Bear vs Todoist
The ultimate side-by-side head-to-head analysis for 2026.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — Bear is free tier available, Todoist is from $4/user/mo.
- How to start: Bear is free tier available, Todoist is from $4/user/mo.
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. We do not publish a quality score, because we do not have one we can stand behind. They cannot tell you which tool fits your workflow — the sections below are there for that. How we score tools.
Bear
Todoist
Category
Productivity
Productivity
Base Price
Free tier
$4/user/mo
Public API
No
Yes
Mobile app
Yes
Yes
Open source / self-hostable
No
No
SSO (SAML)
No
Yes
Choose Bear if:
Apple users who write a lot and want the app to disappear.
Choose Todoist if:
Busy Professionals, Students, and Minimalism Lovers.
Bear: pros & cons
- Beautiful, distraction-free writing
- Tag organisation instead of folders
- Fast and native
- Apple platforms only
- Sync requires the subscription
- Limited collaboration
Todoist: pros & cons
- Speed: Entering a task takes just seconds; the keyboard shortcuts are industry-best.
- Universal Access: Available on more platforms (and works better) than almost any competitor.
- Simplicity: Does not push features on you unless you explicitly go looking for them.
- Karma System: Gamify your productivity by earning points for finishing your tasks.
- Reminders: A basic feature like task reminders requires a paid subscription.
- Calendar View: Its internal calendar view is newer and less mature than some rivals.
- Notes: Not designed for long-form writing or storing massive amounts of notes.
Our verdict on Bear
One of the nicest writing apps anywhere. Cross-platform teams cannot use it.
Our verdict on Todoist
The best-balanced app for recording and managing your daily tasks at lightning speed.