# SimpleMind Pro vs iA Writer

The clearest difference is price: SimpleMind Pro at $10.99 against iA Writer's $19.99. iA Writer's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months) and chart position (#35 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

SimpleMind Pro costs $10.99 and iA Writer $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for SimpleMind Pro against 4.6 for iA Writer. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 451 and 1.5K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of SimpleMind Pro's written reviews are positive against 73% of iA Writer's.

SimpleMind Pro ships an update every 2 months, iA Writer fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | SimpleMind Pro | iA Writer |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **$10.99** | $19.99 |
| Rating | **[4.7 (451 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simplemind-pro-mind-mapping/id378174507/reviews)** | [4.6 (1.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ia-writer/id775737172/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 451 | **1.5K** |
| Positive reviews | **80.9% of reviews** | 73.1% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | **#35** |
| Size | 36 MB | 65 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [xpt Software & Consulting B.V.](https://appshunter.io/developer/304515490) | [Information Architects AG](https://appshunter.io/developer/775737175) |

## What reviewers say

### SimpleMind Pro

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/simplemind-pro-mind-mapping/id378174507)

Organize your thoughts, capture ideas, and generate new concepts with a beautiful and intuitive mind mapping tool. Seamlessly synchronize your maps across devices and platforms, and enhance them with media and documents.

**Highlights:** Free-form and auto layout options, Cross-platform synchronization, Add images, notes, and voice memos, Share maps as PDF or Image, Customizable styles and themes, Collapse/expand branches for overview

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### iA Writer

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ia-writer/id775737172)

**Currently charting:** #35 Top Paid · Productivity (US App Store)

A distraction-free writing environment designed to help you focus on your words. It offers features like Focus Mode, plain text writing with HTML preview, and robust organization tools. Customize your writing experience and export to various formats.

**Highlights:** Distraction-free writing environment, Focus Mode for enhanced concentration, Plain text writing with HTML preview, Document organization and search, Customizable keyboard layout, Export to various formats (Word, PDF, HTML, WordPress, Medium)

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Distraction-free writing experience
- 👍 Elegant and minimalist design
- 💡 Helpful syntax highlighting and formatting tools
- 🚀 Seamless sync across devices
- 👍 Reliable and stable performance

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and sync issues
- 🔒 Limited cloud storage integration options
- 👎 Lack of advanced organization and navigation features
- 👎 Subpar text selection and cursor control
- 👎 Dated app icon and visual design

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when opening certain files
- Sync issues leading to data loss
- Formatting problems when exporting to other formats

**Requested features**

- Improved cloud storage integration (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.)
- Enhanced file management and organization tools
- Better text selection and cursor control
- More customization options for appearance and layout
- Integrated outline/table of contents view


## Frequently asked questions

### Is SimpleMind Pro free?

SimpleMind Pro costs $10.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is iA Writer free?

iA Writer costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, SimpleMind Pro or iA Writer?

SimpleMind Pro is rated higher. SimpleMind Pro averages 4.7 out of 5 from 451 ratings, while iA Writer averages 4.6 from 1.5K ratings.

### Do SimpleMind Pro or iA Writer have ads?

Neither SimpleMind Pro nor iA Writer shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, SimpleMind Pro or iA Writer?

SimpleMind Pro ships an update every 2 months, and iA Writer fortnightly. Most recently, SimpleMind Pro was updated on October 15, 2026 and iA Writer on October 17, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*