Comparison

Runestone Text Editor vs LayoutStudio

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

LayoutStudio

Features
Read full description

LayoutStudio is a focused visual workspace for designing and reviewing native asset layouts before implementation. Build visually Add titles, descriptions, advertiser labels, icons, main images, calls to action, ad labels, privacy elements, custom text, and boxes. Move and resize each asset directly on the canvas, then enter exact position and size values when precision matters. Preview in context Switch to a clean preview without editing controls. Try neutral colors, gentle gradients, a local image, or built-in mock templates as the background. Adjust zoom and canvas presentation to check whether the layout feels natural in its intended surroundings. Keep your work moving Save projects locally, reopen saved work from the project list, and recover the latest draft after an interruption. Coordinates and sizes remain part of the portable layout document so the design stays consistent across different displays. Designed for focused work Optional grids, snap-to-grid, undo and redo, image scale options, a clean full-screen preview, and draft recovery help you iterate without unnecessary setup. Image selection uses the system picker, and project content stays in the app's local storage unless you choose to share an exported preview. LayoutStudio is a layout prototyping and review tool. It does not request, bind, validate, or serve native ads inside the editing canvas.

Screenshots

Runestone Text Editor4 screens
LayoutStudio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: LayoutStudio at none against Runestone Text Editor's 1. LayoutStudio also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks). Runestone Text Editor's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#32 vs unranked). On price 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. LayoutStudio asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, LayoutStudio every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Runestone Text Editor versus LayoutStudio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRunestone Text EditorLayoutStudio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.1K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings2.1K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#32 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSimon B. StøvringGWANG YONG YU

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

LayoutStudio

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Runestone Text Editor

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99
None

LayoutStudio

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Runestone Text Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LayoutStudio free?
LayoutStudio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Runestone Text Editor or LayoutStudio have ads?
LayoutStudio shows ads; Runestone Text Editor does not.
Which is updated more often, Runestone Text Editor or LayoutStudio?
Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, and LayoutStudio every 3 days. Most recently, Runestone Text Editor was updated on November 3, 2026 and LayoutStudio on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons