Comparison

iA Presenter vs em

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

iA Presenter

Create clean, scalable presentations quickly using Markdown. This app prioritizes content and structure, letting responsive templates handle design for fast, focused creation and rehearsal on Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

Highlights
  • Markdown-based content creation
  • Responsive typographic templates
  • Fast deck building and rehearsal
  • Cross-device compatibility (Mac, iPhone, iPad)
  • Scalable layouts for any screen
Read full description

Create presentations in minutes iA Presenter is a Markdown-based presentation app for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Start with text and build a deck that is clean, scalable, and ready to present, fast and focused. Traditional presentation tools slow you down. You drag boxes, pick fonts, adjust colors, and end up with cluttered slides. iA Presenter flips the workflow: start with your story, structure it in Markdown, and let our responsive, typographic templates handle the design. Perfect for pitches, meetings, workshops, and teaching. Build, rehearse, and present a polished deck in under 20 minutes on your Mac at the desk, iPad on the go, or iPhone in your hand. - Write first, design later: Start from text, not slides - Beautiful everywhere: Responsive layouts scale seamlessly from iPhone to iPad to Mac to projector - Fast and focused: Build, rehearse, and present a polished deck in under 20 minutes - Portable presentations: Create and present wherever you need to work, on desktop, tablet, or phone

About

em

A distraction-free Markdown editor for Mac, iPad, and iPhone that keeps your writing files private and accessible. Features smart search, automatic version history, and optional AI assistance for editing and content review.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free Markdown editor
  • Smart Search with filters and Smart Folders
  • Automatic version history stored in iCloud
  • Ghost site integration for publishing
  • On-device AI for editing and review
  • Offline editing capabilities
  • Customizable reader and editor
Features
Read full description

em is a Markdown writing app for Mac, iPad, and iPhone, built on one idea: your writing files are yours, and you're the only one who should decide what to do with 'em. WRITE 'EM WITH MARKDOWN Capture your thoughts in a distraction-free Markdown editor tuned for each device. em counts your words and reading time, but only if you want it to. FIND 'EM WITH SMART SEARCH Smart Search lists every file holding your words, the ones holding all of them first. Use quotes, +, -, OR and * for precision, filter by library, tag, status or year, and save any search as a Smart Folder that stays current. Only remember what a piece was about? Ask em. PROTECT 'EM WITH VERSION HISTORY Every edit is automatically versioned and backed up to iCloud. Compare and restore versions from any device, so an accidental deletion never costs you your writing. PUBLISH 'EM WITH GHOST Connect em to your Ghost site to edit, back up, and publish natively in Markdown that maps to Ghost's cards. em supports 19 Ghost editorial cards, plus drafts, scheduling, and newsletters. EXPLORE 'EM WITH AI (BUT ONLY IF YOU WANT TO) Ask em questions and get answers grounded in your files, not the internet. On OS 27, Siri can search, add, or edit notes in the libraries you approve. Get an Editorial Review from a prompt you can read and edit — it's a document in your library. em doesn't write your drafts; it helps you edit 'em. ALL FEATURES - Smart Search: Search operators, filters, and Smart Folders - Version History: Automatic versioning, stored in iCloud - Ghost Sites: Sync, edit, publish, and send newsletters - AI on Your Terms: On-device Apple Intelligence by default; optionally Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini with your API key - Siri AI: Search, add, or edit notes in approved libraries (OS 27) - Ask em: Answers from your own archive - Editorial Review: AI feedback from a prompt you control - Apple Shortcuts: Start an AI conversation or publish to Ghost - Journaling Suggestions: Capture memories in Markdown (iOS) - Read Aloud: Hear your draft to catch what your eyes miss - Customization: Reader and Editor fonts and colors - Export: Save any Ghost post as a Markdown file - Offline Editing: Works without an iCloud or Ghost connection - Even More: Printing, word counts, and yes — em dash highlighting PRIVACY, PLAINLY em has no server. That's not a promise about what the developer does with your data — there's no backend, no account, and no company database where your writing could end up. Your writing syncs through your iCloud and nowhere else. AI features are off by default and, if turned on, run on-device with Apple Intelligence. Want a larger model? Connect Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini with your own API key — your account, your billing, revocable anytime. em names the model answering, every time. Transparency Statement: AI was used in developing this app, but every feature idea, design call, and architectural decision was made by a human.

Screenshots

iA Presenter4 screens
em4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: iA Presenter at 10 against em's 1. iA Presenter also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). em's advantage is chart position (#179 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

iA Presenter costs $19.99 and em $19.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for iA Presenter against 5.0 for em. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iA Presenter has 10 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

iA Presenter ships an update every 2 weeks, em every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 27, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
iA Presenter versus em: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteriA Presenterem
Price$19.99$19.99
Rating4.9 (10 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.5% of reviews—
Number of ratings10 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#179 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size93 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInformation Architects AGJustin Cox

Customer experience

iA Presenter

All ratings10 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative12.5%

em

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

iA Presenter

No in-app purchases

None

em

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is iA Presenter free?
iA Presenter costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is em free?
em costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, iA Presenter or em?
em is rated higher. iA Presenter averages 4.9 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while em averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do iA Presenter or em have ads?
Neither iA Presenter nor em shows ads.
Which is updated more often, iA Presenter or em?
iA Presenter ships an update every 2 weeks, and em every 9 days. Most recently, iA Presenter was updated on October 27, 2026 and em on October 15, 2026.

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