Comparison

Runestone Text Editor vs Hex Editor

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

Hex Editor

This app provides precise hexadecimal editing and comprehensive binary file analysis tools. It allows users to inspect, search, modify, and save binary data with a suite of integrated utilities for reverse engineering and developer workflows.

Highlights
  • Precise hexadecimal editing
  • Byte-level searching
  • File type detection
  • Metadata inspection
  • Bit-level examination
  • Hexadecimal calculations
  • Data conversion tools
  • File comparison
Features
Read full description

"Hex Editor is built around precise hexadecimal editing rather than treating file inspection as an afterthought. Core search language includes hex editor, binary editor, hexadecimal editor, binary file, byte editor. Open a file, move through its byte data, search for a value or text sequence, copy what you need, change the required bytes, and save the result. Use the editor when a normal document viewer cannot show the actual bytes stored inside a file. Byte-level searching helps locate known signatures, strings, offsets, markers, or values without manually scanning an entire file. File Info gives you a quick view of basic file details before you begin deeper inspection. File Type Detector helps identify a file from its content when the extension is missing, unusual, or not enough for your workflow. Metadata Inspector provides another layer of context for understanding information carried by a file. Bit Inspector lets you move below the byte level and examine individual bits when binary representation matters. Hex Calculator is useful for hexadecimal arithmetic, offsets, values, and other low-level calculations. Byte Converter provides quick conversions when you need to move between byte-oriented values while analysing data. Text-Hex connects readable text with hexadecimal representation so you can investigate how characters appear in raw data. Encoding Converter helps you inspect data across supported character encodings instead of guessing how a byte sequence should be interpreted. Base64 Converter gives you a dedicated way to encode or decode Base64 data during technical investigations. String Scanner helps reveal readable text embedded inside binary content and can speed up an initial inspection. Hash Generator provides hashes for data checks and technical workflows where a repeatable fingerprint is useful. Checksum Tool supports checksum-oriented verification when you need to compare calculated values with expected data. Compare Files helps you identify differences between two files instead of relying on visual inspection alone. Entropy Analyzer provides a statistical view that can help you recognise changes in data characteristics across binary content. Byte Statistics summarises byte-level patterns so you can understand data distribution without reading every value individually. These tools work together for reverse engineering workflows, debugging, file inspection, data recovery preparation, protocol investigation, and general developer work. Hex Editor can also be useful when you need to confirm a small binary change, investigate an unknown file, or validate data before moving it elsewhere. Import your file into the toolkit, inspect the relevant region, make only the required edit, then save the resulting file for your next step. The app keeps common binary utilities close to the editor so you can move from editing to analysis without changing applications. Search, copy, inspect, convert, compare, calculate, and analyse from one mobile workspace. Free access provides limited usage, while Pro is designed for users who need unlimited Hex editing. Hex Editor does not replace specialised forensic or reverse-engineering suites; it provides a practical mobile toolkit for everyday hexadecimal and binary work. Use the editor for focused byte changes and use the supporting tools when the surrounding data needs more context. Whether you are checking a binary structure, looking for a string, comparing versions, or validating a checksum, the workflow stays centred on the file data itself. The interface is designed for direct access to low-level information without requiring a separate desktop utility for every small inspection task. Use it when a binary file needs a small, deliberate change rather than a complete rewrite. Inspect hexadecimal offsets when you need to understand where a value occurs in a file. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/"

Screenshots

Runestone Text Editor4 screens
Hex Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Runestone Text Editor at none against Hex Editor's shown. Runestone Text Editor also leads on chart position (#27 vs unranked) and device support (4 vs 2). Hex Editor's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 76%). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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 and Hex Editor sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, Hex Editor weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Runestone Text Editor versus Hex Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRunestone Text EditorHex Editor
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.1K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.1K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#27 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size64 MB47 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperSimon B. StøvringNirali Kosiya

Customer experience

Runestone Text Editor

All ratings1,962 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews365 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral9.6%
Negative14.2%

Hex Editor

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Hex Editor

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Runestone Text Editor

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99
4 purchases

Hex Editor

Subscriptions3
  • Weekly Hex-Edit$0.997 Days
  • Monthly Hex-Edit$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Hex-Edit$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Hex-Edit$49.99

Questions

Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Runestone Text Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hex Editor free?
Hex Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Runestone Text Editor or Hex Editor have ads?
Hex Editor shows ads; Runestone Text Editor does not.
Which is updated more often, Runestone Text Editor or Hex Editor?
Runestone Text Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, and Hex Editor weekly. Most recently, Runestone Text Editor was updated on November 7, 2026 and Hex Editor on November 10, 2026.

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