Disclosure: Jotter is ours, and it is listed first. It gets the same four fields as every other app, including its drawbacks.
Short answer
Our pick is Jotter — it syncs through your own iCloud for free, with checklists, handwriting and scans, and nothing behind a subscription. For Markdown files you own outright, Obsidian.
Bear is a lovely writing app — no sign-up, no account, just open a note. The catch is in the listing: syncing between iPhone, iPad and Mac via iCloud needs Bear Pro, and so do the themes, OCR search inside photos and most export formats.
If you write on one device only, Bear’s free tier is fine. The moment you want the same notes on two devices, you are choosing between Bear Pro and one of these.
Switch to Jotter if
- You want notes on your iPhone and iPad without a subscription
- You mostly use checklists and quick notes, not long Markdown writing
- You write by hand with an Apple Pencil
Stay with Bear if
- You write long pieces in Markdown and love Bear’s editor
- You use tags and nested tags heavily
- You want to export to PDF, DOCX or ePub
At a glance
| App | Best for | Pricing |
|---|---|---|
| Jotter (ours) | Opening the app and typing — with checklists, handwriting, scans and voice notes in the same note | Free, no subscription — an optional tip unlocks nothing |
| Bear | Writers who want a beautiful Markdown editor with tags on Apple devices | Free on one device; Bear Pro subscription for sync and extras |
| Apple Notes | People who want free notes on every Apple device with zero setup | Included with Apple devices at no extra cost |
| Obsidian | People who want Markdown files they own, with links between notes | Free app; optional paid Obsidian Sync |
| Simplenote | People who want free, plain notes synced to every platform | Free |
| UpNote | People who want a pretty notebook app with themes and a lock | Free tier plus a Premium subscription |
The apps in detail
Jotter
Ours
- Best for
- Opening the app and typing — with checklists, handwriting, scans and voice notes in the same note
- Highlights
- No title, no folder, no save button — the first line names the note
- Checklists, Apple Pencil handwriting, scans and voice notes
- Search reads handwriting and text in photos, on the device
- Syncs through your own iCloud; exports as Markdown
- Pricing
- Free, no subscription — an optional tip unlocks nothing
- Watch out
- iPhone and iPad only, on iOS 18 or later: no Mac app yet, no Android or web version, and no shared notes.
Bear
- Best for
- Writers who want a beautiful Markdown editor with tags on Apple devices
- Highlights
- No sign-up and no account to start writing
- Markdown, tags, linked notes, tables and sketches
- Apple Design Award winner with nearly 30 themes (Pro)
- Pricing
- Free on one device; Bear Pro subscription for sync and extras
- Watch out
- iCloud sync between devices, OCR search and most exports all need Bear Pro.
Apple Notes
- Best for
- People who want free notes on every Apple device with zero setup
- Highlights
- iCloud sync with no extra account
- Checklists, tables, scans and Apple Pencil
- Folders, tags and smart folders
- Pricing
- Included with Apple devices at no extra cost
- Watch out
- No Markdown, and getting notes out in bulk is awkward.
Obsidian
- Best for
- People who want Markdown files they own, with links between notes
- Highlights
- Plain Markdown files in a folder you control
- Graph view, plugins and themes
- iCloud vaults sync between Apple devices
- Pricing
- Free app; optional paid Obsidian Sync
- Watch out
- More set-up than Bear, and the mobile editor is less polished.
Simplenote
- Best for
- People who want free, plain notes synced to every platform
- Highlights
- Free sync across any computer, phone or tablet
- Markdown preview, tags and pins
- Share or publish a note to the web
- Pricing
- Free
- Watch out
- No images, handwriting or scans, and it needs an email or WordPress.com login.
UpNote
- Best for
- People who want a pretty notebook app with themes and a lock
- Highlights
- Notebooks, tags and elegant themes
- Face ID lock for private notes
- Syncs instantly and works offline
- Pricing
- Free tier plus a Premium subscription
- Watch out
- Most of what makes it feel like Bear is in Premium.
The one thing to check first
Bear’s pull is its writing experience. If you write long pieces in Markdown, Obsidian is the only free app here that matches it, at the cost of setting up a vault. If you write quick notes, lists and the odd sketch, Jotter or Apple Notes is simpler than Bear ever was.
Moving over: export your notes from Bear as Markdown or text files, and Obsidian reads a folder of Markdown files directly.
Common questions
Does Bear sync for free?
No. Bear’s App Store listing puts iCloud sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac in Bear Pro, a subscription.
What is a free alternative to Bear with sync?
Jotter and Apple Notes sync free through iCloud; Simplenote syncs free everywhere; Obsidian syncs free through an iCloud vault.
Which Bear alternative uses Markdown?
Obsidian, which stores every note as a plain Markdown file. Simplenote has a Markdown preview too.
App Store listings checked on 27 September 2026. Prices change — each entry describes how an app is paid for rather than a number that goes stale.
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