Pachinko vs Bear.
You write everything down already. Pachinko puts those notes to work: tasks and projects next to them, your reading brought in on a schedule, and chores you explain once that Pachinko then does to every new note.
Import your Bear notes in one pass. Pachinko puts them to work.
Pachinko
|  Bear | |
|---|---|---|
| tasks + notes | ||
| Tasks, projects, and areas | ✓ | no projects or areas |
| Rich notes with images | ✓ | ✓ |
| Repeating tasks | ✓ | ✕ |
| Calendar events beside your tasks | ✓ | ✕ |
| Apple Reminders beside your tasks | ✓ | ✕ |
| Quick Note: a global shortcut to type a note from anywhere | ✓ | ✓ |
| Quick Capture: a global shortcut that saves the selected text or current page | ✓ | ✕ |
| Browser extension | ✓ | ✓ |
| Share sheet on Mac and iPhone | ✓ | ✓ |
| views + organization | ||
| Card view with image previews | ✓ | ✓ |
| Status view | nine statuses, one-key filters | ✕ |
| Tags | ✕ | ✓ |
| Start dates | ✓ | ✕ |
| Deadlines | ✓ | ✕ |
| Upcoming view | ✓ | ✕ |
| Themes | 20 color schemes | ✓ |
| ai | ||
| AI chat over your notes and tasks | ✓ | ✕ |
| Functions: write an instruction once, run it forever | ✓ | ✕ |
| Feeds: scheduled imports saved as notes | ✓ | ✕ |
| Ready-made Powerups | 35 ready-made | ✕ |
| Semantic search | ✓ | ✕ |
| AI account | your Claude or ChatGPT account | ✕ |
| MCP server for outside AI tools | built into the app | ✓ |
| platforms + privacy | ||
| Platforms | macOS, iOS, iPadOS | macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS |
| Sync | iCloud | iCloud, Pro only |
| End-to-end encryption option | with Advanced Data Protection | titles, tags unencrypted |
| AppleScript | ✓ | ✕ |
| price | ||
| Price | free app · Pro AI $9/mo or $229 lifetime | free core · Pro $2.99/mo or $29.99/yr |
| Free tier | full task manager and notetaking, free | no sync |
choosing pachinko over bear
Pachinko imports all your Bear notes. You keep the writing side: notes with images, quick capture from any app, iCloud sync under your own Apple ID. And you get tasks: projects, due dates, repeating tasks, statuses.
Instead of you saving things one at a time, Feeds bring them to you: any RSS feed, YouTube transcripts, news topics, PDFs, your Twitter bookmarks, and even custom feeds you build. New items show up as notes on the schedule you set.
A Function is a chore you explain once. Drag any note onto it and the finished note shows up next to the original - the quotes pulled out of an interview, the numbers pulled out of an article.
You can ask Pachinko questions about your own notes, and search works even when you can't remember the exact words. All of it runs on your own Claude or ChatGPT account.
The Bear column comes from their published pricing and documentation, compiled August 2026.