Gasp

Gasp vs Bear

Bear is a notes app for the Mac, iPhone and iPad. It keeps your notes inside its own database, which only Bear can open. Gasp keeps every note as an ordinary text file in a folder. That means any other app can open your notes too. Gasp syncs notes and locks them with a password for free. Bear needs a paid Pro subscription to do both.

Which one fits you

Bear fits if you

Gasp fits if you

BearGasp

Pick what you need from either list.

Feature by feature

TopicGaspBear
Price
Free.
The basic app is free. Bear Pro costs $2.99 a month or $29.99 a year.
Your notes
Ordinary text files (Markdown) in a folder on your computer.
Kept in Bear's own database. You can export them as Markdown files.
Sync
Free. Gasp syncs through your own iCloud Drive or GitHub account.
Through iCloud, if you pay for Bear Pro.
Locked notes
Free. You can use one password for all your locked notes, or give a note its own password.
Only with Bear Pro. Each locked note has its own password.
AI assistants
AI assistants like Claude can edit your notes. They can also change Gasp's settings, colors and keyboard shortcuts.
AI assistants like Claude can read and edit your notes on a Mac.
Tags
Write #tags anywhere in a note. A sidebar lists every tag.
Tags, including tags inside tags, are the main way to organize notes.
Export
PDF files and web pages.
PDF files, web pages, Word documents and images, with Bear Pro.
Computers and phones
Mac and Linux today. Windows and iPhone apps are coming.
Mac, iPhone and iPad.

Moving from Bear

  1. In Bear, select all your notes. Export them as Markdown files into a new folder.
  2. Download Gasp and open it.
  3. In Gasp, choose Open a folder and pick the folder you exported to. Your Bear tags come along as #tags in the text. Gasp lists them all in its sidebar.
  4. If you want your notes on more than one computer, turn on sync in Gasp's settings. On a Mac you can use iCloud Drive. On any computer you can use a free, private folder on GitHub, which Gasp sets up for you.

Questions

Does Bear store notes as files?

No. Bear keeps notes in a database on each device. It makes Markdown files only when you export your notes. Gasp works with the files directly. That means any app that reads Markdown can open your Gasp notes.

Are locked notes free in Gasp?

Yes. You can lock any note with a password. A locked note stays scrambled on your computer and in iCloud or GitHub. On a Mac, you can unlock it with Touch ID.

Is there a Gasp app for iPhone?

Not yet. The iPhone app is being tested and isn't in the App Store. Today, Gasp runs on Mac and Linux.

Will my Bear tags still work?

Yes. When you export from Bear, your tags stay in your notes as #tags. Gasp lists every tag in its sidebar. You can also search for a tag by typing tag: and the tag's name.

Try Gasp

Download Gasp