Comparison

A5 Journal vs MD Cast

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

Head to head
About

A5 Journal

Features
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A5 Journal Your Records. Your Proof. Your Story. A5 Journal was created to make digital journaling feel real again. Instead of another cold white screen filled with text boxes, A5 gives you your own warm, personal library. Create and bind your own books, organize them on your shelves, fill their pages with memories, photographs, documents, forms and records, and build a collection that actually feels connected to your life.
 But A5 Journal is about more than how journaling feels.
 A5 doesn't rewrite your past. Once a journal entry is recorded, it becomes part of your history. Timestamped and set in place. No going back days later and changing what happened, what was said, or how you felt. For your personal life, that can mean accountability. Documenting the promises you make to yourself, seeing how far you've come, capturing moments exactly as they happened, and creating an honest record of your own story.
 For your work life, it can be invaluable. Record conversations, events, site conditions, decisions and important details while they're fresh. Attach photographs and supporting files. Complete forms and reports. Build a chronological record you can refer back to when remembering exactly what happened and when matters.
 A5 Journal grows with your needs, with plans designed for everyone from individuals and families to businesses and larger teams.
 And your library doesn't have to exist in isolation. Share books and forms with other A5 members, collaborate where it makes sense, and keep building your records while maintaining the permanence that makes A5 different.
 A5 Journal is growing and so is its community.
 Come rediscover what it feels like to love journaling. Build your library. Bind your books. Document the ordinary days, the milestones, the hard lessons, the conversations, the evidence and the memories worth keeping. Because your history shouldn't quietly change with an edit button.
 Document your life as it happens.
Keep the moments that matter.
Build your story with us. A5 Journal
Your Records. Your Proof. Your Story.
 You can create individual notebooks for: β€’ Personal records β€’ Business documentation β€’ Incident tracking β€’ Agreements and communications β€’ Project logs β€’ Daily journaling β€’ Ongoing documentation Core Features β€’ Separate notebooks for clear, structured organization β€’ Time-stamped & immutable entries for reliable records β€’ Secure account authentication β€’ Clean, distraction-free writing interface β€’ Simple and intuitive user experience β€’ Cloud-backed storage β€’ Fast, easy search across all entries β€’ Prioritize important notes and entries β€’ Optional reminders to stay on track β€’ Export your entries anytime β€’ Invite family & teams on available plans β€’ Share or gift your journals β€’ Multiple libraries for exceptional organization β€’ Can be used anywhere anytime with offline functions Important Notice! A5 Journal is a documentation and organizational tool. It is not a legal service and does not guarantee legal admissibility. Users are responsible for how they use their records. A 7-day free trial is available for individuals. After the trial period, an active subscription is required to access app features. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

MD Cast

Create and export custom-styled Markdown documents to PDF. Apply your own themes with specific fonts, colors, and spacing, or use presets. Supports extended Markdown syntax and automatic font matching for multiple languages.

Highlights
  • Syntax-highlighted Markdown editor
  • Live preview with applied typography
  • Page-accurate PDF export
  • Customizable themes with fonts, colors, and spacing
  • Automatic font matching for Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese
  • Extended Markdown syntax support (tables, footnotes, KaTeX)
  • Live inspector for real-time formatting adjustments
  • Edit external Markdown folders directly
Features
Read full description

MD Cast is a focused Markdown editor for iPad and iPhone that lets you apply your own style and export to PDF. Customize fonts, colors, line spacing, table styles, and paper settings β€” then save the whole look as your own theme. Open another Markdown file later and apply the same theme with a single tap. β–  Your style, all the way to PDF - Edit: Syntax-highlighted Markdown editor. - Read: Live preview with your typography, margins, and table styles applied. - PDF: Page-accurate paginated preview, ready to share. Three modes in one screen. Write, preview, and export without leaving the flow. β–  Save your own theme + 5 business presets Save fonts, margins, tables, headers and footers β€” every formatting choice β€” as your own theme, then apply it to any future Markdown file with one tap. Need a starting point? Pick from 5 presets (Business Report Β· Academic Paper Β· Technical Doc Β· Casual Article Β· Minimal Memo) and customize from there. β–  Automatic Korean / English / Japanese / Chinese font matching The renderer detects the language of each glyph (via Unicode ranges) and picks the right font automatically. Korean mixed with English stays balanced; Japanese kanji uses a Japanese font; Chinese hanzi uses a Chinese font. β–  Seven bundled OFL fonts (no install required) - Pretendard, Noto Sans KR, Noto Serif KR, Source Han Sans KR - D2 Coding (monospace) - Inter (English body) - Nanum Gothic System fonts and user-imported fonts (.ttf, .otf) are also fully supported. β–  Full Markdown Extended Syntax - GFM tables (with alignment colons) - Task list checkboxes (- [x] / - [ ]) - Strikethrough (~~text~~) - Footnotes ([^label]) - Definition lists (Term :\\n Definition) - KaTeX math (inline $...$, display $$...$$, multi-line environments like \begin{aligned}) β–  Live inspector Adjust typography, font sizes, line height, colors, table headers and borders, paragraph alignment, indentation, quote styles, paper size, margins, headers and footers β€” every change reflects in under 0.3 seconds. β–  Edit external vault folders directly (NEW in v1.1) Register your Obsidian, iA Writer, or Files-app Markdown folders in the sidebar and edit them directly β€” no copies. Changes you save in MD Cast appear instantly at the external location and across other apps and devices. The vault stays in the sidebar after the app is restarted. β–  Localized UI in Korean / English / Japanese / Chinese (NEW in v1.1) All UI text follows your iOS system language automatically. Korean experience remains identical to v1.0. β–  Welcome file on first launch (NEW in v1.1) A welcome Markdown file with rich samples (tables, KaTeX math, task lists) appears on the first launch, letting you experience Markdown rendering immediately β€” no onboarding overhead. β–  Files app integration + iCloud Drive auto-sync Documents created in the app live in your iCloud Drive "MD Cast" folder, so they sync automatically across iPad, iPhone, and Mac. Use the "Export to External…" menu to send a copy from the MD Cast folder to other Markdown or text editors as-is. β–  Fully offline All fonts and the KaTeX math library are bundled inside the app. Every feature works without an internet connection. β–  No ads, no tracking One-time purchase. Your data never leaves your device. β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€”β€” Markdown your way, all the way to PDF. Try MD Cast today.

Screenshots

A5 Journal4 screens
MD Cast4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: A5 Journal at Free against MD Cast's $1.99. A5 Journal also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). MD Cast's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 16). On update cadence, ads 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

A5 Journal is free to download; MD Cast costs $1.99 up front. A5 Journal sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. MD Cast asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 4 level
A5 Journal versus MD Cast: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterA5 JournalMD Cast
PriceFree β€” better$1.99
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
Monetizationβ€”Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 β€” better17.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size93 MB76 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThinkFULL Holdings Inc.Jaehyung Choi

In-app purchases

10 purchases

A5 Journal

Subscriptions10
  • A5 Journal Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • A5 Journal Members - Monthly7 Days trial4 variants$2.991 Month
  • A5 Journal Family Plan$10.991 Month
Show 7 more
  • A5 Journal Business Plan Monthly$25.991 Month
  • A5 Journal Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • A5 Journal Members - Yearly7 Days trial4 variants$29.991 Year
  • A5 Journal Business+ Plan Monthly$49.991 Month
  • A5 Journal Family Plan Yearly$109.991 Year
  • A5 Journal Business Plan Yearly$259.991 Year
  • A5 Journal Business+ Plan Yearly$499.991 Year
None

MD Cast

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is A5 Journal free?
A5 Journal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MD Cast free?
MD Cast costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do A5 Journal or MD Cast have ads?
Neither A5 Journal nor MD Cast shows ads.
Which is updated more often, A5 Journal or MD Cast?
A5 Journal ships an update weekly, and MD Cast weekly. Most recently, A5 Journal was updated on October 10, 2026 and MD Cast on October 17, 2026.

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