Comparison

Inkiostro vs MD Cast

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

Head to head
About

Inkiostro

A distraction-free Markdown editor for Apple devices. Organize files with color labels and tags, and write efficiently with a comprehensive toolbar and live preview. Syncs automatically via iCloud Drive.

Highlights
  • Color Labels for files and folders
  • Custom tags for organization
  • Complete Markdown toolbar
  • Live preview with multiple themes
  • Focus and Typewriter modes
  • Native iCloud Drive sync
  • External folder support
Features
Read full description

Inkiostro is a Markdown editor for people who write — notes, documentation, theses, novels. Plain text files that stay yours, a preview that looks like a finished page, and exports ready to hand over. Buy once, no subscription. No account, no tracking. WRITE, SEE, FINISH • A complete Markdown toolbar: headings, lists, tables and code blocks, one tap away. • A side-by-side preview that comes back exactly where you left it. • LaTeX formulas typeset by KaTeX, and Mermaid diagrams drawn as you type. • 27 preview styles, 11 of them free: GitHub, Sepia, Nord, Solarized and more. With Pro, Manuscript, Book, Report, Academic and others set the page like print. • Focus and Typewriter modes, a live word count and a daily writing goal. FROM DRAFT TO BOOK • PDF with selectable text, formulas and diagrams included. Free, with a small credit line in the footer. • A professional ePub: real chapters, a cover, ISBN, series, footnotes that open over the page, and the accessibility declaration Europe requires. The export sheet tells you what a store would reject — before you send it. (Pro) • A book made of many files: one chapter per file, in a folder, in the order you choose. Arranging it is free; exporting it as a single ePub is Pro. • Self-contained HTML, and page setup for PDF: paper, margins, headers and page numbers. (Pro) NEVER LOSE A WORD • Version history: Inkiostro saves versions as you write. Search them, compare them line by line, and bring back a single word or a whole draft. (Pro) • Backups of your whole library: a dated zip archive with your version history inside, offered when one is due, while the app is open, in a folder you pick. Open it in the Files app and your Markdown files are right there. (Pro) YOUR FILES, YOUR RULES • Unlimited documents, as plain .md files you can open anywhere. • Folders, color labels and tags, with search that filters by tag. • iCloud Drive sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac, with no setup. • External folders: work directly inside any folder on your device or in iCloud Drive. (Pro) INKIOSTRO PRO — ONE PURCHASE, EVERY DEVICE One purchase unlocks Pro on iPhone, iPad and Mac, forever. Try it free for 7 days. • Version history with search, comparison and a year of versions • Backups of your library • Professional ePub, HTML, and books made of many files • PDF page setup • Focus and Typewriter modes • External folders • 24 app themes, the Pro preview styles and any font installed on your device MADE FOR • Writers: novels and essays in plain text, out as a real ebook • Students and researchers: notes and theses with proper formulas • Developers: READMEs, documentation and technical notes with diagrams • Anyone tired of paying every month for a text editor PRIVACY Your documents stay in your iCloud Drive or on your device. No servers of ours, ever. Inkiostro collects only anonymous, aggregated usage statistics — never personal data, never the content of your documents — and you can turn them off in Settings.

About

MD Cast

Create and export custom-styled Markdown documents to PDF. Apply your own themes with specific fonts, colors, and spacing, or use presets. Supports extended Markdown syntax and automatic font matching for multiple languages.

Highlights
  • Syntax-highlighted Markdown editor
  • Live preview with applied typography
  • Page-accurate PDF export
  • Customizable themes with fonts, colors, and spacing
  • Automatic font matching for Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese
  • Extended Markdown syntax support (tables, footnotes, KaTeX)
  • Live inspector for real-time formatting adjustments
  • Edit external Markdown folders directly
Features
Read full description

MD Cast is a focused Markdown editor for iPad and iPhone that lets you apply your own style and export to PDF. Customize fonts, colors, line spacing, table styles, and paper settings — then save the whole look as your own theme. Open another Markdown file later and apply the same theme with a single tap. ■ Your style, all the way to PDF - Edit: Syntax-highlighted Markdown editor. - Read: Live preview with your typography, margins, and table styles applied. - PDF: Page-accurate paginated preview, ready to share. Three modes in one screen. Write, preview, and export without leaving the flow. ■ Save your own theme + 5 business presets Save fonts, margins, tables, headers and footers — every formatting choice — as your own theme, then apply it to any future Markdown file with one tap. Need a starting point? Pick from 5 presets (Business Report · Academic Paper · Technical Doc · Casual Article · Minimal Memo) and customize from there. ■ Automatic Korean / English / Japanese / Chinese font matching The renderer detects the language of each glyph (via Unicode ranges) and picks the right font automatically. Korean mixed with English stays balanced; Japanese kanji uses a Japanese font; Chinese hanzi uses a Chinese font. ■ Seven bundled OFL fonts (no install required) - Pretendard, Noto Sans KR, Noto Serif KR, Source Han Sans KR - D2 Coding (monospace) - Inter (English body) - Nanum Gothic System fonts and user-imported fonts (.ttf, .otf) are also fully supported. ■ Full Markdown Extended Syntax - GFM tables (with alignment colons) - Task list checkboxes (- [x] / - [ ]) - Strikethrough (~~text~~) - Footnotes ([^label]) - Definition lists (Term :\\n Definition) - KaTeX math (inline $...$, display $$...$$, multi-line environments like \begin{aligned}) ■ Live inspector Adjust typography, font sizes, line height, colors, table headers and borders, paragraph alignment, indentation, quote styles, paper size, margins, headers and footers — every change reflects in under 0.3 seconds. ■ Edit external vault folders directly (NEW in v1.1) Register your Obsidian, iA Writer, or Files-app Markdown folders in the sidebar and edit them directly — no copies. Changes you save in MD Cast appear instantly at the external location and across other apps and devices. The vault stays in the sidebar after the app is restarted. ■ Localized UI in Korean / English / Japanese / Chinese (NEW in v1.1) All UI text follows your iOS system language automatically. Korean experience remains identical to v1.0. ■ Welcome file on first launch (NEW in v1.1) A welcome Markdown file with rich samples (tables, KaTeX math, task lists) appears on the first launch, letting you experience Markdown rendering immediately — no onboarding overhead. ■ Files app integration + iCloud Drive auto-sync Documents created in the app live in your iCloud Drive "MD Cast" folder, so they sync automatically across iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Use the "Export to External…" menu to send a copy from the MD Cast folder to other Markdown or text editors as-is. ■ Fully offline All fonts and the KaTeX math library are bundled inside the app. Every feature works without an internet connection. ■ No ads, no tracking One-time purchase. Your data never leaves your device. —————————— Markdown your way, all the way to PDF. Try MD Cast today.

Screenshots

Inkiostro4 screens
MD Cast4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Inkiostro at Free against MD Cast's $1.99. MD Cast's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On update cadence, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Inkiostro is free to download; MD Cast costs $1.99 up front. Inkiostro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. MD Cast asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 13, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Inkiostro versus MD Cast: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInkiostroMD Cast
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating3.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB76 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarlo Di GiuseppeJaehyung Choi

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Inkiostro

One-time1
  • Inkiostro Pro$19.99
None

MD Cast

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Inkiostro free?
Inkiostro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MD Cast free?
MD Cast costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Inkiostro or MD Cast have ads?
Neither Inkiostro nor MD Cast shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Inkiostro or MD Cast?
Inkiostro ships an update weekly, and MD Cast weekly. Most recently, Inkiostro was updated on September 28, 2026 and MD Cast on September 13, 2026.

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