# Outerline vs em

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: em at none against Outerline's 4. Outerline's advantage is price ($9.99 vs $14.99) and chart position (#196 vs unranked). On rating, update cadence, ads and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Outerline costs $9.99 and em $14.99 up front. Outerline sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. em asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Outerline against 5.0 for em. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.

Outerline ships an update every 4 days, em every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Outerline | em |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **$9.99** | $14.99 |
| Rating | [5.0 (3 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/outerline/id6759767830/reviews) | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/em-markdown-writer-and-editor/id6797005003/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **3** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 days** | Every 9 days |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | **#196** | — |
| Size | 34 MB | 21 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, Mac | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** |
| Age rating | +12 | 4+ |
| Developer | [Adam Goehrig-Bawany](https://appshunter.io/developer/1880546252) | [Justin Cox](https://appshunter.io/developer/6797005005) |

## What reviewers say

### Outerline

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/outerline/id6759767830)

**Currently charting:** #196 Top Paid · Productivity (US App Store)

A fast, fluid Markdown editor designed for focused writing. It offers live syntax highlighting, a convenient keyboard toolbar, and robust organization features. Your notes are saved as ordinary .md files, ensuring portability and no vendor lock-in.

**Highlights:** Offline Markdown editing, File-based storage (.md files), Live syntax highlighting, Keyboard toolbar for formatting, Wiki-style note linking, Full-text search, Export to Markdown, HTML, PDF

**Features:** iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Outerline Publish | $1.99 | per month |
| Small Tip | $1.99 | one-time |
| Outerline Tip Medium | $4.99 | one-time |
| Large Tip | $9.99 | one-time |


### em

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/em-markdown-writer-and-editor/id6797005003)

A privacy-focused Markdown editor for Mac, iPad, and iPhone. It offers distraction-free writing, goal tracking, location mapping, smart search, and version history. Seamlessly publish and edit content on Ghost sites, with optional AI-powered editorial feedback.

**Highlights:** Distraction-free Markdown editor, Word and deadline goal tracking, Location mapping of writing sessions, Smart search with advanced operators, Automatic version history with iCloud backup, Ghost API integration for publishing, On-device AI for editorial feedback

**Features:** Vision Pro support, iPhone Duo support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Outerline free?

Outerline costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is em free?

em costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Outerline or em?

Outerline and em are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 3 and 1 ratings respectively.

### Do Outerline or em have ads?

Neither Outerline nor em shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Outerline or em?

Outerline ships an update every 4 days, and em every 9 days. Most recently, Outerline was updated on November 5, 2026 and em on November 6, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*