Comparison

TextEdit vs Simpletext

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

TextEdit

A fast and versatile text editor for mobile devices, offering compatibility with various file formats and editors. It provides a distraction-free writing experience with advanced formatting, organization, and sharing features.

Highlights
  • Supports TXT, RTF, Markdown, TeX, and PDF formats
  • Cross-device and computer syncing via iCloud/Files
  • Distraction-free writing interface
  • Customizable keyboard extension for faster typing
  • Visual rich text formatting and one-tap options
  • Syntax highlighting for Markdown and TeX
  • Instant statistics and counters
Features
Read full description

TextEdit+ gives you the control of a capable word processor without the clutter of a full desktop office suite. Create plain-text and rich-text documents, work with Markdown and LaTeX, improve your writing with AI, and keep your files organized in Files and iCloud Drive. You can also open, edit and sync documents created with macOS TextEdit, Microsoft WordPad, Microsoft Word, and Scrivener RTF files directly on your device. WRITE IN THE FORMAT YOU NEED • Create and edit TXT, RTF, RTFD, Markdown, and LaTeX files • Open your documents directly from Files and iCloud Drive • Organize your work with folders and subfolders • Choose where you want to keep your files WRITE AND EDIT WITH AI • Turn your ideas or prompts into a first draft • Rewrite, improve, or summarize any selected text • Adjust the tone, clarity, grammar, and structure of your writing • Use AI without leaving your document FORMAT YOUR DOCUMENT YOUR WAY • Choose your fonts, styles, colors, highlights, and alignment • Create lists and adjust line, paragraph, and document spacing • Use superscript and subscript • Add images and tables to supported document formats • Stay focused with a clean, distraction-free editor WORK WITH MARKDOWN AND LATEX • Preview your Markdown while you write • Write and compile LaTeX directly on your device • Switch easily between your source and the rendered result EDIT FASTER • Find and replace text throughout your document • Check your word, character, sentence, paragraph, and page counts • See the estimated reading time for your text • Use keyboard shortcuts when you work with a hardware keyboard • Move the cursor and select text more precisely with the extended keyboard EXPORT AND SHARE YOUR WORK • Export your documents to PDF, DOCX, RTF, Markdown, plain text, PNG, and HTML • Print, email, or send your files to other apps • Keep your documents in Files or cloud storage and continue working with compatible apps on your other devices Whether you’re writing a quick text file, preparing a formatted document, taking Markdown notes, or working on a LaTeX project, TextEdit+ gives you more control than a notes app without overwhelming you with the complexity of a traditional office suite. Privacy Policy https://www.noteswriter.com/Kairoos_Privacy_Policy.html Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Simpletext

This app offers a minimalist writing experience, focusing solely on plain text. It provides a distraction-free environment with beautiful typography and native performance across Apple devices. Ideal for those who want to concentrate on their words without unnecessary features.

Highlights
  • Zero clutter interface
  • Beautiful typography with professional fonts
  • Plain text only support
  • Fully native Apple app
  • Supports custom fonts
Features
Read full description

The Simplest Writing App for Mac, iPad and iPhone There are many writing apps for you to choose from today, so why bother with yet another one? Because Simpletext is simpler. Its single-minded commitment to simplicity means you’ll get a no-frills writing app that works well and looks great, forever. Simpletext started as a passion project because I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Most apps were trying to do too much and ended up bloated with features I never needed. So I built Simpletext based on a simple premise — what if there’s an app that refuses to do more, choosing instead to do just one thing, and do it well? For Simpletext, that one thing is writing. Why Simpletext? Most people would say Simpletext is lacking in features, and they’re right. In fact, Simpletext began the opposite way — by listing down everything I didn’t want in a writing app. The goal is to create a dumbed-down writing app that inspires you to do nothing else but write. In order to achieve this, I designed Simpletext around four cornerstone principles: 1. Zero Clutter Simpletext is unobtrusive. It provides a blank canvas to write with absolutely nothing to distract you from writing. There’s no visual clutter — the intent is to create a quiet space that helps you connect with your voice, get into the flow, and simply write. With zero clutter, Simpletext lets your words take centre stage. 2. Beautiful Typography Simpletext comes with three professional fonts for you to choose from, handpicked to provide the finest writing experience. They are: (1) Akkurat Mono by Lineto (Monospaced); (2) Graphik by Commercial Type (Sans Serif); and (3) Tiempos Text by Klim Type Foundry (Serif). And if you have a personal favourite font, you can use it in Simpletext too. 3. Plain Text Only Simpletext supports only plain text, which is fast, lightweight and platform-independent. It will never have formatting options, so your files will never be filled with unnecessary attributes. Plain text also ensures your files are always accessible on any device, now and in the future. 4. Fully Native Simpletext is a fully native app developed in Swift and runs natively on Apple silicon. It uses only Apple’s framework and UI components, just as they were intended to be used without any custom workarounds. This approach results in less code, less bugs and better overall performance. Here's What Others Have to Say “I just wanted to thank you for developing Simpletext. It’s perfect. I’ve enjoyed its simplicity and smoothness for quite some time, but now that I can use my favourite font in it (Sina Nova, free on Fontspring) it has truly become not just the best app to write in, but my favourite app period. Thank you for creating and maintaining it.” - Bart “This app does everything it says on the tin. It is not meant to do a lot, but what it does it does very well. It is well designed and suits well those who want to focus on writing and avoid dealing with formatting, proprietary file types and hidden saving locations. It produces and edits .txt files, which will probably be around for as long as there are computers, and saves them in plain sight. Five stars.” - Fernando “I’ve tried all sorts of writing apps but Simpletext is definitely the best of all. So grateful for your dedication and those productivity tips in the blog post are so good. Simpletext is such a joy to use.” - LWL Art Studio “A writing app that is as simple as stated, beautiful to write with and opens and closes wherever you want. Simple tweaks are easily accessible, if required, and only add to the minimalistic perfection. Good job.” - Tuntle Get Back to Basics In a world full of feature-rich, subscription-based apps, I wanted to create something that goes back to basics. Simpletext is intentionally simple, yet it has everything you need. It’s an app I use every single day. I hope you will too. Best wishes, Yeow Jin P.S. Simpletext comes with a promise — find out more at simpletext.app/promise

Screenshots

TextEdit4 screens
Simpletext4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Simpletext at 73% against TextEdit's 18%. Simpletext also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 3) and rating (4.1 vs 3.7). TextEdit's advantage is price (Free vs $14.99) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

TextEdit is free to download; Simpletext costs $14.99 up front. TextEdit sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Simpletext asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Simpletext holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: TextEdit has 376 ratings behind it against 23, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 18% of TextEdit's written reviews are positive against 73% of Simpletext's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TextEdit ships an update every 3 weeks, Simpletext every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
TextEdit versus Simpletext: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTextEditSimpletext
PriceFree — better$14.99
Rating3.7 (376 ratings)4.1 (23 ratings) — better
Positive reviews18.1% of reviews73.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings376 — better23
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#169 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size480 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKairoos Solutions SLYeow Jin Gan

Customer experience

TextEdit

All ratings376 ratings
Positive66.2%
Neutral4.8%
Negative29.0%
Written reviews160 reviews
Positive18.1%
Neutral8.1%
Negative73.8%

Simpletext

All ratings23 ratings
Positive73.9%
Neutral8.7%
Negative17.4%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive73.3%
Neutral13.3%
Negative13.3%

Bugs and requests

TextEdit

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when opening certain file types
  • Formatting issues when copying/pasting text
  • Inconsistent behavior across devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • Allow users to choose iCloud directory
  • Offer one-time purchase option instead of subscription
  • Restore previous paid versions without AI

Simpletext

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

TextEdit

Subscriptions2
  • TextEdit+ Unlock AI Assistant3 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • TextEdit+ Unlock AI Assistant3 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • TextEdit+ Full Unlock$24.99
None

Simpletext

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TextEdit free?
TextEdit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simpletext free?
Simpletext costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, TextEdit or Simpletext?
Simpletext is rated higher. TextEdit averages 3.7 out of 5 from 376 ratings, while Simpletext averages 4.1 from 23 ratings.
Do TextEdit or Simpletext have ads?
Neither TextEdit nor Simpletext shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TextEdit or Simpletext?
TextEdit ships an update every 3 weeks, and Simpletext every 3 months. Most recently, TextEdit was updated on September 21, 2026 and Simpletext on September 22, 2026.

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