Comparison

Zine vs Metion

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

Head to head
About

Zine

Create and personalize beautiful articles with advanced typesetting and photo editing. Securely store your content in the cloud and easily share it in various formats or as a webpage. Organize your writing into booklets and export them as eBooks.

Highlights
  • Beautiful typesetting and personalization
  • WYSIWYG photo editing
  • Built-in cloud storage
  • Bank-level privacy protection
  • Multiple export formats (JPEG, TXT, MD, PDF)
  • Share as webpage link or independent blog
  • Create eBooks (ePub, booklets)
Features
Read full description

Zine is a well-designed powerful notes and writing app. It has many unique features: 1: Beautiful Typesetting, and Easily Personalize Your Articles: Zine supports many fonts, colors, font sizes, paragraph styles, papers, templates, and WYSIWYG photo editing. You can typeset beautiful articles very easily on mobile phone and share them to social networks. 2: Built-in Cloud Storage, Content Would Never Been Lost: Zine provides cloud storage space to save your articles. Even if your phone have lost or replaced, you can get all of your contents back very easily. 3: Protecting Privacy: Content created in Zine is private in default, they are only visible and edited by yourself; We provide bank-level security tech to protect your privacy. 4: Easy to Share: Zine offers many ways for sharing your articles, such as export to JPEG, TXT, MD, PDF etc. And even you can share them by webpage link or post as your independent blog. 5: Make an eBook Zine supports create booklets to manage your articles. And you also can export them as ePub, or share their weblink to your readers directly, reading them as an online magazine. ---- Notice about Auto-Renewal Subscription --- Premium Monthly Subscription: $ 3.49 / month Premium Yearly Subscription: $ 36.99 / year VIP Monthly Subscription: $ 9.49 / month VIP Yearly Subscription: $ 68.99 / year Price may vary by location. Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You will not be able to cancel the subscription once activated. After purchase, manage your subscriptions in App Store Account Settings. Any unused portion of a free trial period, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. Terms of Service: https://zine.la/pages/Term-of-Service_en.html Privacy Policy: https://zine.la/pages/Term-of-Service_en.html (a part of Terms of Service) -------

About

Metion

This notebook tool prioritizes a superior writing experience using Markdown. It allows you to build knowledge bases, connect notes as networks, and offers a distraction-free Zen Mode. Data is stored freely in plain text files with built-in Git support for synchronization and version history.

Highlights
  • Markdown support
  • Knowledge base creation
  • Networked notes
  • Zen Mode writing
  • Open filesystem storage
  • Built-in Git sync
  • History versioning
Read full description

Metion is a notebook tool that focuses on the writing experience, uses Markdown as basic text syntax. ## Build Your Own Knowledge Base Metion 2.0 brings a new feature named "Knowledge Base", the plain text syntax, then becomes mindmap trees, or connected as a network... ## The Writing Experience is So Important Our goal is to create a great writing experience, specially for iPadOS, although it's not easy. Metion provides a relatively complete keyboard shortcuts support. After a keyboard connected, both iPad and iPhone can archive a huge improvement in writing experience. We also have redesigned the "Zen Mode" on iPad, a more focusing writing mode. It is very very beautiful, choosing a suitable background image, selecting the white noise you like in Zen Mode, and the irrelevant UI elements are hidden. Writing is a pleasure, writing is talking to the world, writing is your Zen. ## Data Freedom, Open Filesystem, Git Built-in Metion based on the open filesystem, no need to create another new format for storing data. An article is a plain text file, and the images in the article are also under a certain folder. Data freedom and open filesystems allow us to synchronize data across devices using iCloud or Git. If you have a higher requirement for data security, you can also make a backup very quickly by copying the entire folder (working directory). One more thing, Metion has a built-in support named "history version" that provides a little more reliability for your documents. **Also, if you know how to use Git, you can try Git to sync. Yes! We have the powerful Git as a built-in feature! ** ## Optimized for iPad Pro, Also for iPhone We tried the best to make Metion optimized for iPad Pro, when writing on iPad Pro by Metion, the iPad is a really more productive device. Metion is also optimized for the iPhone too. In recent years, most of the new iPhones have notch at the top of screen. Metion does not simply avoid the safe area, but makes a lot of technical efforts to apply every pixel on the screen as far as possible. If using the visual theme of "Dark", the notch sometimes look like disappeared, like the next generation of full-screen phone comes. ## The Exporting of Metion If using Metion to export as PDF, we suggest the theme of PDF can be set as "Printer" in Settings Panel. If there is a real printer connected in current local network, just print directly, it will be pretty when words on the real paper. Document in Metion can be exported as image, which is optimized for mobile device (iPhone). We can set text and QR-Code signature at the end of exported image. Send it to friends through some social Apps. The beautiful layout of text can highlight the value of your words. Metion can analyze the structure of current article automatically, then export it as "Mindmap" with one tap only. - - - - - - - - - - Privacy Policy: http://markeditor.com/privacy-policy.html Terms of Use: http://markeditor.com/page/terms.md

Screenshots

Zine4 screens
Metion4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Metion at every 2 weeks against Zine's every 5 weeks. Zine's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (239 vs 46). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Zine sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $4.29 per month and Metion sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Zine holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zine has 239 ratings behind it against 46, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 62% of Zine's written reviews are positive against 60% of Metion's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zine ships an update every 5 weeks, Metion every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Zine versus Metion: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZineMetion
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (239 ratings) — better4.3 (46 ratings)
Positive reviews62.3% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings239 — better46
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size155 MB96 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperAura Marker Studio Co., Ltd.Hangzhou Quanduan Technology Co., Ltd.

Customer experience

Zine

All ratings239 ratings
Positive86.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews130 reviews
Positive62.3%
Neutral9.2%
Negative28.5%

Metion

All ratings46 ratings
Positive84.8%
Neutral4.3%
Negative10.9%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral14.0%
Negative26.0%

User reviews

Zine

From 239 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Beautiful and elegant interface design
  • 📝 Simple and intuitive writing experience
  • 🎨 Extensive font and color customization options
  • 📸 Easy image insertion and editing
  • 🖼️ Converts text to shareable images/PDFs

Room to improve

  • 💰 Aggressive paywall and subscription model
  • 🐢 Extremely slow cloud synchronization
  • 🌐 Poor language localization for non-Asian users
  • ⚠️ Misleading export feature availability
  • 🔐 Overly strict content censorship policies

Metion

From 46 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Seamless integration with Apple ecosystem
  • ✍️ Great writing experience
  • 💡 Promising features
  • 🎨 Minimalist and aesthetic design
  • 🚀 Enhances productivity

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent bugs and crashes
  • 📱 Not optimized for phones
  • 🗂️ Limited free version features
  • 🎨 UI issues and design flaws
  • ❌ Syncing problems

Bugs and requests

Zine

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • App crashes on startup and during editing
  • Cloud synchronization failures lasting hours/days
  • Cut/copy/paste functions unreliable
  • Images not displaying on mobile after upload
  • Export features require subscription despite free tier indication
Show 9 more
  • Login failures with Apple ID on web version
  • Cursor disappears during editing
  • Content loss when app force closes
  • Membership purchase button unresponsive
  • Auto-login issues with WeChat accounts
  • Font size and template settings not persisting
  • Search functionality failures
  • Incompatibility with iOS 8 and newer versions
  • Network errors during sign-in process

Requested features

10 requests
  • Dark mode/night reading mode
  • Undo/redo functionality
  • Folder organization system
  • Additional font options (e.g., Song typeface)
  • Landscape orientation support on iPad
Show 5 more
  • Improved input method compatibility
  • Better web editor with Apple ID login
  • Horizontal scrolling screenshot feature enhancement
  • Account deactivation option
  • Improved sync speed and reliability

Metion

Reported bugs

19 issues
  • Git sync not working
  • iCloud folder cannot be specified
  • Writing statistics not visible or crashing
  • Custom file sorting not working
  • New file creation bug (text pushed up)
Show 14 more
  • Hyperlinks only work with connected keyboard
  • Help documentation partially translated
  • PDF export formatting issues
  • App crashes when submitting bugs
  • iPhone gets hot and requires restart
  • App launches inconsistently, crashes, slow to switch folders
  • Undo function not supported, causes crash
  • App crashes on startup
  • Cannot open old documents (free version limit)
  • English input lacks auto-capitalization and spell check
  • Soft keyboard shortcut bar disappears
  • Character input issues causing extra spaces
  • Zen mode background color setting causes crashes
  • App crashes when trying to set Zen mode background

Requested features

35 requests
  • Optimize for phone usage
  • Add Windows version
  • Improve Git sync functionality
  • Allow specifying iCloud folder
  • Restore writing statistics feature
Show 30 more
  • Fix custom file sorting
  • Fix new file creation bugs
  • Improve hyperlink functionality on iPhone
  • Add Undo functionality
  • Fix app crashes on startup
  • Allow opening old documents
  • Improve English input (auto-capitalization, spell check)
  • Fix disappearing shortcut bar
  • Increase font size limit
  • Allow changing Zen mode background and text color
  • Fix PDF export formatting
  • Improve Russian translation
  • Simplify interface navigation
  • Improve interface glitchiness
  • Support existing markdown folders
  • Add more font choices
  • Fix character input issues
  • Increase maximum character limit
  • Add Dropbox or other cloud drive sync
  • Add password lock feature
  • Improve line spacing in Zen mode
  • Combine markdown preview and writing like Bear
  • Add floating TOC
  • Add dedicated preview button
  • Option to dilate interface scale
  • Add statistics for daily word count
  • Improve Zen mode text color
  • Add support for Chinese-to-English conversion
  • Add file system for recording information like Windows with graphical display and tags
  • Add statistics for word count

In-app purchases

14 purchases

Zine

Subscriptions4
  • Premium Monthly Subscriber$4.291 Month
  • VIP Monthly Subscriber$11.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly Subscriber$36.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • VIP Yearly Subscriber$77.991 Year
One-time10
  • ZhiZi$0.99
  • BuFeng$0.99
  • DuiBuQiWoAiNi$0.99
Show 7 more
  • XingKaiTi$0.99
  • Petal$0.99
  • XiaoLong$0.99
  • GaoBaiQingShu$0.99
  • Extra star$0.99
  • XiaoZhengGuTi$1.99
  • VIP Member$59.99
3 purchases

Metion

Subscriptions2
  • 订阅公众号图片上传中转3 Days trial$0.991 Month
  • Subscribe Pro Extensions3 Days trial$6.991 Year
One-time1
  • Standard Edition (iOS+iPadOS)$17.99

Questions

Is Zine free?
Zine is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Metion free?
Metion is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Zine or Metion?
Zine is rated higher. Zine averages 4.5 out of 5 from 239 ratings, while Metion averages 4.3 from 46 ratings.
Do Zine or Metion have ads?
Neither Zine nor Metion shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zine or Metion?
Zine ships an update every 5 weeks, and Metion every 2 weeks. Most recently, Zine was updated on September 20, 2026 and Metion on September 21, 2026.

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