Inkiostro vs Markdown Editor
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.
Markdown Editor
This app offers a seamless Markdown editing experience with real-time preview, allowing for instant formatting and easy organization of notes. It integrates with cloud storage and AI tools for enhanced content creation and management.
- Real-time input and preview
- AI summarization and drafting
- Google Drive integration
- Plain Markdown file editing
- Syntax highlighting for code
- Diagram and math rendering
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There is no separate input and preview screen. Everything happens on one screen: what you type takes shape right where you typed it. Headings, nested lists and code get distinct colors and shapes, so the structure of a note is clear at a glance. You don’t have to memorize Markdown — type / at the start of a line and pick headings, tables, checklists or diagrams from a menu. With no styling to fiddle with, you can keep writing as you think. On Mac and Windows you can edit plain Markdown (.md) files right where they are. Connect Google Drive and you can pick the same notes up on any device; the files are saved in your own Google Drive. No Google account is needed for local files on Mac and Windows. On iPhone and iPad, notes are kept in the app’s folder or in Google Drive. ■ Open what AI writes Ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or another AI to summarize something in Markdown, then open it here as is — it reads cleanly and stays editable. It's a plain Markdown file, so you can paste it back into an AI to keep going, or drop it straight into Notion or GitHub without reformatting. ■ Ask AI (with your own API key) Add an API key for OpenAI (GPT), Anthropic (Claude) or Google (Gemini) and you can ask AI from inside the app. · On selected text — polish, shorten, make formal, translate, turn into a table or a diagram · From the whole note — meeting notes & to-dos, summarize, extract to-dos, tidy into Markdown, continue writing · In your own words — have it draft a how-to or a first version Check the answer before it goes into your note, and undo it in one step. Usage is billed by the service you choose, and your key stays on this device. ■ What people use it for · A notepad that reads better — jot things down and they turn into tidy headings and bullet points. As light as a plain text editor, far easier to read back · Meeting notes — organize the discussion as it happens and put decisions in a table · To-do lists and tasks — list what needs doing as a checklist and tick items off · Journal, diary and daily log — keep a note per day and find anything later with full-text search · A personal wiki — link notes to one another and build a notebook of what you know · Docs, how-tos and blog drafts — outline with headings, then paste the plain Markdown anywhere · A Markdown viewer — open an .md file and read it with its tables and headings in place · Code and command snippets — kept with syntax highlighting, copied in one click ■ Features · Styling as you type — headings, bold, italic, quotes, rules, footnotes and nested lists are formatted the moment you write them · Type / at the start of a line to insert tables, checklists, diagrams, math and more · Tables render as tables — click one to go back to the raw Markdown and edit it · Diagrams (flowcharts, sequence diagrams and more) from mermaid syntax, and math from TeX, drawn inline · Collapsible sections (details) and clickable checkboxes · Code blocks with syntax highlighting and a one-click copy button · Images and file attachments, with PDFs opening right in the app · Paste a URL and get a link preview card · Full-text search across all your notes · Six themes (Light, Sepia, Solar, Dark, Night, Contrast) and three text sizes · Available in 12 languages ■ Choose where your notes live · Google Drive — saved automatically, with no save button. Your Drive folders stay as they are, and shared drives and multiple Google accounts are supported · On this device — no sign-in needed. On Mac and Windows you can also open any folder you already have · In Google Drive, the app only touches files it created and files you explicitly open ■ About usage · Free to use.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Inkiostro at 67% against Markdown Editor's 0%. Markdown Editor's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 6 days). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Inkiostro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Markdown Editor asks for nothing beyond the download.
Inkiostro ships an update every 6 days, Markdown Editor every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Inkiostro | Markdown Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.2 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 15 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Carlo Di Giuseppe | Makoto Kobayashi |
Customer experience
Inkiostro
Markdown Editor
In-app purchases
Inkiostro
- Inkiostro Pro$19.99
Markdown Editor
No in-app purchases









