Comparison

Inkiostro vs Markdown Editor

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

Markdown Editor

Features
Read full description

What you type is already what you read. A Markdown editor for Mac, iPad and the browser. There's no preview pane to switch to. Headings grow and take on color right where you type, tables become real tables with borders, checklists become clickable checkboxes, and diagrams are drawn in place. The screen you edit on is the finished document. ■ What people use it for · Turning meeting notes into headings and bullets as the meeting happens · Writing specs and how-tos, then sharing a link for review · Tracking tasks as a checklist and ticking them off · Keeping research notes and reading notes, day by day · Drafting articles and blog posts in Markdown you can paste anywhere · Saving snippets of code and commands with syntax highlighting ■ Features · Styling as you type — headings, bold, italic, quotes, rules, footnotes and nested lists are formatted the moment you write them · Tables render as tables — click one to go back to the raw Markdown and edit it · Diagrams (flowcharts, sequence diagrams and more) drawn inline from mermaid syntax · Code blocks with syntax highlighting and a one-click copy button · Clickable checkboxes (- [ ] / - [x]) · Inline images, plus drag-and-drop upload · Paste a URL and get a link preview card · Six themes (Light, Sepia, Solar, Dark, Night, Contrast) and three text sizes · Available in 12 languages ■ Your files live in your Google Drive · Saved automatically. There's no save button · Your Drive folder structure stays as it is — create, rename and delete files without leaving the app · Shared drives are supported · Copy a Drive link and share it as-is · The app only accesses files it created and files you explicitly open ■ Mac, iPad and the web Edit the same files from the Mac app, the iPad app or your browser (app.monoshiri.jp). Use the iPad on the move, the Mac at your desk and the browser on a machine that isn't yours — and pick up right where you left off. ■ About usage · Free to use. · A Google account is required.

Screenshots

Inkiostro4 screens
Markdown Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Markdown Editor at none against Inkiostro's 1. Markdown Editor also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Inkiostro ships an update weekly, Markdown Editor every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and September 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Inkiostro versus Markdown Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInkiostroMarkdown Editor
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews60.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size19 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCarlo Di GiuseppeMakoto Kobayashi

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Inkiostro

One-time1
  • Inkiostro Pro$19.99
None

Markdown Editor

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Inkiostro free?
Inkiostro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Markdown Editor free?
Markdown Editor is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Inkiostro or Markdown Editor have ads?
Neither Inkiostro nor Markdown Editor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Inkiostro or Markdown Editor?
Inkiostro ships an update weekly, and Markdown Editor every 2 days. Most recently, Inkiostro was updated on September 28, 2026 and Markdown Editor on September 12, 2026.

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