DeTeXt vs Archimedes Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
DeTeXt
Easily find LaTeX commands for symbols by drawing them or searching a comprehensive database. Get the exact command you need for your documents without memorization.
- Draw symbols to find LaTeX commands
- Neural image classification for symbol recognition
- Searchable database of 1098 symbols
- Supports Apple Pencil on iPad
- Copy commands, symbols, or Unicode codepoints
- Offline symbol database
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Finding the symbol you want to use in LaTeX can be hard since you can't memorize all the commands and packages for every symbol. DeTeXt tries to solve this problem by giving you two ways to find the command you want: - Draw the symbol you want and DeTeXt's neural image classification engine will identify what it thinks are the 20 most likely LaTeX commands that will generate a symbol closest to the one you drew. DeTeXt supports Apple Pencil drawings on the iPad. - Search the entire symbol set of 1098 symbols from packages like tipa, amsmath, amssymb, textcomp and more, in addition to the default mathematical symbols. - Copy the symbol, or the character itself, or its Unicode codepoint to the system clipboard, to paste anywhere else. DeTeXt's neural engine processes your drawn symbol and finds the best matches in its symbol database, all on your device without requiring you to be online. All the symbols are stored within the app as well.
Archimedes Editor
This app is a powerful Markdown editor that simplifies mathematical writing with integrated LaTeX support. It offers features like inline LaTeX, autocompletion, live previews, and a math library to help users create beautifully typeset documents.
- Markdown editing with syntax highlighter
- Inline LaTeX support with autocompletion
- Magic Type for drawing mathematical symbols
- Live preview with custom themes and Dark Mode
- Math library for LaTeX commands
- iCloud document sync with Mac counterpart
- Export to PDF and HTML
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Archimedes is a Markdown editor designed to make mathematical writing easy with inline LaTeX support. MARKDOWN EDITING At its core, Archimedes is a fully-featured plain text and Markdown editor. It includes a fast syntax highlighter and provides convenient keyboard shortcuts for common actions, such as inserting images and links. With complete support for Markdown and the Format Bar floating above the keyboard, Archimedes makes formatting and structuring documents elegant and easy. MATH MODE + AUTOCOMPLETE In Math Mode, Archimedes lets you write mathematics in a subset of LaTeX, making it an approachable LaTeX editor. Just enter $$ to get started. Over 700 intuitive commands, such as \sqrt{a^2 + b^2}, help you produce stunning mathematical output. Archimedes even autocompletes commands and intelligently matches closing braces, brackets, and parenthesis as you type. MAGIC TYPE Just getting started with LaTeX syntax? Don't know the code for the asymptotically equal symbol? Just draw it! Archimedes will recognize the symbol and insert the corresponding code for you. LIVE PREVIEW As you work, a beautifully-typeset live preview of your document is always visible. You can even select a custom theme, and Dark Mode is fully supported. Themes come with various font faces. MATH LIBRARY Browse the math library to see all available LaTeX commands and their previews in one place. NAVIGATOR Working on a long document? Use the Navigator to pull up a table of contents and quickly jump between sections. IMAGES Insert images from your Photos library, via the Document Camera, or by drawing sketches right inside the document. DOCUMENT SYNC Archimedes is the only app of its kind that supports syncing documents via iCloud with its Mac counterpart. SHARING Share your work with the rest of the world via email, iMessage, AirDrop, and more. Export documents to the Files app in PDF or HTML formats. You can even print with AirPrint. SEARCH Use the Find bar to quickly find text in any document. STATISTICS View the character count, word count, and reading time as you work. MATH SNIPPET EDITOR Quickly typeset mathematical expressions and copy the rendered result as a vector image for use in apps like Keynote. KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS Take advantage of Magic Keyboard and keyboard shortcuts to quickly navigate the app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: DeTeXt at none against Archimedes Editor's 1. DeTeXt also leads on device support (4 vs 1). Archimedes Editor's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Archimedes Editor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. DeTeXt asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for DeTeXt against 4.8 for Archimedes Editor. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 40 and 26 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 92% of DeTeXt's written reviews are positive against 100% of Archimedes Editor's.
DeTeXt ships an update every 2 months, Archimedes Editor every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on July 3, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | DeTeXt | Archimedes Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (40 ratings) — better | 4.8 (26 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 92.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 40 — better | 26 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 61 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Venkata Subrahmanyan Govindarajan | Furnace Creek Software LLC |
Customer experience
DeTeXt
Archimedes Editor
In-app purchases
DeTeXt
No in-app purchases
Archimedes Editor
- Pro: One Time Purchase$9.99
Questions
Is DeTeXt free?
Is Archimedes Editor free?
Which has better reviews, DeTeXt or Archimedes Editor?
Do DeTeXt or Archimedes Editor have ads?
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