Comparison

Runestone Text Editor vs JavaScript Challenge

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

JavaScript Challenge

Features
Read full description

Feed your brain. Level up. Learn to write real JavaScript by solving one puzzle at a time, right on your phone. JavaScript Challenge is a single path of original coding problems, from your first function to graphs, dynamic programming and beyond. Every solution runs on-device in real JavaScript and is checked against hidden tests, so passing means it actually works. Free to start: the opening levels are free, then unlock the full path with a single one-time purchase. No subscription, no ads, no account. WRITE REAL CODE • A coder keyboard built for JavaScript: tab, brackets, quotes, snippets, undo • Instant feedback with named tests, expected vs actual output • Some levels enforce rules (no built-in array helpers, recursion required) so you learn the technique, not the shortcut LEARN THE RIGHT WAY • Three-tier hints from Rhino, your smug but surprisingly helpful mentor • Curated solutions after you solve: naive vs optimal, time and space complexity • Topics: strings, arrays, objects, closures, recursion, dynamic programming, sorting, searching, graphs, trees, hashing, bit tricks, grids, greedy strategies, intervals STAY MOTIVATED • One path, no shortcuts: easy → medium → hard, with performance tests on the hardest levels • XP, player levels, daily streaks and badges • Six themes, dark and light PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Works fully offline, no account, no tracking — your progress stays on your device • No ads, ever

Screenshots

Runestone Text Editor4 screens
JavaScript Challenge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Runestone Text Editor at Free against JavaScript Challenge's $2.99. Runestone Text Editor also leads on chart position (#44 vs unranked). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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

Runestone Text Editor is free to download; JavaScript Challenge costs $2.99 up front. Runestone Text Editor sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and JavaScript Challenge sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, JavaScript Challenge weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
Runestone Text Editor versus JavaScript Challenge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRunestone Text EditorJavaScript Challenge
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.7 (2K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings2K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#44 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSimon B. StøvringMUSTAFA GURBUZ

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

JavaScript Challenge

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Runestone Text Editor

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99
1 purchases

JavaScript Challenge

One-time1
  • Full Path$6.99

Questions

Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Runestone Text Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is JavaScript Challenge free?
JavaScript Challenge costs $2.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Do Runestone Text Editor or JavaScript Challenge have ads?
Neither Runestone Text Editor nor JavaScript Challenge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Runestone Text Editor or JavaScript Challenge?
Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, and JavaScript Challenge weekly. Most recently, Runestone Text Editor was updated on October 12, 2026 and JavaScript Challenge on October 4, 2026.

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