what iCloud protects, see whether iCloud is safe for sensitive notes.

Bear alternatives compared

Prices come from each vendor's site in October 2026 and change often.

The five best Bear alternatives in 2026

1. Apple Notes: the free default with note locking

Apple Notes is the unglamorous first stop. You can lock individual notes for free, and locked note bodies are encrypted with a key from your notes password or device passcode. With Advanced Data Protection on, all your iCloud notes become end-to-end encrypted.

It also syncs without a subscription and handles attachments, scanned documents, tables and collaboration. What you give up is what Bear people care about: no Markdown, no nested tags, Apple's typography and thin export options. Without locking or Advanced Data Protection, Apple holds the keys to your iCloud notes, the same as with Bear's regular notes.

2. Notesnook: best cross-platform pick with real E2EE

Notesnook is the strongest answer if you are leaving Bear for privacy and platforms at once. Notes are end-to-end encrypted by default, the code is open source, and apps cover iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and the web.

The editor is rich text with Markdown shortcuts, organization uses notebooks and tags, and a vault can lock sensitive notes. The free plan is usable daily; paid plans start at $19.99 per year (Essential), with Pro at $69.99 per year for more storage and features. The honest trade: nobody will call it beautiful next to Bear.

3. Standard Notes: encryption first, looks second

Standard Notes is a deliberately plain app where end-to-end encryption (XChaCha20-Poly1305) is the product, on every plan including the free one. The code is open source and has been audited, you can self-host the sync server, and Proton has owned the company since 2024.

The catch for Bear users: the free plan supports plain text notes only. Markdown, rich text, checklists and folders come with Productivity at $90 per year, and file storage with Professional at $120 per year, both well above Bear Pro. Apps cover iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux and the web.

4. Craft: the design rival, not the privacy fix

Craft is where people go when Bear's problem was features, not privacy. It matches Bear's visual standard and adds block-based documents, daily notes, backlinks, collaboration and one-click web publishing, on Apple devices plus Windows and the web.

Craft's own support docs say it does not offer end-to-end encryption: documents are encrypted in transit and at rest on its servers, and per-document passwords are still on its roadmap. If you leave Bear over privacy, Craft moves you sideways.

5. Secure Notes: a locked notes app beside your writing tool

Secure Notes is not a Bear replacement for writing: no Markdown editor like Bear's, no nested tags, no ePub or DOCX export. It is for the notes you want behind a lock. The app locks with a passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, and you can lock single notes and whole folders on top of that.

Pro adds a decoy PIN that opens a separate harmless notebook, sync through your own private iCloud, hiding the app from the app switcher, and AES-256 encrypted backup files that only your password opens (from version 3.8.1). Be clear on one point: on iPhone, Secure Notes does not encrypt notes itself. Notes are protected by iOS Data Protection and the app lock, so Bear Pro's encrypted notes are actually a stronger cryptographic guarantee for a single note. The Android version keeps the whole vault AES-256 encrypted on the phone. Details are on our security page, and the head-to-head is at Secure Notes vs Bear.

Which Bear alternative actually adds privacy?

Notesnook and Standard Notes add the most privacy: both end-to-end encrypt every note by default with open-source code. Apple Notes gets there for locked notes, and for everything once Advanced Data Protection is on. Craft adds none. Secure Notes adds a stronger lock and decoy rather than end-to-end encryption on iPhone.

If you mostly want a decoy PIN and fast Face ID locks, Secure Notes is a good fit; if you need ciphertext on the server, pick Notesnook or Standard Notes. Our encrypted note apps comparison goes deeper.

What if you just want Bear, but cross-platform?

If you want Bear on Windows or Android, Notesnook is the best fit when encryption matters, because it pairs a capable editor with end-to-end encryption on every platform. If encryption does not matter, Craft covers Apple devices, Windows and the web with the highest design floor.

Obsidian is worth knowing about too: it stores plain Markdown files on disk, and its optional Sync service is end-to-end encrypted. What does not exist in 2026 is Bear's exact mix of beauty and Markdown on every platform.

How should I choose?

• Stop paying, stay on Apple: Apple Notes, with Advanced Data Protection turned on.
• Need Windows or Android, want E2EE: Notesnook.
• Encryption as the whole point: Standard Notes, self-hosted if you like.
• Bear's polish, bigger documents: Craft, knowing it is not an encryption upgrade.
• Keep Bear, add a locked notebook with a decoy PIN: Secure Notes beside it.

Frequently asked questions about Bear alternatives