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Prevon vs Bear
Bear is a polished Markdown notes app for Mac, iPhone and iPad that keeps notes on your device, syncs through iCloud and can lock individual notes with a password. Prevon encrypts every note on your device by default and builds in on-device AI — but it is in private beta, and Bear works today.
Where Bear is the better choice
- A refined writing experience that has been polished for years.
- Bear Pro can encrypt individual notes with a password Bear cannot see or reset.
- Bear says its makers do not want to access your data, and sync goes through your own iCloud account rather than Bear’s servers.
- Availability on Apple devices today, plus Bear Web in public beta. Prevon has no public download yet.
Where Prevon is different
- Every note is encrypted, not just the ones you lock. Prevon encrypts each note on your device with a key made from your 12-word Recovery Seed.
- Bear’s sync stores notes in iCloud, where Apple holds the keys unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection — and even then, Bear says note titles and tag names stay unencrypted. Prevon’s sync is designed to carry only encrypted data, but it is switched off in the beta.
- Bear has native apps only for Apple devices and says it has no plans for Android or Windows. Prevon is being built for Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and iOS.
- Built-in on-device AI for search by meaning and filing.
- Prevon is in a private beta with no public download, and it has not had an independent security audit. Its encryption is designed so that we cannot read your notes; its sync is switched off and its AI features are in beta.
Prevon and Bear
Side by side
The same verdicts we use everywhere on this site, narrowed to Bear.
| Feature | Prevon | Bear |
|---|---|---|
| We cannot read your notes | ||
| On-device AI processing | (see note below the table) | |
| No account required | ||
| Sync that stays locked in transit | (see note below the table) | |
| Device-to-device sync, no cloud in the middle | ||
| No note content sent to a cloud AI | ||
| Option to end-to-end encrypt whole notes | ||
| Available to download today | ||
| Works in a web browser | ||
| Notes stored as plain files any editor can open |
✓yes · × no. Verdicts are read from each vendor's own published documentation as of , and describe the default setup. Bear stores notes on your device. Sync, a Pro feature, goes through Apple’s iCloud, where Apple holds the keys unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection; Bear Pro can also lock individual notes with a password Bear cannot see. Bear Web is in public beta. If any of this changes, it is on us to correct the page.
* Prevon’s sync is switched off in the private beta, so that row describes its design — today your notes do not leave your device. Its on-device AI features are in beta.
Which should you pick?
Pick Bear if you write mostly on Apple devices and want a beautiful, mature Markdown editor today. Turning on Advanced Data Protection makes its iCloud sync end-to-end encrypted.
Pick Prevon if you want every note encrypted by default, need Windows, Linux or Android, or want AI search that stays on the device. Importing from Bear takes one Markdown export.
Statements about other products are read from their own published documentation as of . If any of it is out of date, tell us and we will correct the page.
Prevon is in private beta.
There is no public download yet. Leave an email and we write once, when it opens to everyone.