Comparison

Leaffold vs Marklens

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

Head to head
About

Leaffold

A focused writing tool offering typewriter mode, curated fonts, and customizable page settings. It prioritizes privacy with no account, tracking, or subscriptions. Ideal for drafting, editing, or thinking in text.

Highlights
  • Typewriter mode for focused writing
  • Seven curated typefaces
  • Adjustable line height and text width
  • Four color themes
  • Plain text support via Files app
  • No account or tracking
Features
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A focused writing surface with typewriter mode, curated typefaces, and full control over how your page feels. No subscription, no account, no tracking. Leaffold gives you real typographic controls without the price tag or the subscription: a typewriter mode that pins your current line to the centre of the screen, seven hand-picked fonts, adjustable line height and text width, and colour themes tuned for sustained writing. Switch between a minimal setup and a full writing configuration with one tap. TYPEWRITER MODE • Keeps your eyes at a fixed point while text flows upward • Configurable guide line and scroll window • Smooth centering, even at the very first and last lines of a document FIND IN DOCUMENT • Search for words or phrases within any document • Move quickly through every match • Command-F support for hardware keyboards TUNE YOUR PAGE • 7 curated typefaces: serif, sans, and monospace • Precise line height (1.0–2.0×) and font size (8–32pt) • Text width: Full, Classic (~80 chars), percentage, or fixed • Quick presets: Minimal or Writing, one tap FOUR THEMES • System, Paper, Night, High Contrast, each with matched colours PLAIN TEXT, PRIVATE • Works directly with the Files app. Store locally or in iCloud. • No account, no sign-up, no analytics, no tracking • Your text stays on your device Whether you're drafting prose, editing a config file, or simply thinking in text, Leaffold is a page that feels right.

About

Marklens

This app is a fast, native Markdown viewer for macOS, iPadOS, and iPhone. It renders .md files instantly with beautiful typography, themes, syntax highlighting, and diagrams. Designed for reading, it offers a private and friction-free experience.

Highlights
  • Instant Markdown rendering
  • Syntax highlighting for 30+ languages
  • Mermaid diagram support
  • GitHub-Flavored Markdown
  • Light and dark themes
  • Export to PDF
  • Quick Look preview on macOS
Features
Read full description

Marklens is a fast, native Markdown viewer for macOS, iPadOS, and iPhone. Open any .md file with a click and see it rendered immediately — beautiful typography, light and dark themes, syntax-highlighted code, and Mermaid diagrams. No editor, no library, no friction. HIGHLIGHTS • Instant render — every .md opens in a clean, focused window • 30+ language syntax highlighting via highlight.js, bundled offline • Mermaid 11 diagrams — flowcharts, sequence, state, xy-charts and more • GitHub-Flavored Markdown — tables, task lists, footnotes, strikethrough • Light and dark theme matching the system appearance • Quick Look on macOS — press Space on any .md in Finder for a rendered preview • Export to PDF on every platform • Pinch-to-zoom on iPadOS and iPhone, ⌘+ / ⌘− / ⌘0 on macOS • Open files via drag-and-drop, the Share Sheet, or the Files app MADE FOR READING Marklens doesn't try to be a notes app or a knowledge base. It opens a file, renders it perfectly, and gets out of the way. If you write Markdown in another tool — VS Code, Obsidian, GitHub, your favorite text editor — Marklens is the viewer you reach for to look at the result. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Marklens collects nothing. No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reports, no network requests. Every rendering asset — Mermaid, highlight.js, fonts — ships inside the app. Read the full privacy policy at https://donald-jackson.github.io/marklens/privacy/ OPEN SOURCE Marklens is MIT-licensed and developed in the open. Source, issues, and contribution guide live at https://github.com/donald-jackson/marklens.

Screenshots

Leaffold4 screens
Marklens3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Marklens at 5.0 against Leaffold's 4.0. Leaffold's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, ratings volume, 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Marklens holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Leaffold ships an update weekly, Marklens monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Leaffold versus Marklens: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLeaffoldMarklens
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings4 — better2
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYixin XiaoDonald Jackson

Customer experience

Leaffold

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

Marklens

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral100.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Leaffold

No in-app purchases

None

Marklens

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Leaffold free?
Leaffold is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Marklens free?
Marklens is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Leaffold or Marklens?
Marklens is rated higher. Leaffold averages 4.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Marklens averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Leaffold or Marklens have ads?
Neither Leaffold nor Marklens shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Leaffold or Marklens?
Leaffold ships an update weekly, and Marklens monthly. Most recently, Leaffold was updated on October 4, 2026 and Marklens on September 19, 2026.

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