Comparison

Inkiostro vs FoldNotes

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. Write in Markdown, or in the visual editor and never see a symbol. Buy once, no subscription. No account, no tracking. WRITE, SEE, FINISH • Two ways to write: the Markdown editor shows the symbols, the visual editor formats as you type, like a word processor. Either way the file stays plain Markdown. (Visual editor: Pro, free for 7 days) • 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. • The visual editor • 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 • Anyone new to Markdown: the visual editor works like a word processor 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

FoldNotes

Organize long notes by collapsing completed sections, keeping your workspace focused. This app uses plain Markdown files stored in iCloud or locally, ensuring your data is accessible across devices and applications. It offers advanced text styling, task management, and powerful search capabilities.

Highlights
  • Collapsible sections and list items
  • Plain Markdown file storage
  • Live Markdown styling with syntax highlighting
  • Task management with four states
  • Wiki-links with automatic backlinks
  • Powerful search with regular expressions
  • Customizable themes and fonts
Read full description

Some notes are short. Others grow into chapters, plans and running logs you scroll past a hundred times. FoldNotes lets you fold the finished parts away, so a long note stays as small as the part you are actually working on. Every note is a plain Markdown file. No database, no proprietary format, no export step. Your notes sit in iCloud Drive or on your device, and any other app can open them, today or in ten years. It is also a real iOS app, written in Swift. Not a web page in a wrapper. It opens instantly, works offline, handles a hardware keyboard properly, and does not sit in the background eating your battery. FOLD ANYTHING • Collapse any heading or list item and everything beneath it folds away • Hoist a section to work on it alone, with everything else out of sight • Task counts stay on the folded heading, so you can see what is left without unfolding WRITTEN FOR MARKDOWN • Live styling as you type — headings, lists, quotes, code, links • Six heading levels, and GFM tables with a real table editor • Code blocks with syntax highlighting • Wiki-links [[like this]], with previews and automatic backlinks • Nested tags TASKS WHERE YOU WROTE THEM • Four states: to do, in progress, done and cancelled • Due dates and priorities written inline, in plain text • Assign them to a project and add context and comments • Counts roll up to the section above them BUILT FOR IPAD • Library, notes and editor side by side • Hardware keyboard shortcuts throughout • An inspector with outline, tasks, references, properties and a note graph • Scan printed text straight into a note with the camera FIND ANYTHING • Search every note, including regular expressions • Saved queries and database views across your whole collection • Daily notes with a calendar COMING FROM ANOTHER APP • Import from Bear or Obsidian in a tap • Or simply point FoldNotes at the Markdown files you already have MAKE IT YOURS • Light and dark themes, including Nord, Dracula and Catppuccin • Choose your body, heading and code fonts • Paragraph focus, sentence focus and typewriter scrolling Folding is not a formatting trick. A long document asks you to hold every section in your head at once; folding lets you put the finished ones down. That is the whole idea, and everything else here is built around it. Your notes will outlive this app, and every app like it. That is rather the point.

Screenshots

Inkiostro4 screens
FoldNotes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: FoldNotes at 5.0 against Inkiostro's 3.0. FoldNotes also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). Inkiostro's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, 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

Both are free to download. Inkiostro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. FoldNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

FoldNotes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Inkiostro ships an update weekly, FoldNotes every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Inkiostro versus FoldNotes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInkiostroFoldNotes
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (4 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better1
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarlo Di GiuseppeFoldsoft Pty Ltd

Customer experience

Inkiostro

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%

FoldNotes

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Inkiostro

One-time1
  • Inkiostro Pro$19.99
None

FoldNotes

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Inkiostro free?
Inkiostro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FoldNotes free?
FoldNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Inkiostro or FoldNotes?
FoldNotes is rated higher. Inkiostro averages 3.0 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while FoldNotes averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Inkiostro or FoldNotes have ads?
Neither Inkiostro nor FoldNotes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Inkiostro or FoldNotes?
Inkiostro ships an update weekly, and FoldNotes every 2 days. Most recently, Inkiostro was updated on October 13, 2026 and FoldNotes on October 12, 2026.

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