Comparison

Happy vs MarkD

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

Head to head
About

Happy

This app provides a secure mobile interface for AI coding assistants, allowing you to continue sessions and monitor progress from anywhere. It features end-to-end encryption and a zero-knowledge architecture for ultimate privacy. Seamlessly switch between desktop and mobile for uninterrupted AI coding.

Highlights
  • Seamless desktop and mobile session continuation
  • Push notifications for AI tasks
  • Offline access to conversation history
  • End-to-end encryption for code privacy
  • Real-time streaming of AI responses
  • Zero-knowledge architecture
Features
Read full description

Your coding agent shouldn't wait for you to get back to your desk. A task can run for an hour and then stop five minutes in to ask for permission or a decision. Happy lets you answer from your phone, and the same agent carries on in the same repository with the same tools and context. Happy is the mobile app for Claude Code and Codex. The agents keep running on your own computer, and your phone is how you start them, steer them and review their work. WHAT YOU CAN DO FROM YOUR PHONE • Start a new session or pick up one you began at your desk • Get notified when an agent needs input or finishes • Approve or deny permission requests, or let a session run in Auto mode • Choose the model and reasoning effort from the providers set up on your computer • Review changes: a file list, colored diffs, and the full set of changes on a branch • Attach a screenshot or photo to your prompt • Browse sessions in one list or grouped by project, with each checkout's chats as tabs • Open a side chat next to a session without losing your place • Drafts follow you between your phone and your computer HOW IT WORKS Happy runs on your computer, and this app connects to it. 1. Install Happy Desktop from happy.engineering, or if you prefer the terminal, run: npm install -g happy 2. Create an account in the app. You don't need an email address or a password. 3. Scan the QR code your computer shows to link it to your phone. Then start a session from either device. What you see on your phone is the same live session that's running on your computer. YOU WILL NEED • A computer running Happy Desktop or the Happy CLI • Access to the coding agents you want to use, such as a Claude or ChatGPT/Codex plan or API key. Happy uses your existing accounts. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Sessions are end-to-end encrypted. Your code, agent and encryption keys stay on your devices. Happy's servers only relay and store encrypted session data and can't read your prompts, responses or code. OPEN SOURCE The app, the CLI and the server are MIT-licensed and on GitHub. Read the code, run your own build or host your own server. ALSO ON DESKTOP Happy Desktop adds a harness that works across providers and lets you switch models in the middle of a task. The sessions it starts show up on your phone too. Happy is an independent project. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic or OpenAI. Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic. Codex and ChatGPT are trademarks of OpenAI. Privacy Policy: https://happy.engineering/privacy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

MarkD

Features
Read full description

The Markdown reader for developers who think on the go. Open any .md file — README, design doc, API spec — and see it rendered in seconds. Code blocks highlighted in 40+ languages, Mermaid diagrams drawn automatically, HTML rendered cleanly. No setup, no clutter. iPhone in your pocket, ideas in your head. MarkD turns waiting time at the bus stop, the elevator, the coffee line into useful reading time. — Clean Markdown Rendering Headings (H1–H6), bold, italic, strikethrough, tables, blockquotes, links, images, ordered and unordered lists, checkboxes — all standard Markdown syntax fully supported. Both light and dark modes render with comfortable typography. Long documents scroll naturally in one continuous flow, with no screen transitions interrupting your reading. Code Syntax Highlighting Swift, Objective-C, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, C, C++, C#, Ruby, PHP, Shell, SQL, HTML, CSS, JSON, YAML, and 40+ more languages are supported. Code blocks are highlighted with language-appropriate colors so structure is clear at a glance. Dark mode applies a low-fatigue color theme automatically. Mermaid Diagrams Mermaid code blocks inside Markdown are automatically detected and rendered as visual diagrams. Flowcharts, sequence diagrams, class diagrams, state diagrams, ER diagrams, and Gantt charts are all supported. Especially useful when reading system design documents, API flow docs, or database schemas. Folders & Tags Organize saved documents into folders and attach tags for easy retrieval. Filter by file type (Markdown, HTML, Swift, Python, JSON, and more) or search by title to instantly find any file. Use favorites to keep frequently viewed documents close at hand. Wide File Format Support Beyond .md and .markdown, MarkD opens .html, .swift, .py, .js, .ts, .go, .rs, .java, .kt, .c, .cpp, .cs, .json, .yaml, .yml, .txt, .sh, .rb, and virtually every text-based file format developers work with daily. Both the file extension and content are analyzed to automatically select the best rendering method. Files App Integration Long-press any file in the iOS Files app, choose "Open in MarkD," and it's imported instantly. Works with iCloud Drive, local storage, and third-party cloud storage. Duplicate files are never saved, keeping your library clean. Share Extension Share text or a URL from Safari, Notes, Slack, or any other app using the share sheet, and it's saved directly to your MarkD library. No need to open the app first — save as you read, in one natural motion. You can also share saved documents directly to other apps. Reading Info & HTML Support Word count and estimated reading time are automatically calculated when you open a document. HTML files are rendered in a built-in web view, with dark mode meta tags injected automatically. — Built for - Developers who frequently read READMEs and open source documentation - Engineers who want to view Markdown files from GitHub or GitLab on mobile - Writers who draft technical blog posts in Markdown and want to preview them - Team members who reference wikis, API docs, and design documents on the go - Anyone who wants to read documents containing code in a clean, focused environment MarkD is focused purely on reading documents well — no unnecessary features, no clutter. Experience the simplicity of opening it for the first time, and the satisfaction of a well-organized library as it grows.

Screenshots

Happy4 screens
MarkD4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Happy at Free against MarkD's $3.99. Happy also leads on chart position (#84 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). MarkD's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On update cadence, ads and device support 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

Happy is free to download; MarkD costs $3.99 up front. Happy sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $19.99 per month. MarkD asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Happy ships an update weekly, MarkD every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Happy versus MarkD: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHappyMarkD
PriceFree — better$3.99
Rating4.9 (1.1K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews70.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings1.1K — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 9 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
Best chart rank#84 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBulka, LLCJiwon Han

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Happy

Subscriptions1
  • Plus Plus Monthly$19.991 Month
None

MarkD

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Happy free?
Happy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MarkD free?
MarkD costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Happy or MarkD have ads?
Neither Happy nor MarkD shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Happy or MarkD?
Happy ships an update weekly, and MarkD every 9 days. Most recently, Happy was updated on October 30, 2026 and MarkD on October 31, 2026.

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