Instead of Bear, try one of these 12.
Every alternative is lined up against Bear on what people actually switch for: price, open source, self-hosting, offline use and platforms. Bear sits in the first row, so you can see what you give up.
How to read this. “Yes” means fully supported by the maker. “Partial” means it works with caveats. Likes reflect community popularity; vendors can’t pay for them or for placement. How we compare.
Bear alternatives at a glance
Bear is a freemium productivity app (pro $3/mo). We compared 12 alternatives: 6 are open source, 2 are completely free, 3 can be self-hosted and 8 work fully offline. The most popular is Obsidian, with 3.9k likes.
Private, local-first knowledge base built on plain Markdown files.
Freemium · Works offlineLocal-first, end-to-end encrypted workspace with objects and sets.
Free · Open source · Works offlineDocs, whiteboards and databases fused in one privacy-first canvas.
Freemium · Open source · Self‑hostable · Works offlineSimple, encrypted notes app focused on privacy and longevity.
Freemium · Open source · Self‑hostable · Works offline