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Scratchpad vs Bear

Scratchpad works on Windows and Android as well as Apple devices, shares and co-edits notes, publishes them as web pages, keeps every version, and includes reminders, transcription, PDF markup, and an assistant. Bear is a lovely, inexpensive Markdown app for people who write alone on Apple devices.

Facts checked Sources All comparisons

Bear is a beautifully made Markdown app, and at US$29.99 a year it's good value if all you need is to write alone on Apple devices. Scratchpad is for when your notes need to do more: be on a Windows PC or an Android phone, be shared and edited with someone else, keep every version, remind you of things, and work with an assistant.

The short answer

Choose Scratchpad if

  • You use Windows or Android anywhere, or want your notes in any browser
  • You want to share a note by link, edit it with someone at the same time, or publish it as a web page
  • You want every version of a note kept, so you can bring back what it said last Tuesday
  • You want reminders in your notes, voice memos turned into text, and an assistant that reads the note you're in
  • You want to write on PDFs, not just keep them

Choose Bear if

  • Every device you use is a Mac, iPhone, or iPad, and you write alone
  • Price matters most: Bear Pro is US$29.99 a year
  • You like organising with nested tags rather than folders

At a glance

Scratchpad Bear
Price a month US$12, or US$8 with your own AI key Pro US$2.99
Price a year US$120, or US$80 with your own AI key Pro US$29.99
Free plan With a 30-day money-back guarantee On one device without sync
Windows and Android Bear has no plans for them
Web app In beta
Apple devices An app for Mac, and installs like an app on iPhone and iPad Native, including Apple Watch and Vision Pro
Web clipper For Safari, Chrome, and Firefox For Safari, Chrome, and Firefox
Sharing and co-editing Share links, live co-editing, and shared folders
Publishing to the web In one click
Version history Up to 200 versions per note No per-note history
Reminders By email and notification Checklists only
Voice memos to text 20 hours a month
Built-in AI
PDF markup Pen, highlighter, shapes, sticky notes, and forms Not in Bear's documentation
Search inside PDFs Word, Excel, and PowerPoint too On Pro
Search text in photos In English and French On Pro
Works offline Keeps going when the connection drops, and syncs after Fully
Writing Rich text with Markdown shortcuts Markdown with live styling
Organising Folders, #tags, links, and backlinks Nested tags, links, and backlinks
Locked notes With their own password On Pro
API and AI connectors A web API and an MCP server, from any device A local MCP server and Claude connector, on the Mac

Where Scratchpad is better

Scratchpad on a computer: folders on the left, a list of notes, and a note called Lisbon in October with a checklist and a day-by-day plan in a table.

It works on every device, not just Apple ones

Bear has no Windows or Android app and says it has no plans for one, and its web version is still in beta. Scratchpad has apps for Mac and Linux, runs in any modern browser, and installs like an app on iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows, so a work PC or an Android phone isn't a problem.

Share a note, and write in it together

Bear has no shared notes, no share links, and no co-editing: sharing means exporting a copy. In Scratchpad you send a link that reads or edits, give it a password or an expiry date, share a whole folder, and watch someone else's changes arrive as they type, with no account needed.

Every version is kept

Bear keeps no history for a note, and restoring one of its whole-library backups replaces everything. Scratchpad keeps up to 200 versions of every note, compares two side by side, and puts back the one you want without losing the one you're leaving.

A PDF is something you can work on

Scratchpad's PDF reader has a pen, highlighter, shapes, sticky notes, and form filling, and downloads a copy with your marks on it. Search also reads inside Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, not just PDFs.

Publishing a note is one click

A Scratchpad note can become a clean public web page, and unpublishing takes it down just as fast. Bear has no publishing of its own; its guides point you at WordPress or a static site built from an export.

Reminders, voice memos, and an assistant

/remind call the vet Friday at 9am sets a reminder that arrives by email and as a notification. Voice memos turn into text you can search, with 20 hours a month included. And the assistant reads the note you're in, so you can ask it to compare three quotes or tidy up meeting notes, with nothing changing until you say yes. Bear has none of the three built in.

Your notes, reachable from anywhere

Scratchpad's API and MCP server work over the web, so Claude, ChatGPT, a shortcut, or a script can reach your notes from any device. Bear's MCP server and Claude connector run locally on a Mac.

And everything else Scratchpad does.

  • Reminders in a sentence

    Type /remind call the vet Friday at 9am, and get an email and a notification.

  • Voice memos, transcribed

    Record into a note and get the words back as text you can search. 20 hours a month.

  • Write on PDFs

    Pen, highlighter, shapes, sticky notes, and forms, and a copy to download with your marks on it.

  • Every version, kept

    Up to 200 versions of each note, compared side by side and brought back in a click.

  • Search inside your files

    The words in your PDFs, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, your pictures and scans, and your transcripts, as you type.

  • Tabs, panels, and callouts

    Split a long note into tabs, fold a section away, or set a tip apart in a callout.

  • Code, maths, and footnotes

    Highlighting for about 35 languages, LaTeX that renders as you type, and footnotes that number themselves.

  • Locked notes

    Encrypted with a password of their own, and opened with Face ID or Touch ID once you set that up.

  • Share links you control

    Read or edit, with a password or an expiry date, and nobody needs an account. On paid plans.

  • Publish in one click

    Turn a note into a clean web page, and take it down just as fast. On paid plans.

  • An assistant that asks first

    It reads the note you are in, and its edits arrive as a change you approve.

  • Works with Claude and ChatGPT

    Any app that speaks MCP can search, read, and add to your notes. On paid plans.

  • Two-step sign-in and passkeys

    An authenticator code or an emailed one, backup codes, and passkeys for Touch ID and Face ID.

  • Folders, tags, and backlinks

    Three levels of folders, each with its own colour and icon, #tags as you type, and backlinks.

  • Bring your notes in

    Markdown, Word, HTML, RTF, or a whole zip, with its folders.

  • Markdown in and out

    Export a note, a folder, or everything as Markdown, plain text, or JSON.

Where Bear is better

Native on every Apple device

Bear is built for Apple's platforms: it works fully offline with your notes on the device, runs on Apple Watch and Vision Pro, scans documents, and lets you sketch with an Apple Pencil. Scratchpad has an app for Mac, but it needs a connection and leaves those extras to Bear.

It costs a quarter as much

Bear Pro is US$29.99 a year, and its free plan works on one device. Scratchpad is US$120 a year, or US$80 with your own AI key, with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Encryption that covers everything, if you turn it on

With Apple's Advanced Data Protection on, Bear's notes are end-to-end encrypted through iCloud, apart from titles and tag names. Scratchpad encrypts the notes you lock, not the rest.

Moving from Bear to Scratchpad

Export your notes from Bear as Markdown (free) or HTML (Pro), zip them, and bring them in from Settings → Your data → Bring notes in. What to expect:

  • Headings, lists, checklists, tables, code, and links arrive formatted.
  • Your tags come with you, because in both apps a tag is just #word typed in the note. Bear's multi-word tags, like #two words#, won't be read as tags.
  • Pictures come across in an HTML export with the images embedded (a Pro option in Bear). A plain Markdown export brings the words but not the files it points to.
  • [[Wiki links]] arrive as plain text rather than as links.

See Bringing your old notes in.

Good questions.

Is Bear available on Windows or Android?

No. Bear runs on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Vision Pro, and says it has no plans for Windows or Android. A web version is in public beta. Scratchpad has apps for Mac and Linux, runs in any browser, and installs like an app on Windows and Android as well as iPhone and iPad.

Can you collaborate on a note in Bear?

No. Bear has no shared notes or real-time editing, so sharing means exporting a copy. Scratchpad has share links that can read or edit, live co-editing, and shared folders on its paid plans.

Does Bear have version history?

Not per note. Bear keeps whole-library backups, and restoring one replaces all your notes. Scratchpad keeps up to 200 versions of each note and restores any one of them on its own.

Is Bear cheaper than Scratchpad?

Yes. Bear Pro is US$29.99 a year and Bear has a free plan for one device. Scratchpad is US$120 a year, or US$80 with your own AI key, and includes sharing, publishing, version history, reminders, transcription, and an assistant that Bear doesn't have.

Can I move my notes from Bear to Scratchpad?

Yes. Export from Bear as Markdown or HTML and import the zip into Scratchpad. Formatting and tags come across. Pictures come across when they're embedded in an HTML export.

Sources

Checked on 24 September 2026, from Bear's own pages:

And for Scratchpad, the documentation and pricing.

The best way to decide is with your own notes.

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US$12 a month, or US$8 with your own AI key. 30-day money-back guarantee.