MWeb vs Calamus Ideas
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MWeb
This app offers a focused writing and note-taking experience using Markdown. It features a robust editor with syntax support, document management through folders and a library mode, and publishing capabilities. It's designed for efficient text creation and organization across devices.
- Markdown editor with CommonMark and GFM support
- Folders mode for document management
- Library mode for note-taking with categories and tags
- Document publishing and sharing
- Cross-device synchronization
- Customizable themes and fonts
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MWeb was born in 2015. It is a writing, note-taking and publishing app focusing on Markdown. If you like Markdown or text writing, We highly recommend you try MWeb. MWeb is composed of a complete and stable editor, a Folders mode for managing documents, a Library mode specifically for notes, and a document publishing and sharing function set, with a total of four modules. The feature of MWeb's software is that it chooses platform-native technology for each platform. It is built using AppKit on macOS and UIKit on iOS/iPadOS. The following is a brief introduction to these four modules. If you are interested, you can continue reading. ## Editor features Here are some of the key features of an editor: * Base on CommonMark syntax and GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) extended syntax, supporting TOC, tables, code blocks, math formulas, task lists, footnotes, etc. * Display the text of the Markdown document completely without any deletion. * Images can be displayed directly in the Editor, supporting jpg, png, gif, webP, HEIC and etc. * Math formulas, mermaid and Echarts drawings can be previewed in the editor. * You can set your favorite font or multiple fonts for writing. * You can choose from 11 light themes and 21 dark themes, and also support custom themes. * There is a menu to facilitate the input of Markdown syntax, and a special Markdown syntax keyboard is also provided in iOS. * Convenient tools for generating and formatting Markdown table syntax. * You can view the outline and word count of Markdown documents. * Markdown documents can be previewed and support Editor & Preview mode. ## Folders mode The first requirement of Markdown is to create and edit Markdown documents, and MWeb's Folders mode does this. It supports the following features: * Create Markdown, Textbundle documents, or simply open them for editing. * Introduce a folder with Markdown documents into the Folders mode of MWeb. MWeb will provide practical functions such as management of Markdown documents, full-text search, copy and paste to insert images, and unified storage of referenced images. * iPadOS/iOS version supports Dropbox folders. ## Library mode Markdown is so easy to use, so taking notes is also in great demand. Of course, you can use Folders mode and introduce a folder to take notes, which is also very nice and easy to share. So why do we still create a separate Library mode? Mainly, the Library mode has the following features: * There is no need to consider the file name, title and storage location, Just create note and writing. * Use category trees and tags to manage notes. A single note can be classified into multiple categories, making it easier to set categories for notes. * Organizing notes is more convenient. When moving categories and notes, renaming categories will not affect each other. You don't need to worry about incorrect associations between notes, incorrect reference location of images and attachments in notes, etc. * Complete cross-device synchronization using iCloud CloudKit technology. * The Library follows the "local first" principle and is stored in a folder, very easy for backup. Even if you use iCloud sync, your Library can be completely backed up locally. * Export the entire category of notes to PDF or Epub e-book. * The macOS version of MWeb Pro also supports generating static blogs from categories. The generated blog fully supports math formulas, mermaid, echarts etc. Allows you to create your own blog in a very simple way. ## More features... * Publish documents or notes to Wordpress, Metaweblog API, Evernote, Blogger, Tumblr, Yuque, sspai Matrix, Ghost and Medium. * Upload images in documents or notes to imgur, Qiniu, SM.MS, Tencent COS, Youpai, Alibaba OSS, custom API, etc. * Export documents or notes to PDF (with Table of Contents in macOS version). * Export documents or notes to Epub or image. Privacy Policy: https://www.mweb.im/policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.mweb.im/terms.html Hope you enjoy MWeb!
Calamus Ideas
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Calamus Ideas is a notes and writing-tracker app for novelists and anyone working on a long project. WRITE THE NOTE BEFORE YOU LOSE IT Open the app, type, save. There is no project to pick and no file to name. Share an article from Safari and the link is attached to the note for you. FILE IT SO YOU CAN FIND IT Every note can carry a category, a pen name, and a book title. Eight categories are built in: Book Title, Character Name, Concept, Article, Phrase, Design, Musing, Other. Add your own. Create pen names and book titles inside the app. You do not have to set them up somewhere else first. COLLECT QUOTES Save lines from what you read, and from your own books. Quotes are grouped by pen name and book. Share a quote to any app on your phone. The book title and your buy link go with it. Quoting somebody else? Record who said it. FOCUS TIMER A Pomodoro timer for writing sittings. Set 5 to 90 minutes, in 5 minute steps. Put your own photograph behind the clock. Choose how it tells you time is up: a sound, a screen flash, or a vibration. Set it in Settings. When you finish, send the sitting to your writing log and add a note about what you got done. WRITING LOG Words written and words cut are counted as two separate numbers, because a day spent cutting is still a day of work. See both, by day. Keep a daily streak. Assign any session to a pen name and a book, or leave it unassigned. Log a session by hand, or send one straight from the Focus timer. WORKS WITH CALAMUS Everything saves to your account. The same notes, quotes, and log are on your Mac, your iPad, and in the browser. A note assigned to a book is waiting with that book when you sit down to write. Already own Calamus? Calamus Ideas is included. Sign in with the same account. SUBSCRIPTION Calamus Ideas, $4.99 per month, auto-renewing. Payment is charged to your Apple Account automatically unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://calamusapp.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://calamusapp.com/privacy Without an active subscription you can still read everything you wrote, take a full copy of it, and delete any of it. You cannot make changes.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Calamus Ideas at every 8 days against MWeb's every 3 weeks. MWeb's advantage is device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. MWeb sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year and Calamus Ideas sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
MWeb ships an update every 3 weeks, Calamus Ideas every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MWeb | Calamus Ideas |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (156 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 156 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 68 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | 禄海 区 | Calamus LLC |
In-app purchases
MWeb
- MWeb Yearly Subscription$9.991 Year
- MWeb for iPhone/iPad$14.99
- MWeb for Mac$24.99
Calamus Ideas
- Calamus Ideas$4.991 Month









