Inkiostro vs cDox
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
cDox
A private and simple platform for writing notes and creating spreadsheets. It offers a clean editor, real spreadsheet functionality with formulas, and real-time collaboration features. Your data is kept private and is never used for AI training.
- Clean editor for notes and drafts
- Spreadsheets with formulas and tabs
- Real-time collaboration with comments
- Publish pages as public webpages
- Cross-device syncing
- Private by design, no AI training
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cDox is a calm, simple place for your writing and your spreadsheets. No ads, no clutter, and nothing you write is ever used to train AI. Open the app and start writing. No account needed: your pages and sheets stay on your device until you choose to sync. WRITE - Pages: a clean, focused editor for notes, essays, drafts and reports - Headings, lists, checklists, tables, comments and footnotes - Saves as you type PLAN AND CALCULATE - Sheets: real spreadsheets with formulas, number formats and up to 20 tabs - Budgets, trackers, schedules and lists WORK TOGETHER - Invite up to 25 people to a page, a sheet or a whole folder - Edit at the same time and leave comments - Copy a link to send someone straight to a document - Publish any page as a clean public webpage ON EVERY DEVICE - iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac, Windows and the web at cdox.studio - A free account backs up and syncs everything - Import Word, Excel, CSV and Markdown files on the web, and export them back anytime PRIVATE BY DESIGN - Never used to train AI or machine learning models - Never sold, and no ads - Stored on servers in Montreal, under Canadian law - English and French throughout Free for up to 150 pages and sheets. cDox Pro adds unlimited pages and sheets, image uploads and Pro fonts. Made by BFH Labs, an independent company with no investors and no ads.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: cDox at 5.0 against Inkiostro's 3.2. Inkiostro's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Inkiostro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and cDox sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
cDox holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Inkiostro has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Inkiostro ships an update every 6 days, cDox every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Inkiostro | cDox |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (5 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Carlo Di Giuseppe | Barry Lachapelle |
In-app purchases
Inkiostro
- Inkiostro Pro$19.99
cDox
- cDox Pro (Monthly)$5.991 Month
- cDox Pro (Yearly)$49.991 Year









