Comparison

Retro Notes vs Markdown Notes Editor

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

Head to head
About

Retro Notes

Features
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Retro Notes turns everyday note-taking into something you actually enjoy. Beautifully designed with vintage-inspired themes, it combines the simplicity of classic journals with the power of a modern organizer β€” all on your iPhone and iPad. WRITE FREELY, ORGANIZE EFFORTLESSLY Create notes with rich text blocks, checklists, and tags. Organize everything into folders and nested subfolders. On iPad, use full notebooks for long-form journaling and creative projects. Pin your favorites for quick access, and find anything instantly with powerful global search across all your notes, folders, tasks, and blocks. A BLOCK FOR EVERYTHING Retro Notes goes beyond plain text. Each note is built from blocks you mix and match: β€’ Text β€” Write with customizable per-note fonts. Choose from 15 beautiful typefaces including Typewriter, Georgia, Baskerville, Futura, and more. β€’ Tasks β€” Interactive checklists to track your to-dos right inside your notes. β€’ Photos & Videos β€” Capture memories with images and video clips. Trim videos before adding them. β€’ Voice Memos β€” Record audio notes when typing isn't an option. β€’ Locations β€” Pin places to your notes with interactive maps. β€’ URLs β€” Save and preview web links with one tap. β€’ Scanner β€” Scan documents directly into your notes using your camera. β€’ PDF β€” Attach and view documents natively. β€’ Countdown β€” Set visual countdown timers for events, deadlines, and milestones. β€’ Music β€” Search and embed your favorite tracks from a massive catalog. β€’ Movies β€” Log films with posters, ratings, runtime, and director info. β€’ Books β€” Track your reading with covers, authors, and page counts. β€’ Flights β€” Look up real flights with route maps, terminals, aircraft details, and live status. IMPORT FROM ANYWHERE Use the Share Extension to send text, links, images, and checklists from Browser, Mail, Messages, or any app directly into Retro Notes. Content is automatically parsed into the right blocks β€” URLs become link blocks, bullet points become tasks, and images get their own photo blocks. No copy-pasting needed. RETRO THEMES THAT FEEL JUST RIGHT Customize your experience with handcrafted themes that give your notes real personality. Switch between classic, dark, and colorful palettes β€” every element from the toolbar to the blocks adapts to your chosen theme. WIDGET SUPPORT Pin your most important note to a home screen widget for instant access. See your content at a glance without even opening the app. TIME CAPSULE Seal a note and lock it until a future date β€” a week, a month, or a year from now. When the time comes, it unlocks automatically. Write letters to your future self, save birthday messages, or preserve memories for later. PRIVACY FIRST Your notes stay on your device. Retro Notes uses no cloud accounts, no sign-ups, and no tracking. What you write is yours alone. BUILT FOR iPHONE AND iPAD Fully optimized for both platforms. On iPad, take advantage of larger screens with the notebook editor for long-form writing, side-by-side organization, and an expanded block canvas. AVAILABLE IN 7 LANGUAGES Use Retro Notes in English, German, Spanish, French, Japanese, Turkish, or Simplified Chinese. The entire interface adapts to your language preference. Privacy Policy: https://retro-notes-privacy-ege-aybek-dev.netlify.app/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Markdown Notes Editor

Features
Read full description

Linen is a Markdown notes app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Write your notes in Markdown and switch to the preview to see them formatted. WRITE β€’ An editor that colors headings, lists, links and code as you type β€’ One menu for headings, bold, italic, lists, tasks, quotes, code and tables β€’ Outline to jump between headings, find in note, and a focus mode that hides everything but the note β€’ Insert a picture or paste one from the clipboard READ β€’ A preview of your note with GitHub Flavored Markdown formatted: tables, footnotes, code with syntax colors, and task lists you can tick β€’ Math typeset from LaTeX, inline or on its own lines β€’ Diagrams drawn from Mermaid text: flowcharts, sequence diagrams, timelines and more β€’ Four themes, Linen, Paper, Sepia and Slate, each in light and dark, with adjustable text size CONNECT β€’ Link notes to each other with [[double brackets]] and see which notes link back β€’ Tag notes with #tags and show every note that carries a tag β€’ Version history keeps earlier versions of a note, ready to bring back YOUR FILES β€’ Keep notes in folders inside Linen, or open .md files from anywhere β€’ Linen Pro: open a whole folder from iCloud Drive or Files and work on its Markdown files where they are. β€’ Open PDFs beside your notes. Linen Pro: highlight, underline, add text, and rotate, reorder, add or delete pages. SHARE β€’ Export Markdown. Linen Pro: export HTML, PDF and Rich Text. β€’ Linen Pro on Mac and iPad: editor and preview side by side. Linen is free for up to five notes. Linen Pro removes the limit and adds the features marked above, as a weekly subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Retro Notes4 screens
Markdown Notes Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Retro Notes at every 8 days against Markdown Notes Editor's monthly. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Retro Notes sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and Markdown Notes Editor sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retro Notes ships an update every 8 days, Markdown Notes Editor monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference Β· 5 level
Retro Notes versus Markdown Notes Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetro NotesMarkdown Notes Editor
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 8 days β€” betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac β€” better
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size19 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEGE AYBEKCtrl Alt Go Ltd

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Retro Notes

Subscriptions4
  • Weekly$0.997 Days
  • Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • Annual$39.991 Year
2 purchases

Markdown Notes Editor

Subscriptions1
  • Pro Weekly3 Days trial$9.997 Days
One-time1
  • Pro Lifetime$34.99

Questions

Is Retro Notes free?
Retro Notes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Markdown Notes Editor free?
Markdown Notes Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Retro Notes or Markdown Notes Editor have ads?
Neither Retro Notes nor Markdown Notes Editor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retro Notes or Markdown Notes Editor?
Retro Notes ships an update every 8 days, and Markdown Notes Editor monthly. Most recently, Retro Notes was updated on October 2, 2026 and Markdown Notes Editor on October 16, 2026.

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