Ulysses vs Metion
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Ulysses
A distraction-free writing environment for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It offers robust document management, seamless syncing, and flexible export options for writers of all kinds. Includes a proofreader and editing assistant.
- Distraction-free editor
- Unified document library
- Cross-device sync
- Built-in proofreader
- Flexible export options (PDF, DOCX, eBook, HTML)
- Direct publishing to blogs
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Ulysses is your one-stop writing environment for Mac, iPhone and iPad. Its pleasant, focused writing experience, combined with effective document management, seamless sync, and flexible export, make Ulysses the first choice for writers of all kinds. ++ Apple Design Award Winner ++ “The app is amazing. An absolute delight to use. Well done.” – David Hewson, Bestselling Author (The Killing) ### A Text Production Powerhouse Ulysses’ markup-based, distraction-free editor lets you focus on your most important task: Write, edit, and write some more. Formatting is kept for later, so you can completely immerse yourself in the text. Ulysses’ uniquely streamlined toolset covers the entire writing process, and its clean and simple interface will boost your productivity. From first to final draft, from prologue to closing chapter – Ulysses keeps you in the flow, so you can get stuff done. ### All Your Texts, All the Time Everything you’ll ever write is stored in Ulysses’ unified library. You can manage projects of all kinds and sizes, be it novels, diaries or study notes – they are always saved, and automatically in sync. And since Ulysses offers feature parity across macOS and iOS, it doesn’t matter where you are or when inspiration hits: All its tools, and all your texts, are always at your fingertips. ### Built-In Proofreader and Editing Assistant Write with confidence, thanks to Ulysses’ integrated grammar and style check. Available for over 20 languages, it analyzes your text and offers informed suggestions for capitalization, punctuation, semantics, redundancy, style and more. ### Create eBooks, DOCX, PDFs and HTML Ulysses’ export is flexible enough to cover any writer’s needs: Transform your text into beautiful PDFs, Word documents or eBooks. Or export HTML code, ready to be used anywhere on the web. You can even choose between a variety of pre-made formatting styles for all kinds of purposes, or create your own and share it with other users. ### Publish to WordPress, Ghost, Substack & More Do you blog? Ulysses’ offers best-in-class publishing to WordPress, Ghost, and Micro.blog. You can post to WordPress, Ghost and Micro.blog from right within the app – complete with images, tags, categories etc. All offer a built-in preview to proofread before submission. Ulysses also supports copy paste publishing to Substack and Basecamp. ### Pricing Ulysses requires a subscription. We offer monthly and yearly subscription plans. They include a fully functional trial, so you can test Ulysses (including export and sync). There’s also a special discount for students. All plans unlock the app on Mac, iPhone and iPad, and feature full synchronization. ### Questions Please visit ulysses.app for more information. You can also reach us via help@ulysses.app or on Twitter @ulyssesapp – we’re happily awaiting your feedback! Terms of Use: https://ulysses.app/app-terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://ulysses.app/app-privacy-policy
Metion
This notebook tool prioritizes a superior writing experience using Markdown. It allows you to build knowledge bases, connect notes as networks, and offers a distraction-free Zen Mode. Data is stored freely in plain text files with built-in Git support for synchronization and version history.
- Markdown support
- Knowledge base creation
- Networked notes
- Zen Mode writing
- Open filesystem storage
- Built-in Git sync
- History versioning
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Metion is a notebook tool that focuses on the writing experience, uses Markdown as basic text syntax. ## Build Your Own Knowledge Base Metion 2.0 brings a new feature named "Knowledge Base", the plain text syntax, then becomes mindmap trees, or connected as a network... ## The Writing Experience is So Important Our goal is to create a great writing experience, specially for iPadOS, although it's not easy. Metion provides a relatively complete keyboard shortcuts support. After a keyboard connected, both iPad and iPhone can archive a huge improvement in writing experience. We also have redesigned the "Zen Mode" on iPad, a more focusing writing mode. It is very very beautiful, choosing a suitable background image, selecting the white noise you like in Zen Mode, and the irrelevant UI elements are hidden. Writing is a pleasure, writing is talking to the world, writing is your Zen. ## Data Freedom, Open Filesystem, Git Built-in Metion based on the open filesystem, no need to create another new format for storing data. An article is a plain text file, and the images in the article are also under a certain folder. Data freedom and open filesystems allow us to synchronize data across devices using iCloud or Git. If you have a higher requirement for data security, you can also make a backup very quickly by copying the entire folder (working directory). One more thing, Metion has a built-in support named "history version" that provides a little more reliability for your documents. **Also, if you know how to use Git, you can try Git to sync. Yes! We have the powerful Git as a built-in feature! ** ## Optimized for iPad Pro, Also for iPhone We tried the best to make Metion optimized for iPad Pro, when writing on iPad Pro by Metion, the iPad is a really more productive device. Metion is also optimized for the iPhone too. In recent years, most of the new iPhones have notch at the top of screen. Metion does not simply avoid the safe area, but makes a lot of technical efforts to apply every pixel on the screen as far as possible. If using the visual theme of "Dark", the notch sometimes look like disappeared, like the next generation of full-screen phone comes. ## The Exporting of Metion If using Metion to export as PDF, we suggest the theme of PDF can be set as "Printer" in Settings Panel. If there is a real printer connected in current local network, just print directly, it will be pretty when words on the real paper. Document in Metion can be exported as image, which is optimized for mobile device (iPhone). We can set text and QR-Code signature at the end of exported image. Send it to friends through some social Apps. The beautiful layout of text can highlight the value of your words. Metion can analyze the structure of current article automatically, then export it as "Mindmap" with one tap only. - - - - - - - - - - Privacy Policy: http://markeditor.com/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: http://markeditor.com/page/terms.md
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Metion at free with in-app purchases against Ulysses's subscription. Metion also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 26.0). Ulysses's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (2.1K vs 46). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Ulysses sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Metion sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Ulysses holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ulysses has 2.1K ratings behind it against 46, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Ulysses's written reviews are positive against 60% of Metion's.
Ulysses ships an update every 3 weeks, Metion every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Ulysses | Metion |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (2.1K ratings) — better | 4.3 (46 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 67.1% of reviews — better | 60.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.1K — better | 46 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 274 MB | 96 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ulysses GmbH & Co. KG | Hangzhou Quanduan Technology Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
Ulysses
Metion
User reviews
Ulysses
From 2.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Seamless syncing across devices
- 👍 Simple, distraction-free writing experience
- 💡 Powerful organization and formatting features
- 🦋 Beautiful, customizable interface
- ✨ Excellent for focused writing
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🐛 Occasional sync issues
- 🔒 Concerns about data privacy and lock-in
- 📚 Limited support for advanced formatting (tables, formulas, etc.)
- 🤔 Steep learning curve for some users
Metion
From 46 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Seamless integration with Apple ecosystem
- ✍️ Great writing experience
- 💡 Promising features
- 🎨 Minimalist and aesthetic design
- 🚀 Enhances productivity
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent bugs and crashes
- 📱 Not optimized for phones
- 🗂️ Limited free version features
- 🎨 UI issues and design flaws
- ❌ Syncing problems
Bugs and requests
Ulysses
Reported bugs
4 issues- Unexpected data loss or file corruption
- Slow performance on older devices
- Unreliable iCloud sync
- Formatting issues when exporting to other formats
Requested features
5 requests- Improved collaboration and sharing features
- Better integration with reference managers and citation tools
- More flexible export options and compatibility
- Customizable keyboard shortcuts
- Ability to hide Markdown syntax
Metion
Reported bugs
19 issues- Git sync not working
- iCloud folder cannot be specified
- Writing statistics not visible or crashing
- Custom file sorting not working
- New file creation bug (text pushed up)
Show 14 moreShow fewer
- Hyperlinks only work with connected keyboard
- Help documentation partially translated
- PDF export formatting issues
- App crashes when submitting bugs
- iPhone gets hot and requires restart
- App launches inconsistently, crashes, slow to switch folders
- Undo function not supported, causes crash
- App crashes on startup
- Cannot open old documents (free version limit)
- English input lacks auto-capitalization and spell check
- Soft keyboard shortcut bar disappears
- Character input issues causing extra spaces
- Zen mode background color setting causes crashes
- App crashes when trying to set Zen mode background
Requested features
35 requests- Optimize for phone usage
- Add Windows version
- Improve Git sync functionality
- Allow specifying iCloud folder
- Restore writing statistics feature
Show 30 moreShow fewer
- Fix custom file sorting
- Fix new file creation bugs
- Improve hyperlink functionality on iPhone
- Add Undo functionality
- Fix app crashes on startup
- Allow opening old documents
- Improve English input (auto-capitalization, spell check)
- Fix disappearing shortcut bar
- Increase font size limit
- Allow changing Zen mode background and text color
- Fix PDF export formatting
- Improve Russian translation
- Simplify interface navigation
- Improve interface glitchiness
- Support existing markdown folders
- Add more font choices
- Fix character input issues
- Increase maximum character limit
- Add Dropbox or other cloud drive sync
- Add password lock feature
- Improve line spacing in Zen mode
- Combine markdown preview and writing like Bear
- Add floating TOC
- Add dedicated preview button
- Option to dilate interface scale
- Add statistics for daily word count
- Improve Zen mode text color
- Add support for Chinese-to-English conversion
- Add file system for recording information like Windows with graphical display and tags
- Add statistics for word count
In-app purchases
Ulysses
- Monthly Plan7 Days trial$5.991 Month
- Yearly Plan$29.991 Year
- Yearly Plan7 Days trial2 variants$39.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Yearly Plan1 Year trial$39.991 Year
- Student Offer$10.99
- Perpetual License$199.99
Metion
- 订阅公众号图片上传中转3 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Subscribe Pro Extensions3 Days trial$6.991 Year
- Standard Edition (iOS+iPadOS)$17.99








