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Pick 2–5 published tools. Values come from our evidence-checked profiles — an em-dash means unknown, never “no”. Ranking rows reflect the current published methodology for the comparison context.
Obsidian vs Bear
Context: Note-taking Apps · methodology v1.0.0 · 37 rows
Obsidian
#1 · 86/100 · Ranked
Bear
Not in current ranking
| Attribute | ObsidianDynalist (Obsidian) | BearShiny Frog |
|---|---|---|
| Identity · Taxonomy | ||
| Documentation | https://obsidian.md/help/ | — |
| Tags | markdown, local-first, knowledge-base, plugins | markdown, apple, writing, notes |
| Platform · Deployment | ||
| Delivery model | desktop, mobile | desktop, mobile |
| Desktop apps | Windows, macOS, Linux | macOS |
| Mobile apps | iOS, Android | — |
| Offline mode | true | — |
| Operating systems | Windows, macOS, Linux | — |
| Pricing · Licensing | ||
| Free plan | true | true |
| Free trial | — | true |
| License model | proprietary | proprietary |
| Open source | false | — |
| Pricing model | free, subscription, perpetual | free, subscription |
| Starting price | 4 | 2.99 |
| Trial length | — | 7 |
| Features · Product · Fit | ||
| Core capabilities | Local Markdown vaults, Graph view and backlinks, Community plugins and themes, Obsidian Sync with end-to-end encryption, Obsidian Publish sites, Canvas and Bases views | Markdown editing with tables and todo lists, Tag-based organization, iCloud sync (Pro), Note encryption (Pro), Export to PDF, HTML, DOCX, JPG, OCR search in photos and PDFs (Pro) |
| Api · Integrations · Ecosystem | ||
| CLI | true | — |
| Audience · Use · Case | ||
| Best for | Individuals who want full ownership of their notes in local Markdown files with a large plugin ecosystem, and who are comfortable managing their own setup. | Apple-device users who want fast, native Markdown notes organized with tags rather than folders. |
| Company-size fit | individual, SMB | individual |
| Primary use cases | Personal knowledge management, Long-form Markdown writing, Private local-first note storage | Personal note taking, Writing |
| Skill level | intermediate | beginner |
| Lifecycle · Versioning | ||
| Changelog/release notes | https://obsidian.md/changelog | — |
| Current version | 1.14.1 | — |
| Maintenance status | active | active |
| Vendor · Maintainer | ||
| Founded year | 2020 | 2016 |
| Vendor type | commercial | commercial |
| Ranking factors (current methodology) | ||
| Note-taking Apps — core capability coverage score/100 | 90.0 | — |
| Note-taking Apps — outcome quality score/100 | 88.0 | — |
| Note-taking Apps — advanced workflow depth score/100 | 89.0 | — |
| Note-taking Apps — domain interoperability score/100 | 80.0 | — |
| Note-taking Apps — scale / capacity score/100 | 82.0 | — |
| Usability & adoption/100 | 76.0 | — |
| Reliability & performance/100 | 90.0 | — |
| Security, privacy & compliance/100 | 88.0 | — |
| Interoperability & ecosystem/100 | 84.0 | — |
| Value & total cost/100 | 92.0 | — |
| Support & documentation/100 | 78.0 | — |
| Evidence confidence/100 | 82.0 | — |
“—” means unknown (we never treat missing evidence as a negative). Cells reflect each value's current evidence state; superseded or stale values are excluded. Ranking rows are editorial assessments under the cited methodology version — see the Note-taking Apps category for definitions.