Runestone Text Editor vs Code Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Runestone Text Editor
A powerful plain text and code editor for iPhone and iPad. Offers syntax highlighting, line numbers, find and replace, and extensive customization options for developers and writers.
- Syntax highlighting for many languages
- Customizable themes and fonts
- Advanced find and replace
- Line numbers and cursor location
- Code formatting with Prettier.js
- Multiple windows on iPad
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A plain text editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers, search and replace, page guide, and much more. It's like TextEdit but more powerful and optimised for iPhone and iPad. Runestone is made by a single person with a love for text editors and a vision of building the most lightweight text editor for iPhone and iPad that still has the core features for editing code. Features: - Syntax highlighting of many languages including HTML, JavaScript, JSON, Markdown, Swift, Python, PHP, YAML, and many more. - Select one of the twelve standard themes including popular themes like Tomorrow, Dracula, Solarized, and One Dark Pro. - Innovative find and replace for searching and modifying text while still viewing your file. - Choose font and font size, including support for custom fonts imported using another third-party app. - Show the line and column the cursor is located on. - Uses the standard document browser for an experience similar to the Files app. - Quickly navigate to a specific line. - Automatically close opening brackets and quotes. - Multiple windows on the iPad. - Format code using Prettier.js. Supported languages include CSS,HTML, JavaScript, JSON, PHP and more. - Choose text encoding between popular encodings like UTF-8, UTF-16, ISO Latin 1, and many more. - Enable or disable autocorrection, autocapitalization, and smart punctuation. - Set default file extension of new files. - Open files in Runestone from the Share Sheet. - Print documents. Premium features: - Choose between eight app icons. - Show line numbers. - Highlight the selected line. - Increase line height and letter spacing. - Disable line wrapping to allow horizontal scrolling. - Show tabs, spaces, and line breaks using a selected symbol. - Enable page guide at a specific column to easily tell when lines are getting too long. - Add vertical and horizontal overscroll. - Remember the selected language per file. - Save file extensions and filenames that should always be treated as plain text files. - Enable soft tabs and choose the width of the tab character. - Specify whether pressing the tab key should insert a tab or indent the line. - Adjust the scaling of Markdown headings and disable highlighting of code blocks in Markdown. Runestone was built on the open-source framework with the same name. Find more information on the Runestone framework at github.com/simonbs/runestone
Code Editor
This app is a powerful mobile code editor and compiler designed for programmers. It offers syntax highlighting for numerous languages, code assistance, and the ability to compile and run code directly on your device. Access files from cloud storage and version control systems, with customizable themes and extensive editing features.
- Syntax highlighting for 110+ languages
- Online compiler for 30+ languages
- Code assist and auto-completion
- Multi-tab navigation
- Unlimited undo/redo
- Cloud file access (FTP, WebDAV, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive)
- GitHub/GitLab integration
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Code editor is optimized text editor focused on coding. It contains necessary features including syntax highlight, code assist, auto-complete, compile and execute, etc. Features: - Syntax highlighting for over 110 languages (C++, Java, JavaScript, HTML, Markdown, PHP, Perl, Python, Lua, Dart, etc). - Include online compiler, can compile and run over 30 common languages (Python, PHP, Java, JS/NodeJS, C/C++, Rust, Pascal, Haskell, Ruby, etc). - Code assist, folding and auto-completion. - Easily navigate between multiple tabs. - Undo and redo changes without limit. - Search and replace with regular expressions. - Show or hide line numbers. - Highlight matching parentheses. - Automatic indent and outdent. - Displays invisible characters. - Open files from recently opened file collections. - Preview HTML and Markdown files. - Includes Emmet support for web development. - Access files from FTP and WebDAV. - Evaluate JavaScript code with built-in JavaScript console. - Integrate and easy access to GitHub and GitLab. - Access files from Google Drive, Dropbox, and OneDrive. - Dark and light themes and over 30 syntax highlighting styles. If you run into any issues or have any suggestions, please feel free to contact us: support@rhmsoft.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Runestone Text Editor at 4.7 against Code Editor's 3.2. Runestone Text Editor also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (76% vs 54%). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and chart position 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. Runestone Text Editor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Code Editor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Runestone Text Editor holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Runestone Text Editor has 2K ratings behind it against 43, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Runestone Text Editor's written reviews are positive against 54% of Code Editor's.
Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, Code Editor every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.
| Parameter | Runestone Text Editor | Code Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2K ratings) — better | 3.2 (43 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.1% of reviews — better | 53.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2K — better | 43 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #40 — better | #83 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 64 MB | 65 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Simon B. Støvring | Rhythm Software |
Customer experience
Runestone Text Editor
Code Editor
User reviews
Runestone Text Editor
From 2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💎 Excellent text editor
- 🚀 Smooth and responsive
- 🎨 Customizable themes and appearance
- 🔒 Secure file storage and sync
- 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
- 🔍 Difficulty navigating files/folders
- 📝 Limited functionality without premium
- 🔌 Performance issues on older devices
- 🔒 Difficulty accessing files in cloud storage
Code Editor
From 43 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Great for coding on the go
- 👍 Supports many languages
- 👍 Easy to use interface
- 👍 Good for learning and quick edits
- 👍 Minimal ads (for some users)
Room to improve
- 😠 Unskippable, full-screen ads
- 😠 Ads after every file operation
- 😠 Ads interrupt workflow
- 😠 Frequent and intrusive ads
- 😠 Paid version still has ads
Bugs and requests
Runestone Text Editor
Reported bugs
6 issues- Disappearing files
- Difficulty pasting text
- Scroll position not saved
- Hangs on startup
- Trouble opening large files
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Issues after iOS updates
Requested features
6 requests- Markdown preview
- Code folding
- Syntax highlighting for more languages
- Ability to run/execute code
- Multiple file/window support
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improved undo/redo functionality
Code Editor
Reported bugs
46 issues- Uninterruptible ads
- Cannot create new files
- Cannot copy files
- Sidebar cannot be reopened after closing
- Cannot save files
Show 41 moreShow fewer
- Settings screen does not open
- No option to open a file
- App crashes frequently
- File shown as empty, needs reopening
- No magnifying preview when selecting text
- Cannot use as target for 'open with...'
- Cannot input user data
- Cannot execute more than one file
- Image not appearing in browser
- Links not functioning
- Typing cursor moves to the beginning of the file
- Content reloads via iCloud Drive, losing data
- HTML files not running in the included browser
- C++ user input (cin >>) not working
- Save button disabled
- Cannot print files
- Bug when project runs
- Cannot save Typst files
- Cannot save Webdav files
- Cannot name files
- C/C++ compilers don't allow argument changes
- Editing .js files prevents saving/closing without discarding changes
- App crashes on opening on iPad Pro
- Error loading file content due to unsupported encoding
- Chinese input causes misalignment
- Landscape mode bug on iPhone
- FTP folder display is blank
- Code not running properly for complex operations
- Extend Script not supported
- Toolbar content overlaps and becomes unresponsive after switching apps
- Python input not executing
- File content deleted after saving
- Error when loading file content
- Landscape mode not working on iPhone
- Cannot compile sum of user input numbers in C
- Auto-completion not working well
- App closes instantly when clicking live server link
- Cannot compile C++ code with user input
- Cannot save edits
- Cannot save files on mobile
- Broken number generator due to ASCII issues
Requested features
26 requests- SFTP protocol connection
- Add a run button
- Error indicator during typing
- Custom keyboard with coding symbols
- Ability to edit visual styles/syntax coloring
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- Add tab closing functionality
- Improve console window size
- Support for trackpad/mouse scrolling
- Add automatic save feature
- Support opening files from other apps via share sheet
- Add Bitbucket support
- Add SFTP/SSH support
- Add a terminal for installing external libraries
- Support for mouse wheel scrolling
- Allow multiple file execution at once
- Add code recording/deletion function
- Support system theme switching
- Add telemetry toggle button
- Improve Git integration (manage repos, branches, etc.)
- Add i/o redirection for console programs
- Support for specific libraries (e.g., pandas, Kivy)
- Make execution button available
- Support for mouse scroll on iPad
- Open source the app
- Add landscape mode support on iPhone
- Add ability to create files from scratch
In-app purchases
Runestone Text Editor
- Premium$9.99
Code Editor
- Remove Ads (Forever)$3.99
Questions
Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Is Code Editor free?
Which has better reviews, Runestone Text Editor or Code Editor?
Do Runestone Text Editor or Code Editor have ads?
Which is updated more often, Runestone Text Editor or Code Editor?
Which is more popular, Runestone Text Editor or Code Editor?
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