Comparison

Text Count vs ghostWriter Markdown

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

Head to head
About

Text Count

Features
Read full description

Unlock the Power of Precision with Text Count! Text Count is the ultimate tool for writers, students, and professionals who need accurate word and character tracking in real-time. Whether you’re crafting an email, working on an essay, or creating social media captions, Text Count ensures you stay on track with your text goals. Key Features: - Real-Time Word & Character Count: See your stats update instantly as you type, paste, or edit text. - Effortless Multi-Line Input: Write freely with a scrollable, distraction-free text editor. - Clear All with One Tap: Quickly erase all text with the Clear button for a fresh start. - Smooth Scrolling: Easily navigate through long-form text while staying focused. - Adaptive Design: Optimized for all screen sizes, so your words are always within reach.

About

ghostWriter Markdown

A plain-text writing app designed with accessibility in mind. It allows users to create, organize, and export documents in various formats, with features like voice control and outline navigation.

Highlights
  • Accessibility-first plain-text editor
  • Organize documents and chapters
  • Compile work into finished exports
  • Supports multiple export formats (HTML, EPUB, PDF, Word)
  • VoiceOver integration
  • Native Find and Replace
  • Outline navigation for headings
Read full description

ghostWriter Markdown is an accessibility-first, plain-text writing app for notes, articles, documentation, and full manuscripts. Write individual documents, organize chapters, and compile your work into a finished export. VoiceOver was at the center of the design from the first line of code. Created by a blind developer, ghostWriter gives screen reader users and anyone who loves plain text a clean, native place to write. So what's Markdown? Markdown adds structure using ordinary punctuation. A number sign makes a heading. A dash makes a list item. Your document stays readable as plain text, and you can render it to see the finished formatting. You don't have to know Markdown to start. Insert Actions adds common elements, the Markdown Reference provides examples, and the included ghostWriter Help Manual explains writing, organizing, and exporting your work. Writing Made Easy: • A native editor that keeps Markdown punctuation visible and you in control of the source • Insert links, images, headings, quotes, code, lists, tasks, tables, and rules • Automatic continuation for bullets, numbered lists, and tasks • Indent and outdent with tabs or spaces • Native Find and Replace, dictation, braille input, and text selection • A configurable Status Bar with line and column position, word, sentence, and character counts, heading level, and selection counts • Automatic saving, plus collision detection if the same document is open on separate devices • Start in the Library, a new document, or your last document Useful Navigation: • Use Outline to jump to document headings • Move through headings with a three-finger horizontal VoiceOver swipe while editing • Jump to Line in long documents • Search document names and contents • Return to your remembered editing position in each file Keep Files Organized: • Create, rename, and move nested folders • Pin documents you keep coming back to • Sort by name, created, modified, or last opened, or arrange files and folders manually • Restore removed files from Recently Deleted • Import Markdown, plain text, Word documents, and PowerPoint presentations into Markdown Build Your Manuscript: • Compile documents from nested folders into a single export • Choose which files to include and arrange chapters for each compilation • Keep research and notes nearby while excluding them from compilations • Track word, sentence, and character totals for individual files or whole folders • Control heading structure when combining documents Render and Share: • Render Markdown as structured HTML with semantic headings, lists, tables, and links • Export individual documents or compilations as Markdown, plain text, HTML, EPUB, PDF, Word, PowerPoint, eBraille, or BRF • Customize Word exports with your own JSON stylesheets, optional title and subtitle styles, and a supplied Large Print stylesheet Your Files, Your Devices: • Ordinary Markdown files, visible in the Files app • On-device storage or iCloud Drive syncing across iPhone, iPad, and Mac • Open and edit your files in other apps that read text • No proprietary format and no dependence on ghostWriter to keep your work Accessibility: Developed toward WCAG 2.2 Level AA and tested with VoiceOver as a primary interaction method. • Native controls with familiar roles and behaviors • Dynamic Type, including accessibility text sizes • System, monospaced, rounded, and serif editor typefaces • Light, dark, and system appearance • Voice Control, Switch Control, and hardware keyboard support • Optional keyboard shortcuts for common actions • Reduced-motion support Privacy: No accounts. No sign-in. No ads. No analytics. No tracking. No data collection. No AI tools. There is no server behind this app. Your documents stay on your device or in your own iCloud, and they never travel anywhere you don't send them. Made by a blind developer who got tired of tools that treated screen reader support as an afterthought.

Screenshots

Text Count4 screens
ghostWriter Markdown4 screens

Verdict

The call

Text Count and ghostWriter Markdown are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Text Count versus ghostWriter Markdown: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterText CountghostWriter Markdown
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequency—Every 2 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.617.6
Further details — not scored
Size0 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHuy DuongMarco Salsiccia

In-app purchases

None

Text Count

No in-app purchases

None

ghostWriter Markdown

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Text Count free?
Text Count is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ghostWriter Markdown free?
ghostWriter Markdown is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Text Count or ghostWriter Markdown have ads?
Neither Text Count nor ghostWriter Markdown shows ads.

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