---
title: "The Sealed Journal vs Bear"
description: "Bear makes writing beautiful on Apple devices. The Sealed Journal makes it invisible on any device. A comparison for journal-keepers."
canonical: "https://sealedjournal.com/j/vs-bear"
updatedAt: "2026-08-11"
category: "Comparisons"
---

# The Sealed Journal vs Bear.

_Bear makes writing beautiful. We make it invisible._

Bear may be the most beautiful writing app on Apple platforms — the typography, the themes, the gentle red bear in the corner. Its subscription buys iCloud sync and polish across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and for notes you intend to keep, tag, and return to, it is a lovely place to work.

A journal entry is not usually kept, tagged, and returned to. It is released. Beauty in the interface, tags in the sidebar, an ecosystem in the background — all of it is company, and journaling is the one kind of writing that wants none.

The Sealed Journal offers one dark theme, one light theme, no tags, no iCloud, and no allegiance to any platform. The screen goes quiet; the cursor blinks in the center; you write. Invisible was the design goal.

## The facts, side by side

| | Bear | The Sealed Journal |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Pricing model | Free core, Pro subscription | One-time purchase |
| Current price | Pro: $2.99 / month · Pro (annual): $29.99 / year | One purchase: $24 (rising to $29) once |
| Free tier | Free core app | No — a live demo, then one price |
| Platforms | Apple only (iOS, iPadOS, macOS) | Any modern browser, any operating system |
| Account required | Yes — Apple ID | No — no account, ever |
| Cloud sync | Optional — iCloud sync via Pro | No sync, no server — a single offline HTML file |
| Encryption | Not a client-side passphrase model | AES-256-GCM client-side, PBKDF2 at 600,000 iterations |

Bear prices verified 11 August 2026. Source: https://bear.app

## Questions

### Bear can lock notes too, can't it?

Per-note locking exists, and it's well made. But the notebook itself lives in iCloud under your Apple ID. Ours has one lock, everything behind it, and no cloud on the other side.

### I live in the Apple ecosystem anyway — why not Bear?

Then Bear is a fine notes app, and you should keep it for notes. Your journal, though, should outlive ecosystems. An HTML file will still open in 2046, on whatever replaces all of this.

### I'm here because I'm tired of subscriptions.

Then you already understand the product. One payment, one file, no renewal — the pricing is the philosophy.

## Price

The Sealed Journal is a one-time purchase of $24 (introductory price, rising to $29). No subscription, no account, lifetime updates, 30-day refund. Buy at https://sealedjournal.com/#pricing

## Elsewhere

- Hub: Comparisons — https://sealedjournal.com/journals/comparisons
- All journals — https://sealedjournal.com/journals
- HTML version of this page — https://sealedjournal.com/j/vs-bear