Comparison

Only Markdown vs Vault Reader

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

Head to head
About

Only Markdown

Features
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Only Markdown is a simple but powerful markdown editor with the following features: 1 Full support for CommonMark standard and GitHub Flavored Markdown (GFM), such as TOC, Table, Fenced code block, LaTeX, Task lists, Footnote and so on. 2 Fast insertion of Markdown syntax formatting. 3 Support preview mode switching, view editing results at any time. 4 Beautiful and black & white color scheme and support dark mode switching.

About

Vault Reader

Features
Read full description

A calm place to read the GitHub notes you already have. Vault Reader connects to any GitHub repository of markdown files, public or private, and renders it on iPhone as a focused, offline-ready reader. Built for the Obsidian vaults, dev notes, and journals that already live in GitHub. THE READER β€’ Sign in with GitHub. Connect one repository on the free tier; every public or private repo you have access to with Vault Reader Pro. β€’ Sync once, read offline. Every page caches on your iPhone and opens without a signal. β€’ Smart incremental sync. SHA-based diffing only re-downloads files that actually changed, keeping API usage low. β€’ Native SwiftUI rendering for headings, lists, tables, code blocks with syntax highlighting, task lists, blockquotes, and images. β€’ Book-quiet typography: Iowan Old Style for body, Fraunces for display headings. β€’ Full-text search across every cached file in your vault. FOR OBSIDIAN USERS Pairs with the Obsidian Git plugin. Point Vault Reader at the same repository and it picks up: β€’ [[Wikilinks]], resolved locally. Tap to follow; unresolved links stay visible but disabled so nothing is silently broken. β€’ YAML frontmatter, hidden from the rendered page. Tags surface as small chips above the title. β€’ > TLDR: callouts, highlighted as cards so the gist of a note stands out. ON-DEVICE AI (VAULT READER PRO) A floating action button on every page opens a chat powered by Apple Foundation Models, running entirely on your iPhone. No API keys. No cloud inference. Nothing leaves the device. β€’ Summarize the page you're on. β€’ Ask it to explain a passage in simpler terms. β€’ Ask free-form questions across your whole vault. Answers link back to source pages. READING, YOUR WAY β€’ Two themes on the free tier: Plum Codex (light) and Midnight Vault (dark). β€’ Six themes total with Pro: Plum Codex, Sepia Library, Forest Journal, Terracotta Press, Midnight Vault, and Obsidian Codex. β€’ Four body-text sizes and three line-spacing presets with Pro. Dynamic Type respected throughout. PRIVACY BY CONSTRUCTION β€’ Your GitHub token lives in the iOS Keychain. Minner Labs runs no backend and never sees it. β€’ AI runs on-device via Apple Foundation Models. Prompts and answers never leave your iPhone. β€’ Read-only. Vault Reader cannot create, edit, or delete anything in your repositories. β€’ Your Pro subscription restores automatically across devices and reinstalls. PRICING β€’ Free to download and read. One connected repository, two themes, and the core reader are always free. β€’ Vault Reader Pro unlocks on-device AI, unlimited repositories, and the complete theme and typography library. Available as a monthly or annual subscription (with a 7-day free trial on the annual plan), or as a one-time lifetime purchase. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy: https://vaultreader.minnerlabs.com/privacy

Screenshots

Only Markdown4 screens
Vault Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Only Markdown at none against Vault Reader's 3. Only Markdown also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 26.0). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Vault Reader sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Only Markdown asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
Only Markdown versus Vault Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOnly MarkdownVault Reader
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyβ€”Every 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS11.0 β€” better26.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size27 MB14 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developer丽荣 李Minner Labs LLC

In-app purchases

None

Only Markdown

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Vault Reader

Subscriptions2
  • Vault Reader Pro - Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Vault Reader Pro - Yearly7 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Vault Reader Pro - Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Only Markdown free?
Only Markdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Vault Reader free?
Vault Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Only Markdown or Vault Reader have ads?
Neither Only Markdown nor Vault Reader shows ads.

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