When comparing The Brain vs Bear, the Slant community recommends The Brain for most people. In the question“What is the best cross-platform note-taking app?” The Brain is ranked 30th while Bear is ranked 34th. The most important reason people chose The Brain is:
With an account for syncing on their servers, you can run the brain on multiple computers.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Cloud syncing
With an account for syncing on their servers, you can run the brain on multiple computers.
Pro Good support
Worthwhile support is offered, especially for those that pay for a subscription.
Pro Beautiful interface
Well-designed app.
Pro Easy to use
Pro Instant markdown preview in the editor while preserving original MD code
Pro Easy tagging
For example: #tag/sub tag/foo/bar #tag2/foo/bar
Pro Flawless sync
It's everything Dropbox Paper promised to be, but without the embarrassment. The notes are always in sync between devices.
Pro Lots of export formats
PDF, RTF, DOCX, HTML, TXT and MD.
Pro Hashtag support
Adding a hashtag with a keyword tags the note to make it easy to search.
Pro Simple to back up/export entire note database
Notes are exported as plain text, not a proprietary format, along with all embedded objects.
Cons
Con Expensive
There is either a $15 a month subscription fee or a license that ranges from $219 to $299. There is a 30 day free trial for those who would like to test it before subscribing or purchasing, but overall to use this app it can be pricey.
Con High learning curve
There is a little bit of a learning curve with all software, and this is no exception.
Con Only subscription-based
Can not buy it straight up.
Con No Tabs - can only view 1 note at a time
Con No inline editing and markup of pictures
The only option is to open in an editor (thereby creating a copy) and saving it again.