Comparison

Runestone Text Editor vs LocalDevVPN

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

LocalDevVPN

Create and manage secure, isolated local network tunnels on iOS. Test and debug applications without sending traffic to external servers, offering precise control over your network environment.

Highlights
  • Local network tunneling
  • Custom network configuration
  • One-touch connection
  • Auto-connect option
  • Connection monitoring
  • Comprehensive logging
Features
Read full description

LocalDevVPN is a developer tool for creating and managing local network tunnels directly on iOS. It gives you a secure, isolated virtual interface for testing and debugging without sending traffic to external servers. Key Features: - Local network tunneling: spin up a dedicated virtual interface for development and testing - Custom network configuration: set device IP, tunnel IP, and subnet mask - One-touch connection: quick connect/disconnect with clear status - Auto-connect: optionally start the tunnel when the app launches - Connection monitoring: track connection time and live status - Comprehensive logging: review detailed connection logs for troubleshooting Ideal for developers, network engineers, and testers who need precise control over a local network environment. All traffic stays on-device with no data collection or external connections. Requires iOS 14.0 or later.

Screenshots

Runestone Text Editor4 screens
LocalDevVPN3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: LocalDevVPN at none against Runestone Text Editor's 1. LocalDevVPN also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 weeks) and review sentiment (91% vs 76%). Runestone Text Editor's advantage is ratings volume (2K vs 87). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. Runestone Text Editor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. LocalDevVPN asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Runestone Text Editor against 4.7 for LocalDevVPN. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Runestone Text Editor has 2K ratings behind it against 87, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Runestone Text Editor's written reviews are positive against 91% of LocalDevVPN's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, LocalDevVPN every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Runestone Text Editor versus LocalDevVPN: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRunestone Text EditorLocalDevVPN
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2K ratings)4.7 (87 ratings)
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews90.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2K — better87
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#40#4 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision ProiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSimon B. StøvringCoxson Engineering LLC

Customer experience

Runestone Text Editor

All ratings1,962 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews353 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral9.6%
Negative14.2%

LocalDevVPN

All ratings87 ratings
Positive93.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews53 reviews
Positive90.6%
Neutral1.9%
Negative7.5%

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 more
  • 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 more
  • Improved undo/redo functionality

LocalDevVPN

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Runestone Text Editor

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99
None

LocalDevVPN

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Runestone Text Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LocalDevVPN free?
LocalDevVPN is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Runestone Text Editor or LocalDevVPN?
Runestone Text Editor and LocalDevVPN are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2K and 87 ratings respectively.
Do Runestone Text Editor or LocalDevVPN have ads?
Neither Runestone Text Editor nor LocalDevVPN shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Runestone Text Editor or LocalDevVPN?
Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, and LocalDevVPN every 2 days. Most recently, Runestone Text Editor was updated on September 26, 2026 and LocalDevVPN on September 23, 2026.
Which is more popular, Runestone Text Editor or LocalDevVPN?
Runestone Text Editor currently peaks at #40 in the App Store charts, and LocalDevVPN at #4. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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