Byword vs MWeb
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Byword
This app simplifies writing on mobile devices with robust Markdown support. It offers cross-device syncing, offline access, and seamless publishing to popular blogging platforms. Enjoy features like dark mode, word counts, and accessibility options.
- Markdown writing and editing
- Cross-device syncing
- Offline document access
- Publish to blogs (Medium, WordPress, etc.)
- Dark mode support
- Word and character counters
- Export to PDF and HTML
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Byword makes writing easier on your iPhone and iPad. # Key features of Byword - Designed to make writing with Markdown easier - Sync text documents across all your Mac, iPhone, iPad devices - Take all documents offline to access them anytime - Filter documents by searching all text (Find & Replace inside documents coming soon) - Alternate dark theme for extra comfort in low-light situations - The most complete Markdown support including footnotes, tables and cross-references - Export Markdown documents to PDF and HTML documents - Publish to Medium, WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger and Evernote # Optimized for iOS 13 - Dark mode support to match iOS preference; - Search documents directly from iOS Spotlight; - Multitasking and split screen on iPad; - Shortcuts to create new document and access most recent documents right from application icon. # Blog publishing Publish to Medium, WordPress, Tumblr, Blogger and Evernote from Byword. Publishing your story with Byword is as simple as: 1. Write in Byword 2. Open Tools and select Publish 3. Confirm metadata 4. Publish # More features - List continuations - TextExpander snippet expansion - Word and character counters with live update - Extensive VoiceOver support for visual impaired users - Spell and Grammar checking and Dictionary lookup - Keyboard shortcuts for formatting and navigating between screens Here are some ways to use Byword in your life: - For posting to your blog without using clunky web interfaces and risking losing your work - For research, meeting and class notes - To write that important email without being distracted - To capture ideas and notes and have them available in all devices # Rich text warning Byword for iOS only works with plain text formats. Supported file extensions are: txt, text, md, mmd, rmd, markdown, markdn, mdown, mkdn, markd and fountain. # Support We are proud to provide a super friendly customer support. If you need help and/or have suggestions, please contact us using the mediums below. Twitter: http://twitter.com/bywordapp Email: byword@metaclassy.com Web: http://bywordapp.com
MWeb
A powerful writing and note-taking application focused on Markdown. It offers a robust editor, document management, and publishing capabilities for efficient text creation and organization.
- Markdown editor with CommonMark and GFM support
- Document management via Folders mode
- Note-taking with Library mode and tagging
- Publishing and sharing functions
- Cross-device synchronization
- Image and math formula preview
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MWeb was born in 2015. It is a writing, note-taking and publishing app focusing on Markdown. If you like Markdown or text writing, We highly recommend you try MWeb. MWeb is composed of a complete and stable editor, a Folders mode for managing documents, a Library mode specifically for notes, and a document publishing and sharing function set, with a total of four modules. The feature of MWeb's software is that it chooses platform-native technology for each platform. It is built using AppKit on macOS and UIKit on iOS/iPadOS. The following is a brief introduction to these four modules. If you are interested, you can continue reading. ## Editor features Here are some of the key features of an editor: * Base on CommonMark syntax and GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM) extended syntax, supporting TOC, tables, code blocks, math formulas, task lists, footnotes, etc. * Display the text of the Markdown document completely without any deletion. * Images can be displayed directly in the Editor, supporting jpg, png, gif, webP, HEIC and etc. * Math formulas, mermaid and Echarts drawings can be previewed in the editor. * You can set your favorite font or multiple fonts for writing. * You can choose from 11 light themes and 21 dark themes, and also support custom themes. * There is a menu to facilitate the input of Markdown syntax, and a special Markdown syntax keyboard is also provided in iOS. * Convenient tools for generating and formatting Markdown table syntax. * You can view the outline and word count of Markdown documents. * Markdown documents can be previewed and support Editor & Preview mode. ## Folders mode The first requirement of Markdown is to create and edit Markdown documents, and MWeb's Folders mode does this. It supports the following features: * Create Markdown, Textbundle documents, or simply open them for editing. * Introduce a folder with Markdown documents into the Folders mode of MWeb. MWeb will provide practical functions such as management of Markdown documents, full-text search, copy and paste to insert images, and unified storage of referenced images. * iPadOS/iOS version supports Dropbox folders. ## Library mode Markdown is so easy to use, so taking notes is also in great demand. Of course, you can use Folders mode and introduce a folder to take notes, which is also very nice and easy to share. So why do we still create a separate Library mode? Mainly, the Library mode has the following features: * There is no need to consider the file name, title and storage location, Just create note and writing. * Use category trees and tags to manage notes. A single note can be classified into multiple categories, making it easier to set categories for notes. * Organizing notes is more convenient. When moving categories and notes, renaming categories will not affect each other. You don't need to worry about incorrect associations between notes, incorrect reference location of images and attachments in notes, etc. * Complete cross-device synchronization using iCloud CloudKit technology. * The Library follows the "local first" principle and is stored in a folder, very easy for backup. Even if you use iCloud sync, your Library can be completely backed up locally. * Export the entire category of notes to PDF or Epub e-book. * The macOS version of MWeb Pro also supports generating static blogs from categories. The generated blog fully supports math formulas, mermaid, echarts etc. Allows you to create your own blog in a very simple way. ## More features... * Publish documents or notes to Wordpress, Metaweblog API, Evernote, Blogger, Tumblr, Yuque, sspai Matrix, Ghost and Medium. * Upload images in documents or notes to imgur, Qiniu, SM.MS, Tencent COS, Youpai, Alibaba OSS, custom API, etc. * Export documents or notes to PDF (with Table of Contents in macOS version). * Export documents or notes to Epub or image. Privacy Policy: https://www.mweb.im/policy.html Terms of Use: https://www.mweb.im/terms.html Hope you enjoy MWeb!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: MWeb at Free against Byword's $5.99. MWeb also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Byword's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (10.3 vs 14.1). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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
MWeb is free to download; Byword costs $5.99 up front. MWeb sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Byword asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Byword against 4.5 for MWeb. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 179 and 153 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 60% of Byword's written reviews are positive against 67% of MWeb's.
Byword ships an update every 2 months, MWeb every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Byword | MWeb |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (179 ratings) | 4.5 (153 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 60.1% of reviews | 66.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 179 — better | 153 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.3 — better | 14.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 65 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Metaclassy, Lda. | 禄海 区 |
Customer experience
Byword
MWeb
Bugs and requests
Byword
Reported bugs
3 issues- Dropbox sync not working, files not syncing or disappearing
- Crashes on launch or when opening certain files
- Issues with file organization, renaming, and folder management
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for rich text formatting (bold, italic, underline)
- Improve Markdown preview and rendering
- Implement more keyboard shortcuts and customization options
- Integrate with more cloud storage services beyond Dropbox and iCloud
- Add search and replace functionality
MWeb
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Byword
No in-app purchases
MWeb
- MWeb Yearly Subscription$9.991 Year
- MWeb for iPhone/iPad$14.99
- MWeb for Mac$24.99









